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Nick Burnham: There’s something brilliant about boating in company with other craft, but it’s especially true when the other boat is an identical model
Leave the boat in through the winter”, they said. “We get some fantastic winter boating days”, they said. Well it was pretty fantastic when we left for a short run to blow the metaphorical cobwebs away. But the weather can change very quickly in winter, which is why you find your hero this month motoring swiftly back into the River Dart in heavy rain, long-suffering friend Steve at the helm, yours truly battling to erect the canopy in a desperate bid to avoid a soaking. We made it back to the berth without getting too drenched, I dried out the cockpit with a towel (fortunately most of the cockpit upholstery was in the cabin in any case) and we splashed on home to warm up and dry out.
However, a fortnight later, wrapped up and buoyed up by a very positive forecast that promised proper sunshine and light-ish winds, it was time for another go. It was one of those crisp wonderful chilly winter days that in the past have had me regretting the boat being tucked up ashore. Greg was out on his Jeanneau 805 Leader and had come round to the Dart from his home port of Brixham. We met him in the river and headed out to sea together. There’s something brilliant about boating in company with other craft, but it’s especially true when the other boat is an identical model because you can enjoy the motion of your own boat and yet be able to see what it looks like – an aquatic outof-body experience, so to speak.
A fantastic romp down the coast to Blackpool Sands was had before sweeping around and running at high speed back up p
