A French treat (or not) – a sailing confession

Own up to your sailing sin for the chance to win a handheld VHF radio. Open to UK residents only

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A French treat (or not) – a confession by Patrick Hurd

Many years ago now, when young and carefree, I was part of a crew with my two older brothers sailing a Westerly GK 29 from Corsica to Cassis in the south of France.

It had been a gentle sail, with nothing much to report and, being the youngest brother, I, of course was given the 0200 till 0500 watch.

Because the seas were calm, at the end of my watch I went into the forepeak to sleep and as it was warm, took my clothes off, not expecting to arrive at our destination for a good few hours.

Continues below…

I awoke to a glorious day, the forehatch was open, but I hadn’t noticed that we had stopped moving.

The GK’s forepeak is quite low, so when standing on the bunks… need I say more? I stood up only to be facing the quayside cafes, full with people, now choking on their coffee.

While asleep, we had moored bows to the harbour wall (which you could do in those days). It’s taken me this long to come to terms with what was a very embarrassing moment!

Submit your sailing confession for a chance to win a floating handheld VHF
UK residents only
The Standard Horizon HX210E waterproof VHF radio is worth £134.95.
It boasts a water activated strobe, 6W transmissions, largest-in-class screen an FM radio and more.
www.standardhorizon.co.uk

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