Rachael, Dan and I were planning to go kite boarding in Poole last weekend, however a lack of forecasted wind meant that we had to changes plans at the last minute.  What is the obvious thing to do when there is no wind? Sailing of course! (?!? )

Since Dan was the only one in the group who actually knew how to sail, starting out with a small amount of wind actually turned out to be a pretty good idea.  We booked in for 11am on Saturday morning, although we had to wait a little longer to start due to a sailing race which was happening on the same day.  After arriving at 10:30am, watching the professionals rig up their boats, playing a little Frisbee and enjoying the sun of what turned out to the be hottest day of the year so far, we we eventually wheeled out boat…

Once we (well, Dan) had got the sail set up, Mark and I boarded the boat for the first sail with ‘Captain Dan’.  Mark and I had literally ZERO experience sailing, so had to be taught which ropes to hold, when to pull and when to let go.  Dan got a little frustrated with us – although mainly when we were not taking it seriously and arguing over who was a better sailor.  Eventually we go the hang of it, and managed to have a lot of fun whilst also taking our job of ‘owning the front’ sail seriously…

Lessons learnt from captain Dan…

• A flappy sail is an unhappy sail
• ‘Li ho’ – actually, all I learnt was the phrase, no idea what it means
• Starboard=right, Port=left (although I did not learnt why they don’t just say right and left
• When the captain shouts “Ready about”, everyone is supposed to shout “Ready” to let him know they are ready to duck the mast as the boat turns

In addition, I learned that the wind can actually pull that boat, rather than push it!  I really had no idea about this before Dan explained how it worked.  The sail acts in a very similar fashion to a wing (or I suppose more accurately, a wing works in a similar fashion to a sail, since a sail has been around much longer).  So the boat actually sails IN to the wind when it’s curved surface produces a different in wind speeds on each side and results in a pulling effect.  Fascinating! Looking forward to getting some more experience sailing.

Despite not having much wind, we did manage to pick up speed on several occasions.  It was quite exciting each time we had to lean off the edge of the boat in an attempt to balance it each time we picked up speed.  Whilst I have not yet experienced sailing in strong winds, I can see that it requires team work, quick reactions and provides a great adrenaline rush.  Really looking forward to sailing properly in the sea

There were too many of us to all go on the boat at once, so we also had a picnic, Frisbees (which I somehow lost ) and kayaks…

Mark and I went for a circuit of the lake and thanks to the light winds actually managed to beat the boat around.  It was only when we go back to land that we realised we had been using the kids paddles!  Still lots of fun though   Whilst not quite the same, it reminded me of when Ali and I did sea kayaking in Thailand.  Definitely going to do more kayaking this year – maybe down the river in Reading next time.

The rest of the time at the lake was spent enjoying the sun, messing around and getting some awesome shots of (my now lost) Frisbees…

Tonight was a sausage fest at Windsor race course!  Yes that’s right, it was the ‘Best of British Sausage Festival’ horse racing night. 

Despite living just down the road, I have never been Windsor race course before tonight, so wasn’t sure what to expect.  We got Club Enclosure tickets, which got us entry to a nice section of the course with champagne/Pimms bars, plenty of space to watch the finish line close up and of course – the sausage festival…

10 or so English sausage producers proudly cooked their speciality sausages and handed out free samples to the visiting crowds.  All guests were supposed to vote for their favourite sausage, and the winning company supposedly was rewarded with an annual contract to sell their sausages at Windsor race events.  My personal favourites were from ‘Lewis of Sunningdale’, who cooked some lovely soft pork sausages which exploded and melted in my mouth with every bite…mmm…it’s nearly 11pm but I could still some now if I had any.  I think I will have to pay their farm shop a visit some soon!  

I also tried the Mexican food, which was OK, although I was slightly disappointed with the American style liquid cheese rather than good old grated Monterey Jack!

We were told that Lewis won the competition – no doubt partly down the very entertaining pair running the stall, who kept asking if there were any vegetarians and then offered anyone who put their hand up a bread roll

The Racing…

The event lasted for two and a half hours, featuring about 15 or so different horses over 6 races, with 30 minutes gaps in between to place bets, eat and drink champagne…

None of us had any idea what we were doing, so most of our selections were based on either how ‘pretty’ the jockey’s jersey looked, random numbers which popped in to our head or those horses with the most amusing names.  Keith and I did try to pick those with average odds, but quickly learned that it’s VERY difficult to successfully bet tactically.  We missed the first race because we arrived to late, and I mistakenly bet on the wrong race for my first bet, so I also technically missed the second race.  By the fifth race, none of us had one a single penny, but we decided to give it one last try for the sixth and final race…

I placed 3 bets, which totalled up to £7 (we had some vouchers to get free and discounted bets).  For one of my voucher discounted bets I was asked to choose three horses, so I selected three with varied odds – not actually having a clue what the bet meant and what I needed to win! 

The race finished, and 2 of the 3 I had selected came within the top three.  Zoe and I had similar, but slightly different bets, but neither of us thought we had actually won anything.  We went to check anyway, and I was VERY surprised to hear that I had won ‘52’, but then even MORE surprised to hear that it was 52 pounds, rather than 52 pence as I had initially thought!

It’s nice to actually get back from a night out in profit

It is the warmest day of the year in the UK so far (28 degrees or so), so it was a great evening to be outside, drinking champagne and watching the sun go down to the sound of horses galloping and people cheering.  Windsor is a lovely place, and the racecourse is a great place to spend any evening in the sun.

After our great ski trip to Courchevel last month, I am totally hooked on skiing (for now at least ).  I have been on 4 weeks of business trips to Seattle over the past 5 weeks (was home for 1 week in between), so decided to take advantage of this second one to get in a ski trip in to Crystal mountain, which is about 1 hours drive from Redmond.

We started the day early, I met Karen and Gavin in a park and ride car park at 7am.  The day didn’t quite start as planned, since when I stepped out of the car and felt how cold it was, I realised that I had left my ski jacket in the hotel! Luckily we were only 10 mins from the hotel at this point, so there was plenty of time to turn back. 

Once we had picked up my jacket, the picturesque journey to Crystal began.  Karen had a big 4×4 Infiniti car which was spec’d out with every gadget and comfort item I can imagine – it even beeped at her if she got too close to the edge of the freeway lane!  Here is a little clip of the comfortable journey…

Since we were running a little late, Karen was in a hurry, so decided to overtake some slow (ish) moving vehicles, which attracted the attention of a local law enforcement officer who decided to pull us over with a blast of his siren and some pretty red and blue flashing lights.  Karen spectacularly talked her way out of a traffic ticket, although I did have to drive the car for the rest of the day (being the only one who had a driving license).  Quite the journey…

We did eventually arrive, with all of our stuff, and with no traffic fines.  The lifts opened at 8:45 and we turned up at 9am, so not too bad considering

The snow at the bottom of the mountain was a little icy and slushy, however further up and on faces exposed to the sun, the conditions were great!  I had both layers of my jacket on, so I was actually too hot at some points.  I cooled down by waiting for some of the ski lifts in my t-shirt.  There were actually a bunch of guys skiing and snowboarding in just t-shirts or vest tops!  I’m not quite confident enough to do that – it would be very painful if they fell over!

We started off with a few easy runs, but progressively took on more challenging slopes, until we eventually headed for the double black diamonds!…

Double Black Diamonds

These are sections of the mountain which are off piste, and considered to be fairly advanced (as you can tell from the warning sign).  We successfully managed to get down the slope.  I started off a little cautious, but after I made a few turns and built up my confidence I managed to get down the slope at a reasonable speed (relative to the speed I started at least).  Gavin had a little tumble on the way down, and then struggled for 5 minutes to retrieve his skis on the very steep slope.  The rest of us were too far down to go up and help him, so we had planted out ‘butts’ on the snow and waited patiently.

So besides Gavin’s little adventure, the run in the photo above did not actually turn out to be too bad, however it got worse!  We took a lift up to the top of the mountain and were faced with a choice of icy moguls or a VERY steep drop (check it out in the first pic below!!!)…

Here is Karen waving from above as we attempted to ski down…

Gavin and I attempted to get down the slope gracefully in our skis, but failed miserably.  We ended up cutting through some trees on to a more powdery (although just as steep) slope.  Eventually we managed to get ourselves down to the piste and picked up the pace.  Here is a little video clip of Gavin and Tom emerging from the trees…

It is an amazing feeling to be on the side of the mountain in snow that no one yet skied! I want to do it again!! Here is Karen sitting on some of the fresh powder…

Lunch and Apres Ski…

Whilst the variety of bars and restaurants did not match larger ski resorts, the atmosphere of eating and drinking outside was not lost. 

We had lunch and after ski wine/beer at the Bullwheel, which is right at the bottom of mountain in the same place where cars are parked to get on the first ski lift.  We happened to be there on the same day as ‘Brew Fest’, which was essentially a beer festival and bar-b-q on the decking area.

There was a good selection of food, although typically American (I had a chicken burger and fries).  The only downside was that the place was PACKED, so it was a little tricky to find a good place to sit outside (plenty of room inside).

At the end of the day, Gavin and I finished the day off with a glass of beer/wine whilst we waited for Karen and Tom to do one more suicide run of the double black diamond! (they survived).

The drive home seemed to take longer than the journey there – most likely because Karen was driving at a ‘little’ above the speed limit on the way there, and I was driving with a accurately configured cruise control speed on the way back. 

The season will be way over by the time I am next in the U.S., so all there is to say is…”Crystal Mountain, thanks for the ride, see you next season!”…

Huge thanks to Karen and Tom for guiding me and Gavin on the mountain, and an extra thanks to everyone for great company and an awesome day out! Can’t wait for next year’s ski season – roll on November!