Thinking about sailing, Dinghy Park, Knoll Beach, Studland

I have often day dreamed about sailing a trim dinghy - I can imagine climbing into a brave boat, its blue sail taut in the wind - the boat would set off, heading out to deeper water from the beach - I would feel the salty air upon my skin - bright necklaces of spray would mark my progress -

I read Swallows and Amazons as a boy - I got the book on loan from Elson Public Library - the library was a single storey affair, with a zinc roof - there were lines of bookcases, with an aisle between them - I can smell, even now, the special library smell of those hardback volumes -

I loved the maps in Swallows and Amazons - I traced voyages I might make - I looked at the coastline of Wild Cat Island - I splashed, in my imagination, bare legged through the sea at the landing place -

I also loved dearly the water rat, in Wind and the Willows - I glowed with happiness looking at the illustrations by Ernest H Shepard, especially the one of the Water Rat taking Mole for a jaunt in a sleek skiff -

Since those early imaginings, I have sailed on yachts - but I've been, I have to confess, very much in the character of the Mole, awkward upon the water -

For a number of summers, we sailed on Jane and Ken's yacht - around Corsica, and from Istanbul, across the Sea of Marmara, to Erdek - I swam in the warm water, around the yacht, being chased by transparent jelly fish -

This summer, Deo volente - I hope to gain a RYA Competent Crew Certificate - the sailing school is based near Split - I intend exploring Diocletian's Palace -

There may, who knows, be a special certificate for semi-competent crew - 

These dinghies and Hobie Cats are to be found at Knoll Beach, Studland - we walk past them often - the sight and feel of their slim hulls has prompted us to action -

We saw a yacht, far out on the sea, under a pale half moon - what finer sensation could there be, than looking up at that moon, hearing the water lap against the sides of your fragile craft?