This could be the last day of summer - we'd better make the most of it. We've said that three Saturdays running now, as we've basked in bright sunshine, determined to make the most of the dying days of what has been a decidedly mixed season.
Last weekend was certainly mixed. On Friday we were due to do the Buckley Goblets, the final race of the EAORA season. The race, from West Mersea to Ostend, always sailed on the weekend of the Autumn Equinox, is notorious for bad weather. That's one of the reasons we were unable to raise a crew. We briefly toyed with the idea of doing it two up, just to have a weekend in Ostend, but with 30 knots in the forecast, we decided to go cruising more locally instead.
In fact on Friday we did not move from the marina, as the boat was buffeted by strong gusts and heavy showers. But then Saturday was a beautiful day. We enjoyed a glorious light airs fetch to Burnham, in unseasonably flat water. It could hardly have been more different from the day before - or indeed from our last trip to Burnham, with the trysail up, beating into the teeth of a June gale.
We'd deliberately gone south, because the forecast was for freshening southerlies on Sunday, and we were expecting a livelier trip home, but by Sunday morning the breeze was only just beginning to fill in. We decided not to wait for the tide, but to “go while the going's good,” and we had another exceptionally enjoyable sunshine sail.
We were back in our berth at Levington before the forecast came true - and then it was another horribly wet and windy day on Monday.
The previous two weekends had been equally warm and sunny when it mattered. We spent one of them anchored up Hamford Water in the Walton Backwaters, in the company of more yachts than we've ever seen there before, even in high summer.
Clearly everyone was determined to make the most of the Indian summer. But can it go on? Last weekend saw not only the final EAORA race, but also the final Haven Series races (another reason we struggled to find crew) and there was a distinctly end of season feel in the air.
For the first time in months there was the morning serenade of Eberspachers running as many of those who had stayed on board overnight felt the need to take the chill off the air.
This week we received the annual letter from the harbour reminding us that it's time to think about lifting out and winter maintenance. We're still debating how long we're going to stay in the water, but in the meantime, the dehumidifier has gone on board. And we've begun to see people unloading gear off their boats to take home.
The best way to take your mind off the depressing prospect of shorter, colder days and no sailing is to start to plan next year's adventures. And that's what we were doing as we sailed up the Essex coast last Sunday.
We didn't come to any firm conclusions - researching a couple of intriguing possibilities will give us some useful occupational therapy during the close season. But we're still hoping for a few more sunny weekends this year before we need that.
