SOUMIS
Great day for sailing in Goldcrest
By LS Mason,
Fleet Auxiliary (Pacific)
September 27 was a remarkably warm and sunny day with a light breeze blowing out to sea. In short, it was a perfect day for sailing. The OIC of the Goldcrest, John Haggis, hoped it would be as he had planned to introduce the joys of sailing to those of us on FA(P) who showed an interest. AB Fung, AB Mang, OS Makohin, AB Bilodeau and I, LS Mason, took full advantage of the opportunity.
We toured the inner harbour as seaplanes landed around us and waved with a smile to all who passed us by. It was pretty hard not to on such a beautiful day. As we left the harbour with the wind at our backs, we opened the sails and allowed the wind to take us where we wanted to go. John taught us about tacking, and the basics of maintaining a bearing. We all took turns at the helm. Our next stop was lunch at Albert Head.
After lunch, it was time to head back. As we were travelling into the wind this time, we left the engines on and relaxed as we coasted back to Esquimalt Harbour. If the mission was to encourage an interest in sailing, than I think it is safe to say, mission accomplished.
