A Row of Two Halves

Went rowing with the Dinghy Cruising Association today, from Itchenor to Sandy Point, the spit of land on the Hayling Island side of Chichester Harbour mouth.

At Itchenor, two Mirror dinghies were almost rigged. Here is David Sumner with his (note the home made gaff rig with topsail) with Cliff Martin and Sarah Sorensen in the background. The sun was shining and the wind was a gentle westerly. Lovely weather indeed.
They had to beat into the wind down the channel, so I was considerably faster in my sliding seat boat Snarleyow. I tried getting up the rythe to My Lord's Pond but it was almost exactly low water and the channel was too narrow.
On the way back I noticed a big yellow can marked 'Black Can' in big letters. Shows what happens when a universally-known local landmark gets replaced by someone with no sense of history.
Notice the nasty big black cloud in the photo. Half an hour later, having lunch on the beach, a front blew in with a vengeance, driving rain before it. Luckily, we could shelter under the balconies of Hayling Island Sailing Club.
When the rain stopped, I decided to hightail it for home through the gathering gloom before the next gust came in. Several showers could be seen coming up the Channel outside the harbour mouth.
By this time the tide had turned and I had both wind and current pushing me along. I got the boat strapped to the roof of the car just before the next shower. Wish I could manage such brilliant timing every trip....