We packed the car to the rafters (quite literally - we need to learn to travel light!) and set off at morning nap time. By luncthime we were set up and ready for another snooze - aided by Tassy wheeling the buggy around the campsite.
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| made camp | everybody wave hello! |
sleep time...
After lunch we went down to the lake and spent quite a while trying to put together Pete's Streaker. We only had one bit left over when we'd finished rigging it, which we thought was a good effort! As Pete was already somewhere in the middle of a large expanse of water we decided that a single piece of elastic was unliklely to be critical and so I merrily jumped in and headed out across the lake.
"Streaking" across the lake.
After a short while we swapped over and Tassy went out. It was really good to sail on some open water again in a steady breeze. Tassy particularly enjoyed it as it's only the second time she's been sailing since this time last year!
A most contented Tassy
Conscious that we'd left things a little late in the afternoon, we quickly packed up and whizzed back up to the camp site to make some dinner and get the little man ready for bed and settled down into his travel cot, before the game of "multiple frisbees in the near darkness" started. This entirely risk-free(!) passtime started last year and managed to expand this year into to five frisbees, one child's football and a couple of chewed up tennis balls that Colin found in the bushes. Miraculously, we avoided serious injury, though several people were nearly decapitated by a well-thown Aerobie!
Despite taking quite a bit longer than usual to get him to sleep, Nathaniel did then demonstrate his superior sleeping skills by not waking up all night until after 6am on Saturday morning. Given that we were expecting him to be up with the sun, this was most refreshing!
We'd already decided that there's only so many ways you can entertain a small boy at the side of a like and the next mornings's forecast wasn't superb, so we opted to go for a walk over the morning/lunchtime for variety. There's also the rather helpful fact that the Lakes are probably better for walking than for sailing anyway!! For Nimmy's benefit - to demonstrate the world of outdoor pursuits does not have to end when one finally leaves the states, here's a picture of two of our friends going out on their mountain bikes after seeing the wind forecast:
So we headed down to Patterdale which is on the other side at the bottom end of the lake. It took lots longer than we expected as we ended up following a triathalon team out cycling. They were going pretty fast, but there is no-where to overtake on lake-side roads. We'd planned to do a circular walk up Place Fell and then down the other side, to return back lower down near edge of the lake. It was overcast but still quite muggy and hot and the path turned out to be quite a steep climb all the way up to the top and it turns out that carrying a baby on your back when going up a stepped path is hard work! Needless to say, by the time we got to the top 2.5 hours later, we decided that going back the long way round the six remaining miles was probably a bit much. (well, I say we decided... Tassy wanted to carry on lest the walk defeat her and she have to hang her head in shame!)
View from the way up
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| Jolly baby pauses for a snack |
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Walk, walk, walk...
Near the top
Jolly people
Hilltop baby attack - raaaaaah!
Some crawling after lunch at the top
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| Fambly! | Men on hill |
Brightly coloured foxgloves on the way down
exitting the carrier!
Despite not being our intended route it was a very fine walk and we all enjoyed ourselves.
We went back to the campsite to grab some soggy gloves and wet boots and went back down to the lake for a spot more sailing. Once again, it transpired out that everything takes much longer with a Nathaniel! There wasn't time for much sailing at all before we had to hurry back to get the BBQ lit in time to to cook before bed time. Nathaniel greatly enjoyed his sausage, burger, bread, tomato and grapes(!). The traditional saturday night BBQ then progressed as always.
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| Eating in the "low chair" we borrowed | The Saturday BBQ. |
However, we may have over tired him as he didn't sleep so well this time! We were therefore up in plenty of time for the traditional Sunday morning 5am sail (which was only every really once the true "5am sail" as it rapidly became the 6am sail after we found it a little too early the first year we did it!) We had intended to take Nathaniel out for his first sail at this early morning session - in all previous years it has been a flat calm (albeit a beautiful one - see Ullswater 2008) and we've slowly made our way around the lake with tea & jaffa cakes on the foredeck with not the slightest risk of heeling, let alone capsize. This time however, it was the windiest it was all day as the boats were setting off, so the boy and I had an extended breakfast instead, whilst Tassy went out with the others.
Nathaniel's pre-6am sail breakfast
After returning to the campsite later for proper breakfast and dismantling of the tent (another activity which the presence of Nathaniel seems to extend the duration of) we went back down and Nathaniel then had his first ever sail! Tassy & I went with Hugh in his boat, Hugh and I sailing the boat and Tassy looking after the small man. He was not enitely sure at points, but seemed to be ok with the experience overall. I think the amount that was happening in the boat and the noise of the sails etc just meant that there was a lot to take in!
Not really sure about his lifejacket!
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| Setting off | Heading out to sea... |
(all's well so far)
Everyone back safe and sound
The de-brief
Coming ashore again
Undecided about the whole experience...!
The day then progressed with a bit more sailing for us, some snoozing, eating crawling attempts and grabbing of sunglasses for Nathaniel, before we set off home mid afternoon. Nathaniel particularly enjoyed the traffic jam ended up in...! Needless to say, we're rather tired after a day that began at 4:30am, but we're now full of pizza, at least.
To finish, here's a picture of the drive home. Not exactly Canada, but quite pretty nonetheless...
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