Goodbye Raglan, hello Hamilton
Now I know what my next move will be there is peace of mind. Sometime early in 2017 I will take up a very nice unit in Cascades Retirement Centre, just outside the entrance to Hamilton Lake. So it’s fresh water, not salty like Lorenzen Bay, so I am taking every chance to get immersed in the sea. Salt on my skin means that I can keep my memories of past salty days. I learnt to sail when I was 12 years old. The Mariella was a sturdy carved built boat about 14 feet long. It had some sheets of iron each side of the centreboard to aid stability. There were no buoyancy bags and no life jackets. Keeping the Mariella from dipping its gunwale in a stiff breeze was quite an art. After a couple of years’ experience I was winning adult cups, taking part in racing in Portland Harbour (in Dorset, South England). Enough boasting, the point is that it is a short walk from Cascades to Hamilton Lake where small boat racing is held in summer. It also has ducks and occasional swans. I would not swim or capsize in the water contaminated by their faeces. I’ll stick to watching the racing from the lakeside and missing Raglan.
Ian McKissak
Raglan
