HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL WHEN IT COMES TO PREPARING YOUR BOAT FOR THE SEASON AHEAD
WELCOME TO THE April issue of Sailing Today with Yachts and Yachting which is also our Dinghy Show issue. April sounds truly spring like but, due to the vagaries of publishing, this edition of the magazine is actually put together in late January and published late February, so it's considerably less spring like. Nevertheless, I have always viewed the opening of the RYA Dinghy Show as the starting gun for the season ahead, bringing with it the promise of better things to come.
It also reminds anyone who owns a boat that perhaps they really should think about doing some work on said boat if they have any hope of getting an early season sail in. For me, every year is a story of good intentions gone to waste. In October when I put the boat in a winter berth, I imagine heading down to it every weekend and pottering about on various jobs required in order to be in the water for, perhaps, April. Who knows, perhaps I'd go for a couple of winter sails? Then winter hits and suddenly you find other diverting tasks to do - like sitting by a warm fire, for example. By February though, you're starting to feel a little restless. You want to get things done ahead of the inevitable rush. I vividly remember heading down to my boat one raw January day with every intention of getting a few chores done. A c
