A day on the beach with 893
By Julian FiskA day on the beach with 893
(a tale before covid19 lockdown in the UK)
It was decided that a family day out at Huttoft beach on the east coast of England UK was in order. Huttoft is a particular favourite of our family as it allowed you to drive onto a hardstanding on the beach and use the car as a base, plus it had the all-important toilets. You can do whatever seaside related things you wish on the beach or just sit in the car and watch the tide come and go. Today was a special day as we were going to take PDracer 893 named unknowingly as “pride and joy” by Shorty no less. When hull 893 went 3D, I sent Shorty the news to get my hull number and said “here is my latest pride and joy” and said it didn’t have a name yet and so it was listed as pride and joy, or PAJ to her friends. On arriving at the beach, the boat was unloaded off the roof rack of the car and taken onto the beach to be rigged. She has a Lugg sail for simplicity, a dagger board in the side floatation box, and a drop-down rudder. After lots of rigging, checking and double checking she was ready to be launched, and this was to be her maiden sail so a bit of a baptism by fire in a way. It wasn’t a rough day on the sea by any means but there was enough of a swell to make getting the boat out across the waves near the shore, but an offshore wind helped no end and we were soon onboard and setting out on our first adventure on the sea no less. The east coast isn’t a wild place by any standards, and is patrolled and watched by coastal watch staff and we had a two-way marine radio on the boat too for any emergencies plus we were wearing life jackets of course, so I felt happy safety had been taken care of. however, I think the waves and chop that looked so small of the beach were underestimated somewhat, and the next half an hour was spent happily crashing through them. PAJ seemed happy to take this abuse and no flexing of the hull was noticed. I think the highlight of the trip had to be when a friendly seal came along side of the boat to see who was invading its water. The seal stayed with us for several minutes and seemed to be just enjoying our company. Eventually we got cold and very wet from all the spray from the sea, so we decided to return to the shore and recover from our excitement. 893 was well and truly tested, and declared seaworthy. While we were out at sea some friends had turned up to windsurf, so they had a go in PAJ too and were very surprised at how stable this little boat is, and they spent the next hour sailing her up and down the coast enjoying the waves. Sadly, the day was soon over and 893 was put away in the garage ready for its next outing. Since this trip I have had a spell of ill health and no sailing has taken place since for a couple of years, but she waits for me ready to take us on new adventures. A quick polish of the hull plate from Shorty and a check of the rigging and we will be ready to set sail once more.
Thank you for reading my story so why not write a story of your adventures for others to read. and don’t forget to get your hull plate from Shorty as it goes to help keep the site running.
Thank you Shorty, for all your hard work over the years.
(a tale before covid19 lockdown in the UK)
It was decided that a family day out at Huttoft beach on the east coast of England UK was in order. Huttoft is a particular favourite of our family as it allowed you to drive onto a hardstanding on the beach and use the car as a base, plus it had the all-important toilets. You can do whatever seaside related things you wish on the beach or just sit in the car and watch the tide come and go. Today was a special day as we were going to take PDracer 893 named unknowingly as “pride and joy” by Shorty no less. When hull 893 went 3D, I sent Shorty the news to get my hull number and said “here is my latest pride and joy” and said it didn’t have a name yet and so it was listed as pride and joy, or PAJ to her friends. On arriving at the beach, the boat was unloaded off the roof rack of the car and taken onto the beach to be rigged. She has a Lugg sail for simplicity, a dagger board in the side floatation box, and a drop-down rudder. After lots of rigging, checking and double checking she was ready to be launched, and this was to be her maiden sail so a bit of a baptism by fire in a way. It wasn’t a rough day on the sea by any means but there was enough of a swell to make getting the boat out across the waves near the shore, but an offshore wind helped no end and we were soon onboard and setting out on our first adventure on the sea no less. The east coast isn’t a wild place by any standards, and is patrolled and watched by coastal watch staff and we had a two-way marine radio on the boat too for any emergencies plus we were wearing life jackets of course, so I felt happy safety had been taken care of. however, I think the waves and chop that looked so small of the beach were underestimated somewhat, and the next half an hour was spent happily crashing through them. PAJ seemed happy to take this abuse and no flexing of the hull was noticed. I think the highlight of the trip had to be when a friendly seal came along side of the boat to see who was invading its water. The seal stayed with us for several minutes and seemed to be just enjoying our company. Eventually we got cold and very wet from all the spray from the sea, so we decided to return to the shore and recover from our excitement. 893 was well and truly tested, and declared seaworthy. While we were out at sea some friends had turned up to windsurf, so they had a go in PAJ too and were very surprised at how stable this little boat is, and they spent the next hour sailing her up and down the coast enjoying the waves. Sadly, the day was soon over and 893 was put away in the garage ready for its next outing. Since this trip I have had a spell of ill health and no sailing has taken place since for a couple of years, but she waits for me ready to take us on new adventures. A quick polish of the hull plate from Shorty and a check of the rigging and we will be ready to set sail once more.
Thank you for reading my story so why not write a story of your adventures for others to read. and don’t forget to get your hull plate from Shorty as it goes to help keep the site running.
Thank you Shorty, for all your hard work over the years.
