Jean Estor wrote:For once I understood every single word ...

Thanks and merry Xmas to all of you.

;-0))

Merci, Jean. A vous, aussi.

Annie Hill wrote:

 but in the immortal words of Edith Piaf: je ne regrette rien!

Moi non plus.

Annie Hill wrote:Well, I'm a lot closer to re-discovering them myself!  Fantail is, as the Germans say, swimming again.  Bliss to be back in the water.  Still lots of jobs to do but at least I'm afloat for Christmas.  And I managed to berth her without scratching the new paint job :-)

Well done Annie.  It is always a joy to splash the boat after a period up on the hard. One of the side benefits of all that dirty work is the renewed pleasure of being afloat.  Just having a cup of tea (or glass of wine) and listening to the water chuckling around the hull is bliss.  The older I get the simpler my pleasures become.  Eric Hiscock once wrote that cruising is a life of contrasts.  I am the world's least likely masochist, more of a lap dog than a bloodhound, but I have learned to accept the hardships that cruising sometimes dishes out as a necessary entree into an almost magical world of beauty, sunrises at sea, whales, dolphins, the clean, uncluttered sea itself, and the chance to savour the exquisite bliss that follows a successful landfall.  I tried the easy life for a while last year and found it very dull.  With my newfound delight in Arion's cambered junk rig, I look forward to a rollicking adventure on the ocean in 2013.  2012 was a year of rebuilding my physical and mental strength.  As Brian notes, I have come a long way since last Christmas, and the support and advice of my friends in the JRA has been invaluable.  I thank you all and wish you all many happy miles under your keels in 2013.

Hi Graham. One of the joys of coming back to the site after a few days travelling (now in the Alps where my daughter sails her Kingfisher 20+ in the summer) has been to see some great posts about your rig and the joy of sailing - and indeed to see the fora being used so well and without malice. It's been great to watch your spirits pick up as the year moved on; I'm sure 2013 will be a great one for you. Best wishes to all, and keep posting in the right places and with good topic titles - it helps us all find information later on.

To avoid the risk of getting smacked by the administrator for being off topic (yet again, bad boy!), I moved this response to Arne, Roy and David from the Teleport subject.    I think that what you guys are talking about encompasses the secret of my fascination with ocean sailing.  I can become a bit misanthropic when I am ashore too long and life feels a bit stale, but after a bit of a cruise, I come into port with a keen appreciation of the simple pleasures of civilization.  The Joys of Cruising!  Out today for a daysail in light airs to try out my sail with new Paul Fay parrels, long fixed parrels removed from lower 4 battens, HK parrels refitted, plastic sleeves on all remaining fixed parrels, silicone spray all over. I was able to furl the sail with the wind over the stern yesterday (at the dock) and it stacked properly (positive batten stagger!) - first time I could ever do that.  Woke up this morning feeling like a small boy on the first day of school holidays.  Can't wait to untie the boat from the dock and sail out into the sparkling blue ocean!