Saturday 29 August 2020

2020 Swale Race cancelled

 Sadly the familiar curse of the August Bank Holiday weather has struck again, and this years Swale race has been cancelled. There were very strong northerly winds and it certainly would have been difficult with a mass of boats on the start line tacking out of the river. Lets hope for better next year. So Bonita is still on her mooring, as in the picture in the last blog post. The only differences today were grey skies and the boat rolling on white-topped waves, even in the sheltered water of the river. 


One of the pleasures of the Swale race is waking up on race morning and finding the river, which is usually so empty full of all sorts of traditional craft all getting ready for the start. As a memory of more settled times, the picture shows the scene just before the 2015 race began as Bonita drifts downriver on the tide towards the start line.




Wednesday 12 August 2020

All dressed up...

 Bonita is on her mooring and has finally been painted. Scrubbing off and painting in the middle of summer is so much easier as the days are long and the water is warm. Also barnacles are less likely to regrow after a midsummer scrub as it comes at a later point in their annual life-cycle.




Sadly it doesnt look as though we will get any more than the occasional day sail this year with no plans for any more adventurous cruising. Some years are just like that. We are hoping to take part in the Swale race later this month. For many years this was run with astonishing efficiency by the late and much-missed Lena Reekie. Last years race had to be cancelled due to stormy weather. This years race will be very different due to social distancing. I imagine that there will be far fewer of the larger boats needing big crews, and the prize giving will be 'virtual' rather than the usual jolly and rather boozy affair ashore. However I think its important that the tradition of the annual Swale race is kept going and we hope Bonita will be there!