Helm Time!

I met with Jessie this past Saturday afternoon to get some sailing in with some great winds forecast. The Tampa Bay area was on the outer bands of tropical storm Bonnie that crossed the state and dropped a bunch of rain in the area. Winds had been in the low teens through the morning and a storm front was off in the distance so we knew it was going to pick up and probably wet. After getting Jessie's boat all rigged up for the sail, the engine would not start again. After a week of charging, the batteries were dead again. After accepting that nothing was going to correct the problem, we opted that it be wiser to not try and sail out and back since we did not know what to expect once we were out. It was deemed that it may be too strong and with no engine it would be a much greater risk.

As we were walk back to the car we bumped into Reggie who was coming down to his boat for some afternoon reading. He was not planning to go out as he thought it was not a good idea to go out alone in what seemed to be building conditions. He offer to go sailing if we came along and had no hesitation in saying yes. The breeze was good, the boat was healing and I took the helm for a bit enjoying the rush. As the front approached, I tacked the boat and sailed her back to the entrance to the basin. It was exhilarating to helm under those conditions and keep her straight and sailing along.

After arriving at the dock just in time before the downpour of rain and the arrival of strong thunderstorm clouds, we decided to grab some food and a beer. Reggie again offered to be happy to give me helm time whenever I wanted. He is such a nice man and always so generous with his time, boat and friendship. I hope to take him up on his offer and get some more practice behind the helm. He also talked about a short two day trip to Venice one weekend in October. Let's see if we can make that happen.

Ouch!

I'm a little behind in a post but this past Thursday race at DIYC was a new experience for me. We were ready around the start time and making our way for the line, when a collision was about to take place. As we were making our approach just before the horn, we were boxed in by a boat to windward and leeward, just about then another boat was running the line and we had no where to go. Our anchor hit their stern rail, bending it out of shape and even ripping a winch off their deck. Now this boat we hit is in need of some repairs and for a winch to be ripped off the deck, I wonder how solid she is.

Never the less, the race was over for us and we made out way back to the club so the owners could sort out the work and damage. I really have not had much luck lately with the Thursday races but I hope I can get a good one in soon.

Saturday Sailing and A New Challenge

I met with Jessie to go out sailing on her boat Saturday afternoon, as winds were forecast to hold in the 8-10 knots range. We motored out of the slip easily and down the basin to the break wall. I had the main sail up as we passed the break wall and raised the jib as we approached the pier. Right about that time the engine died and would not come back on. I suggested checking the battery level because if she continued to crank it would only deplete the battery to a point that it would not turn over. As suspected, the batteries were low and motoring back in was not going to be an option.

I suggested we sail around a bit and wait for the winds to fill in a little more consistently before attempting to sail her into the basin and the slip. Now I've sailed into the same area with a Rhodes 19 or Ideal 18 but that was different given the size of the boats and in those cases only sailed up to the dock very slowly to tie her off. This was going to be different in that it's almost 30 feet of boat and it was sailing her into her slip with lots of other expensive boats around to sail past. Basically it's like parking along a curb with the smaller boats versus parking a bigger boat into a parking space at the mall with all the other spots occupied. I admit I was a bit uneasy.

I felt the best thing to do was preplan the best option and maneuvers that would make it successful, anticipating everything the boat would do based on the feel and winds. I suggested we sail as close as possible to the concrete walk way of the Pier and Gybe so that we had a straight shot into the basin past the break wall. Just about that time there was a bunch of traffic coming in and out of the entrance, but since we were under sail and moving at a good speed, it went smoothly. Once in we waved another sailboat past since they were under power. I moved forward and dropped the jib into the forward hatch. Once we sailed past the first line of docked boats we headed up towards our row of slips. I warned that the main would Gybe as we turned into the row and about half way up the row I dropped the main sail since we were coasting along at a good speed. I coached Jessie from the bow to slightly turn into her slip, close enough so that I could hook her dock lines and pull us in.

All in all, the sailing in went textbook and not even close to any dangerous mishaps with any of the other boats. It was carefully planned out, thinking a few steps ahead and anticipating what the boat and sails would do at each point, coaching from the bow and no tense raised voices that is often heard from boaters in unfamiliar situations and conditions. Jessie did well at the helm coasting her in as I instructed from the bow.

This is definitely not something I'd like to do all the time but it was rather rewarding to test my skills of planning, expectation of response from the boat and making it happen flawlessly. I couldn't have been happier with the outcome and neither could Jessie since it is her baby.




Here is a photo kind of explaining what I'm trying to describe by tight spaces.

Need Some Sea Salt

It has been a bit since a post but to put things plainly, there isn't shit to report. I didn't sail last Thursday because Cool Change was overloaded with available crew and it seems there may be some sort of a rotation system working itself out. Let's see how that pans out. I didn't sail this past weekend because or actually the last two weekends because the weather was crap or no available boat to crew on. I'm not sailing tonight because Cool Change is not racing in the Thursday Night race this week and let's see what the weekend holds.

I've basically been stuck with some work frustrations, cash flow frustrations and basically just working out to relieve stress. The workouts only fill the void for a few but lately the next day brings is own share of frustrations. I really need to get some sailing in soon. I've even gone as far as dreaming about trimming sails, time at the helm and flying through the breeze on an overcast day. It must be a sign of the need to sail when you dreaming the stuff.

I've also killed some time reading a book called "Close to the Wind" by Pete Goss. It is a great book on his story of sailing and the round the world races he has been involved in. I'm about halfway through the book, which is saying alot for me, but so far my opinion is that it is a motivational story caught between sailing and attitude. This will definitely be a re-read book to note down some personality traits to learn from. A hidden secret about myself is that I really don't read much. I can't even get through a magazine article if it doesn't grab my attention. So for me to finish a book, that is saying something about the content. I'm not done yet but so far I have a hard time putting it down.

Hopefully the next post will have some sailing in it and who knows, maybe a picture of it all.

Thursday Night Race

Well it's July 4th weekend so it has been a few days since the Thursday Night Race at DIYC, but the experience of this Thursday night race adventure is worthy of noting. The few days prior to the race have been very rainy with some severe thunderstorms as well. All related to a tropical depression turned hurricane which went for Mexico. We met at the boat and headed out to the racing area in very overcast conditions with building cloud cover throughout the area. It was obvious that we were going to get wet and that there was a strong chance of winds kicking up. We decided to reef the mainsail and sail with a full jib prior to the start. Our start was great and we were on our way to the second mark. After rounding the second mark I trimmed the Spinnaker for a downwind run. The winds were picking up and we were definitely flying along ahead of our competition. Nearing the next mark it started to rain and the winds started to kick up as expected. We doused the Spinnaker but unfortunately a little to quickly for the foredeck crew who had to handle the sail. The Spinnaker got stuck and torn on the anchor, causing a rip along a the top portion of the sail. By now the rain had really started coming down and visibility was very poor. The bay water became very choppy with whitecaps all over the place and some of the waves reaching their rolling effect. Because of the combination between needle sharp rain, strong winds, the excessive heal of the boat plus the wave and poor visibility of the race area; we decided to ditch the race and make it back in.

Those conditioned not only persisted but intensified on our way back to the slip. Because the visibility was so poor, we were all acting as lookout for oncoming traffic of other boats in the area who were facing the same conditions. Our decision to reef the mainsail was obviously the right one and proved to be beneficial given the conditions. If we had gone with full sail, things very well may have turned out a little differently.

Needless to say it was a very exhilarating ride and the adventure did exactly what this sail was supposed to do, allowing me to forget about all the other stuff I have going on with work and life. We made it to the dock in the downpour with the winds calming down enough to make docking easier. We tied her off and after everyone left, I enjoyed a rum and coke with Pat, Lea and Martin.

It was an awesome ride and refreshing to get some real wind to sail in.