Falanda Sailing

Completely amazing to have been nominated for 3 awards following my trip around Britan this summer!  I have been shortlisted for the YJA Marine Young Sailor of the year, and YJA Marine Young Journalist of the year awards, for which I have been invited to the award ceremony this friday. It's great to been nominated for such amazing awards, I never imaged the trip would lead to anything so incredible!  I have also been nominated for the Seahorse Sailor Of The Month award, which you can have a look at via the link below, and of course vote for me if you like!! https://seahorsemagazine.com/sailor-of-the-month Yachting Journalists' Association   Seahorse Sailing Magazine

 After a failed attempt to cross the channel on Thursday with mum, I spent the whole of Friday varnishing and cleaning aboard Falanda. On Saturday we  took both boats down the river to Exmouth, where stayed for a few nights for some quiet. On Sunday I took a friend for a sail, when we got to try out my spinnaker again, and swim off of Falanda, whilst sailing! The wind soon picked up however, so we got a nice sail in (accompanied by dolphins!), before I found out the stitching on the Jib was starting to go. On Monday morning mum showed me how to repair the stitching on the jib, before we headed back out to sea, heading for France! Because of Covid restrictions, we knew we couldn't actually land in France, so sailed to a point 12 miles off the coast, before turning around and sailing back again! There was plenty of wind, so we had a cracking sail the entire way, with 2 reefs in the main to reassure mum that the mast wouldn't fall down. Reaching the french border at 2am, we celeb...

 Yesterday, after a gentle sail at under 3kts for about 10 hrs, the wind died completely, and we decided to head back in towards the Exe. The forcast (origionally 15+kts!) gave the wind dropping even more overnight, and neither of us fancied drifting about in the Shipping lanes in the dark. This meant we had to motor up the Exe in the dark, which is never easy with the hundreds of moorings, and mud banks dotted all over the place. Luckily we were in by midnight, and Falanda is now sitting nicely on her mooring in topsham. Special thanks to our local boatyard, W Trout & Son, who have supported me before, and during my trip around Britain. They have been really helpful, offering easy access berthing, craning, and great advise.  You may remember I found a leak in Falanda's hull only days before setting off in June. Trouts boatyard were able to lift her out the water overnight, while me and dad sorted the problem out, and checked the bottom. They have always been there to help...