Your best boating season ever?

[Resolution]

As sailing plans for this summer crumble, I thought it would be good for each of us to look back to better times, and to enjoy again some of the best moments.

For Resolution, I am torn between 2013 and 2014.
In 2013 we left the South Coast with the plan of spending three months exploring Denmark and the East side of Sweden. After a pretty horrific North Sea crossing, a Euro 1,000 fine for sailing too close to an oil pipeline, and a very expensive month in Holland having propshaft repairs, I thought the season would be a disaster. But some pals rallied round and we got up to the Stockholm archipelago in time to enjoy one of their best golden summers. Fabulous island sailing, great people, lots of new experiences. And an easy safe return journey to the Hamble.
2014 saw us trucking the boat down to Barcelona, then an all summer long odyssey through most of the best bits of the Med, all the way to Turkey. Lots of different pals as crew, plus some other friends in their yachts, no breakages, little cost and so much fun.

What was your best sailing season?
Peter

 

[sailaboutvic]

Peter some how I get the feeling it's not going to be this year
2008 was one of my saddest when we sailed Our boat back from the Med to the UK after 15 years of med sailing,
On contrasts early 2010 was the begin of a new start as we sail our new Dufour Isabelle back to the Med, since then it's been just one long year of almost continuous cruisers .
So to answer your question it was the year 2010/2019 .
By the way , you picked a good time to sell up , wish you the best Peter .

 

[Resolution]

Vic
The one positive of this whole mess is that my wife has agreed with me that we should keep the boat for at least one more year, to do some of the "last sail" things that were planned for 2020.????

 

[sailaboutvic]

Vic
The one positive of this whole mess is that my wife has agreed with me that we should keep the boat for at least one more year, to do some of the "last sail" things that were planned for 2020.????

They do say something good come out of some thing bad , ( or have I just made that one up )
any way not a good time to sell .

 

[johnalison]

Our best sailing season was probably 2006. At the time, we would go to the Baltic every other year, and the Channel the other years. Starting in mid-May, we didn't return until early September, after being side-tracked into doing the HR 3-day regatta in Germany.

We were helped by a trusty crew on the way out, and dumped him in Neustadt. After Lubeck, Poel and Warnemunde we were able to stay at Dasser Ort for the only time. Then Stralsund and Sassnitz for drinks on the barge.
After this we sailed to Poland, Swinoujscie, Kolobrzeg, and squeezed into Dzywnow between the fishing boats. Then to Bornholm to welcome friends from Wivenhoe and see the misummer day pass. After that, north of the Orosund to meet other friends with their new HR340 and sail with them for a week, including Flakfortet and Ystad.

After this, to Poland again for the summer season and cycling into the rural villages. WE returned via Ruden, which is usually closed to yachts, for an idyllic and very hot time. Still hot when we got back to Stralsund, during a mediaeval festival.

Back via Rostock to Wismar and then Neustadt, where we were joined for a week by grandchildren. After dispatching them with great relief, we did three days of racing with the local HR people and made new friends. The first race involved us doing a cheeky port-tack start, arrowed, which came off well. In fact, we came third overall, which included a whisky-tasting competition and winch-reassembly race. A mostly quiet return trip via the Netherlands fillowed. The crossing from Blankenberg was a bit lively and was the reason I ended up in hospital a week later with a crocked spine.