I have this beautifully romanticised view of sailing; it’s all stripy jumpers and cocktails and polished brass.

I’m quite aware that isn’t the actual reality, which I certainly learnt while out sailing at Fishers Green Sailing Club on the 17ft bilge keeler, Queen of the Seas.

We had got a lift on a RIB to pick her up from the lagoon, a tiny little nook off the corner of the lake, with nothing but lazy trees leaning over the bank and dipping their leaves into the cool water.

Baby geese wandered around clumsily on the small bits of grass just visible through the foliage.

We got onboard Queen of the Seas and the skipper told us to unfurl the jib, believing we should be able to make our way out onto the lake without the engine.

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As we unfurled the sail, Mother Nature blessed us with a big gust of wind – one which filled the sail utterly, and pushed us….backwards.

To cut a long story short, we ended up stuck amongst the branches of a tree.

After several vain attempts to get the boat free, which only seemed to wedge us further and faster into our woody trap, it was time to get on the radio and call for help.

It arrived in the form of two lovely gentlemen on a RIB with a 50hp engine.

Once they’d finished laughing and standing on the bow to take photographs, they were obliging enough to tug us out.

I must say, I think I rather like sailing.

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