Cowes Week

For a very long time I was a keen, and quiet good, sailor. I started my sailing 'career' aged about 12, crewing my brother in a Mirror dinghy at a local sailing club on a disused gravel pit. We had a great time and made some good friends.

Our horizons grew as we started to compete in regattas across the country, moving into Fireflies and International 14s. Finally, we were drawn to 'big boats', and started chartering yachts with a group of friends for weekends away. Come rain or shine, we would be out on the water whenever we could. This was a challenge as we lived near London, so had to travel to the coast .

This scrapbook page shows the madness that is trying to moor at Cowes during Cowes Week. I have never seen anything like it since, we were often seven or eight depth on the jetties. This was fine while everyone was happy staying put, but if one of the inner boats wanted to leave, all sorts of fun and games would ensue as everyone tried to stay connected to the flotilla.

The layout is a straight lift from Shimelle Laine and is one I come back to often. it is simple and can either be very busy, or, as in this case, quite graphic; it all depends on the papers used and how much embellishment is added. This is a fairly understated layout as the colours are quite bright.I am not a great one for using much plain cardstock, but in this case the plain black adds to the drama.