Adventures at sea,

Last night, somewhat late we sauntered down to the pub. On the way we met Shirley from down the road and her friendly dog, Troy (so named because he was worth his weight in gold) She was surprised we were on our way because, she said, wouldn’t the pub be closing soon? Well, no, Sunday closing is a thing of the past. It used to be that pubs closed early on a Sunday, and before that didn’t open at all on the day of rest. Now they stay open the same as any other day. We had a bit of a joke with Shirley, she remarked how out of date she was, and we remarked that maybe she should come to the pub more often.

It was a quiet night at the Dolphin; it had been mad busy during the day with their popular and very good Sunday roasts being served, so it was quite a relief that by the time we arrived, most folk had departed. However, our friend Terry was perched on his usual stool, and sailor Pat was sitting by him. We hadn’t seen Pat for a while so it was good to catch up, and as ever he and Terry entertained us with their sailing stories and the different boats and races they’d had. As a child I read so many stories of adventures at sea, my favourite being Treasure Island. I’d also read time and again ‘Swallows and Amazons’, so was familiar with sailing terms and the names of parts of boats and their sails and sheets. I’d spent plenty of time on water, but in a canoe not a yacht.

I had spent a wonderful holiday with my friend in Washington State and she was and is a great sailor so I had my first experience of sailing, and to be honest, much as I love the water, I didn’t much like it. A canoe, a punt, a little boat, yes, a thing with flappy sails and ropes, no! However, listening to stories from someone who has sailed in all sorts of boats and in all sorts of weather conditions was fascinating and entertaining in equal measure!