Monday, May 23, 2011

Sails in the sunlight

On the threshold of winter, we have been blessed with sun-warmed days. As I came home from my walk in the sun yesterday, suddenly the boats glided across the strip of sea in front of me, their sails caught by the light.
Even when the clouds moved across the sky, still some of the sails remained lit up. They were having a race, but in the world of small boats on a mild day, 'race' really means a pleasant glide.
I used to sail a lot when I was first married and we had an 'idlealong', a 13 foot kauri sailing dinghy. We sailed up and down the harbour, just like the boats in these pictures. Sometimes the wind blew fiercely, but mostly we were searching for a good breeze, and on one occasion when we stayed out too long, the wind dropped entirely and we had to paddle back to the marina with our rubber jandals. Ah, such memories, evoked by the boats I saw yesterday.
What a beautiful sight to bring a perfect day to a close.

8 comments:

Anne Ruffell said...

Catching up on reading your words brings my day to a perfect close. I have so enjoyed journeying through the months with you to find your entry for today and to see the beautiful scene above with the sails. So often I ache to be back in New Zealand again. Life is good but those childhood roots will always make me return. I may be thousands of miles away but I feel very close and yourn diary entries make that distance much smaller.

Juliet said...

Thank you for all your wonderful comments Anne. You've had quite a catch up! Yes, those childhood memories have their own special ache, don't they? I'm glad I can keep NZ alive for you through this blog.

Anonymous said...

To see those boats a'sailing is wonderful, Juliet, and the boating memories you have as well. I"m just starting to catch up on my blog reading, and this was a delight to see and read.

Anonymous said...

Ah, you look across the harbor to my old family home - where watching the sails go by, as well as 'messing about in boats' was a big part of family life. So it's is a double joy to see these 'wings' on the water.

We also looked across to your bay and yearned for the last of the sun's rays beaming back to us golden from the window panes, like a Hundertwasser painting!

Blessings,
Sue

Juliet said...

Thank you Penny and Sue. I remember living on the other side of the harbour and looking across at the sun bathing this side. Now I'm living in those golden rays. What a blessing.

Lynley said...

Sunday afternoon here was warm and calm and we took the opportunity to walk around the local Aotea Lagoon.

We watched lots of remote controlled yachts being sailed on the calm, sun dappled water.

A gaggle of 7 geese, the usual flocks of seagulls and ducks were watching the yachts too.

We are a bit bewildered by this warm,calm weather here in Porirua at this time of the year....but we are making the most of it before winter arrives.

Juliet said...

Hi Lynley, so you had that warm burst too. It is a bit bewildering as you say, but good to enjoy while it lasts.

Anne Ruffell said...
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