After spending a bit of time getting my yacht ready to sail, having the mast raised, having the Genoa sail repaired and adapted to fit on the roller reefing system I have on the fore sail of my yacht, it was time to take it out into the ocean.
My dad, uncle and grandpops came with me as well as my niece. There was a lot of us going out.
We got to the yacht at 10am, sorted everything out on board and by 1030am we were heading through the Marina for the lock. The first obstacle was the swing bridge so we radioed through and asked the marina to open the swing bridge and also to ask permission to go into the lock. We were given permission and we watched the bridge swing open. The lock was on what is known as free flow, so both gates were open and we were able to motor through and into the Tawe river.
Once into the Tawe we had to go through the lock into the sea. It was busy because the day was beautiful and as such five boats squeezed into the lock, two of them huge power boats and three smaller yachts.
We got out into the sea and using the engine we motored out beyond the seawall. Once out there we pulled up the main sail and reefed the foresail. The wind wasn’t too strong and so we caught it and the sails filled nicely. We sailed around one of the main marker bouys and covered a couple of kilometres. It was lovely.
I walked to the bow of the yacht and tightened the sheets (the ropes used to secure the sail). I had a go at steering the yacht using the rudder, it was good fun.
I popped below deck and had a drink and some snacks. I also drew a picture of the yacht on the sea.
After a couple of hours or so, we headed back into the marina. It was really good fun.
We got back into our berth and secured the yacht, making sure the sail was stowed away and that everything was secured.
I finished the day with chips on the beach at the mumbles and an ice cream. Whilst on the beach I found a washed up jelly fish that was massive! I also scrambled up a huge slab of limestone rock that was next to the beach and looked out across Bracelet bay and into the Bristol Channel – an awesome day!
Joshua Lewis 