Monsoon Winds, Gold Fleet, and the Joys of an Old Boat

Things are going swimmingly out here. We’ve enjoyed a glorious North East Monsoon season, showing no real signs of easing — yet. Club racing has been magnificent, and my son was bumped up to the Optimist Gold Fleet, taking part in his first event of 2026 last weekend. He finished 72nd out of 93 — squarely toward the tail end — but a very solid result for his first outing in Gold, sailing in 10–15 knots with gusts up to 20.

My CT41 continues to occupy much of my spare time. Having reinstalled the mizzen boom (after some welding work), I’m now turning to the cap rails, which have two small areas of rot needing Dutchman patches. Someone kindly donated a few pieces of teak, so I’m well set for that job — followed, inevitably, by sanding and varnishing. After that, I’ll tackle a few minor areas of water ingress below decks.

Old boats… it never really ends.

With luck, we’ll manage a cruise to the Anambas Islands (Indonesia) in July — something to look forward to once the varnish dust settles.