Monday 14 July 2008

Ullswater

What was I saying about trying to do too much.....?

This weekend, I spent Friday in London, Ian had a gig in Leeds and we went to Ullswater for a weekend with the sailing club! In the efforts of not overdoing it (!), we decided not to try and drive to the lakes on Friday night after the gig, but take it a bit more leisurely and appear at some point on Saturday. A very good plan.

We managed to arrive in the sun and spent a very happy afternoon on and by the lake. Ian and Hugh took out Hugh's boat and proceeded to fail to fly a spinaker and wear themselves out (it was pretty windy). I sat very contentedly at the end of a jetty and read Henry James with a flask of tea.

The evening was spent with the traditional barbeques - far too much food and a little huddling under the gazebo to avoid a couple of short showers. Frisbee went on until pretty much everyone had sustained at least one injury due to a flying disc hurtling at them through the twilight, one frisbee had been into a barbeque, and one had been almost irretrievably lost in the dark woods!

Hugh, Steve, Paul, Ian and I got up at 5:30am for the traditional early morning sail. Or drift as the case may be. But it is always worth it.

There was a little bit of wind.....

The sky was blue, the sun was hot, and the lake was beautifully millpond-like. We ate jaffa cakes and drank tea while making the most of 5 minutes of wind, and then drifted merrily in the sun. The only downside was that I discovered that I really am too fat now to spend much time hunched up in a boat!

Sustenance


After bacon and eggs for breakfast, we headed back to the boats. Some sailing, some reading of the paper, some chatting, some watching the swans - who could ask more from a Sunday?

Its hard not to be relaxed on Ullswater....

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