My Blog

Sailing on the Solent

Sat, 14 May 2011 22:21:21 +0100

A long journey south was made on Friday to stay with my father.
We then met up with the rest of the Spice and Buzz sailors at the Seafarers Sailing Club at Hill Head near Lee on Solent.
We had a fantastic weekend learning to better set up and sail the Buzz.

The wind picked up in the afternoon and we capsized twice. The first time was a bit interesting, the second time we had mastered the process of righting her.

Sunday was time for trapezing and using the spinnaker with thanks to Andy Holmes of Wet and Windy who was at the helm while Sarah and I took it in turns to get out on the wire and get the spinnaker up.

What a fab weekend, shame it’s such a long way south (7 hours each way).
We look forward to meeting up with all our new friends very soon.

Skiddaw Horsehoe

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 10:30:21 +0000

Sarah, Hazel, Alison and Jenny plus the dogs and I headed up Ullock Pike. It was a little slow, so I was allowed to head off and get a proper walk in at ‘Man’ pace.

It was very atmospheric along the Longside ridge.

By the time I got off Carl Side and up Skiddaw,the girls had only just reached Ullock Pike. Skiddaw was best left quickly as it was full of folk and rather unpleasant in the cloud and wind.

So I headed off to Bakestall and then onto Cockup where I had a spot of lunch.

I headed back to the car then to Bassenthwaite Sailing Club to pack up ‘Hot Stuff’ ready for her to trailer her home to winter in the garage.

Ullscarf again

Sat, 13 Nov 2010 12:30:10 +0000

Sarah & I headed out in the fells. It was great to be out and the dogs were happy too.

We parked at Doblin along the north side of Thirlmere and headed up through the woods. A really nice and interesting section which eventually opens out by a tarn and shortly after the open fell is reached.

It was chilly and sleety, and very boggy underfoot.

Ullscarf was our aim and we made it in good time after viewing a huge rainbow that lasted for ages.

Down we went, to Greenup Edge and followed the path through ‘The Bog’ and down to the car, picking up a couple who thought they were heading to Grasmere.

We gave them a lift back to their car as we were on a shopping trip to Ambleside.

Canoeing the Middle Derwent

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 21:01:08 +0000

The West Cumbria Canoe Club had arranged a trip on the Middle Derwent from Derwent Water down to Bassenthwaite. It was to be Sarah’s first river trip in an open boat and we all had some fun. The river levels were perfect, not too much and not too little.

We had chance to break in and out of the current and we stayed dry (which is always nice).

Sarah and Martin take a few minutes rest after a quick play on the lake

Thanks to Guy and Andrew for their expert leadership skills.

See you on the Eden in a few weeks time.

Finally we are registered

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:15:10 +0000

After a long wait, we have finally passed our registration test. Mil is now a formally registered trainee search dog with SARDA Lakes.

As well as taking our registration test, we had a good weekend of search, find and play. Mil did really well, but we need to work on our indication (barking at the body). She does bark and barks quite well, but just needs a bit to get her going.

Her favourite toys are Air Kong squeaker fetch sticks.

Thanks to bodies Gemma, Jane, Helen and Paul and to the other handlers and assessors for their support and guidance.

Next weekend we’ll be in the Howgills.

Wild camping at Hayeswater day 2

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 21:58:12 +0100

We woke after nearly 12 hours sleep to beautiful sunshine.

Breakfast eaten we headed off to tackle a few more Wainwrights. We decided to leave the tent up to save weight in our packs and return later to collect the remainder of our kit.

Our first stop was Brock Crags, followed closely by Angletarn Pikes before contouring around to The Nab (spying a few deer on the way), and returning over the summit of Rest Dodd.

Back at the tent we had a relaxing drink and a short rest (it had been a hot day) and my forehead had told me that the sun had been shining for most of it!

The dogs were very pooped.

Wainwrights to go (round two):

Wild camping at Hayeswater day 1

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 10:30:52 +0100

We’d planned a weekend away wild camping and I was a little concerned as the forecast wasn’t brilliant and three wet dogs in a tent is not an ideal situation!

We parked at Hartsop and headed up Hartsop Dodd and then around to Stony Cove Pike on Caudale Moor and then around to Gray Crag.

We ended our walk by pitching the tent on the side of Hayeswater and watched the sun go down while the dogs rested, played, chewed on chewy things and then slept.

We had nearly 12 hours sleep.

Wainwrights to go (round two):

Kentmere Round

Sun, 31 May 2009 09:00:48 +0100

Liz and I met for another walk. We chose a rather warm day to do a long walk, but with 3 litres of water I wasn’t going to die of thirst.

We arrived in Kentmere before 9.00 and all the usual free places were taken so we had to park in the field and used the honesty box.

We had a lovely walk and extend this to take in Thornthwaite Crag and High Street.

We were all pooped at the end, finished off nicely with a pint in the Eagle and Child in Staveley.

Wainwrights to go (round two):

Beda Head and Place Fell

Mon, 25 May 2009 10:30:14 +0100

As it was the Bank Holiday Monday we wanted somewhere slightly quieter to go for a walk. So we opted for a horseshoe walk around Boredale via Beda Head and Place Fell.

We arrived early and parked at Howesteadbrow before climbing on to Beda Head and following this around the Boredale Hause before climbing up to Place Fell (a little busier here), and then returned to the car.

We planned to stop for a pint in Pooley Bridge, but it was heaving and so we headed for Tirril and had a long cool shandy.

Wainwrights to go (round two):