The shortest trip

 Julian caught the bus to go home and get the car first thing this morning, while I tidied up Robinetta, and decided what to leave on board, and what to take home. We hope to use her again this season, for day and weekend trips, so did not want to strip her of all her comforts.

Crew in training with skipper by Christopher Bashforth

The yacht moored up closest to us was a training vessel, and Christopher Bashforth the skipper asked if I would mind showing his students the differences between Bermudan and Gaff rig, so I spent an enjoyable hour proving that the apparent excess of ropes were actually easy to use. There was virtually no wind, so I could hoist the main sail, and demonstrate the difference between a high cut jib and a genoa. They were really interested in the rig, and when getting the main sail down I could flake it properly, unlike yesterday when I had had to do it in a bit of a rush.

learning the ropes by Christopher Bashforth

Then I walked along the pontoon and came across the lovely Spirit of Callisto, a gaff ketch whose owners had discovered how much they liked the split rig in this, their first season owning her. She will be staying based at Rhu, and I hope to see more of them next year.

Once Julian returned we loaded up the car with 3 trolleys worth of gear, before getting some lunch at the Rhu Cafe. Then it was time for the twenty minute motor up to our own mooring. We had had this serviced back in the spring, but no one had used it since, and the pick up  "handbag" and its rope were covered in weed and small mussels. 

Julian came forward from the helm to help me secure the mooring line to the bits, and once he had tied it in place I tidied it up by scraping the mussels off with a knife so they would not damage the cap rail. Then I had to sluice them off the foredeck... 

After a last cup of tea on board I rowed us ashore in Worm. Our big trip was over, but our sailing season should continue for a while, as we have yet to make plans to have Robinetta hauled out for the winter.