19th April 2009: Sailing on Thelma

We were offered another day's sailing on the classic yachts, and this time were back on Thelma. We are starting to know quite a lot of the crew, and I had a lovely day chatting to Nanda and to Tony's wife Fiona.

The sailing went extremely well for us, even down to the forecast rain holding off until we were home. Tony really is a very good sailor, and was helped by a gentleman named Bruce who sat in the cockpit planning tactics with him. Thelma crossed the line first and a leg ahead of any other boat we could see.

Our return to the dock was more exciting than usual. As we moored, an unfamiliar yacht came in beside us. A crew member had fallen off our sister ship Waitangi, and this yacht had picked her up. The poor girl was pretty shaken. It was her first time sailing and she didn't know what had happened; we later heard that the boom had nudged her off the afterdeck. She was wearing a lifejacket and was picked up quickly, so hopefully no great harm done.

After tidying the boat we went for a drink with the crew, and I got talking to a lady who had been with us on Thelma. Chatting about flat sharing and the kitchen equipment we collected over the years, she mentioned that she had lost most of her belongings when she was on a ship that sank. Gosh, tell us more about that, we said.

We found ourselves listening to a story that could have been straight out of a book. In 1982 she had been crewing on a classic tall ship which had leaky planks, and in some heavy weather the leaks had let in more water than the bilge pumps could handle. The ship sank pretty fast, and our storyteller swam to one of only two life rafts that had been released. One crew member drowned. They then waited a week (a week!) to be picked up by a passing ship that happened to see their torchlight. Apparently the captain had decided to ration the water on the life rafts to 30ml per person per day.

We were told all this in a very matter-of-fact manner. But seriously. Can you even begin to imagine?

13th-15th February 2009: Sailing on Waitangi

Tim and I spent another weekend racing classic yachts in Auckland. This time there were three days of racing, in the Southern Trust Classic Yacht regatta, and we were asked to crew on Waitangi, Thelma's sister ship. I joined Waitangi for all three days and Tim for the Saturday and Sunday.

The main difference between Waitangi and Thelma is that Thelma, a couple of years newer and more advanced, always wins the races. I was quite pleased to find we had consistently come third in our class, until I found out there are only three boats in our class... the other being Rainbow. We had a great time anyway, and met the usual selection of new people ranging from novices to those whose full-time occupation is sailing round the world.

Sadly the weather wasn't quite as fabulous as on previous occasions sailing Thelma and we got fairly soaked in both salt and fresh water. When the boat heels over, those who are doing jobs on the lee side can be up to their waist in the wash over the deck. We'll have a word with the weather man and see if next time we can stay a little drier.

6th-7th December 2008: Yacht race to Waiheke

Together with a few CHPers, we joined Thelma for another classic yacht race and a night on Waiheke Island.

The race itself was very cruisy, downwind all the way from Devonport to Patio Bay with just one jibe. By the time we got there, though, Tim was in the bad books of the after-deck crew - he spent the race watching the gennaker and asking if we could just sheet in a bit... now ease off... no, sheet in again...

We spent Saturday evening at an excellent barbecue hosted by a gentleman called Bert, who has an idyllic bach in a bay only reachable by boat. It's a bit like Guy's beach hut but three times the size and with a proper fridge. Sorry Guy :) Rum flowed freely all evening, along with a surfeit of meat and much merriment.

One or two CHPers seem keen to get into sailing after this. We did point out that you don't always get two days of perfect conditions: warm sunshine, 15 knots of breeze pointing the right way, and someone else's fabulous 100-year-old racing yacht. You can't beat it.

15th November 2008: Sailing on Thelma again

Thelma, the yacht we sailed on previously, needed crew for another race so Tim went along again.

The wind was a bit stronger this time, and unfortunately we managed to break the boat about 20 minutes into the race: The belaying pin holding the peak halyard snapped, causing half the mainsail to flog and causing a fair bit of panic while all the sails were dropped. We were forced to retire from the race and return to port.

There was a professional photograher about, taking pictures of these very impressive boats.

That's us on Thelma in the foreground, just before the start.

8th November 2008: Classic yacht race

Having been given a pointer by someone at Tim's client, we wangled a day crewing the classic yacht Thelma in a race in the Waitemata harbour.

Thelma is a gaff-rigged cutter, built in 1897 and recently refurbished. It was an excellent day's sailing in sunshine and 15 knots of breeze. We were both on the foredeck involving a lot of hauling on sheets (Tim) and a day of tailing them (Sophie). We loved it, and Thelma took line honours. For non-sailors that means we were first over the finish line, but we probably didn't win on handicap-adjusted time.

Hopefully we will be able to sail on Thelma again soon - she races regularly and apparently often needs crew.

Update - The picture to the right is of us sailing on Thelma...