Our yacht was in its element. With sunshine gleaming off the chestnut spars and a north-northeasterly fattening the sails, Windsong ripped across the mere, cocked at a jaunty angle, kicking up waves of joy. It was like a wild horse galloping through surf, ebullient, powerful and graceful. Only this “wild horse” was under the control of skipper Els Robinson and, to a far, far lesser extent, me. When the cry of “Come about!” came about, my jobs were to trim the jib (the small triangular sail at the front, I’d just learned) and not get hit by the boom. Oh, and to enjoy the ride.
I’d come to the Norfolk Broads to join a women’s Wellbeing on the Water weekend. I grew up on the Broads. In fact, I grew up just across the fields from Upton Dyke, where Eastwood Whelpton sailing holidays is based. But I never sailed. I didn’t know anyone who did, so it never crossed my mind that I could.
