Frostbiting

The day started cold, clear and frosty, but by the time we'd assembled down at the slipway the clouds were moving in low and menacing.

There was a lot of fun to be had picking up and breaking the sheets of ice which had formed on the trapped water in so many of the dinghy covers even if it did result in cold fingers.

Eventually the small fleet got underway, there wasn't a lot of wind in the river and they returned a couple of hours later very cold and ready for a warn shower.

Meanwhile Dad was off crewing on a Dart 16, it seemed like a good idea until the hailstones started with the 5 minute gun. The squall which had brought the hail, rain and wind, passed through at the end of the first lap, leaving the frozen crew wallowing around. We carried on and finished the three circuits of the long course just as the second race was starting and decided enough was enough.