What’s In A Name?

What's In A Name?

It was a bright and breezy day, and I had been sailing my sailboard on Findhorn Bay in the Moray Firth, Scotland, for some hours. The winds had been a steady force 4 all day, when they started gusting to force 5 to 6, with stronger winds and larger waves. All the other dinghies and sailboards had gone in, and I should have followed suit.

As the wind increased, the tide started to ebb, and with its narrow neck out to the Moray Firth, Findhorn Bay started to empty more quickly as the current sped up.

I felt my strength and energy suddenly wane, and if you have windsurfed you will know that once this starts, your technique quickly follows. And the vicious circle of failing technique resulting in dropped sail followed by reduced strength to get the sail out of the water, begins.

Soon I was completely exhausted, as well as very embarrassed. Why? Well, all my friends were in the porch at Royal Findhorn Yacht Club looking at their friend who couldn’t get his sail out of the water and sail back to shore.

As I was slowly being sucked from the edge of the bay into the main current, I realised that I would soon be swept out to sea in the Moray Firth, but what could I do? All I could do was lie out on my board nonchalantly waving to my friends in the clubhouse whilst inwardly panicking about my increasingly risky predicament.

As I was lying on my board, a grey seal suddenly poked its head through the surf, about one metre from my head, and looked straight at me. I got such a shock and adrenaline rush, it gave me the energy boost to pick up my sail flawlessly, and hanging off the boom, sail to the shore in a single run at a considerable rate of knots, much to the applause of my friends back at the yacht club. Little did they know...

That Seal helped me reach my destination, and with our support, Seal Energy Consult can help you do the same – hence the name!