New Years Day Sail

Ok so old habits die hard and I am a few days behind on some sailing updates to the blog. Well here goes! After this past New Years Day, I think every New Years Day should be spent Sailing. I met up with Reggie and Janice to go sailing on his Catalina 309, the beautiful boat I sailed on when we went to Key West in mid 2010. The day was beautiful with consistent winds in the 10-12 knots range with some gusts in the upper teens. The weather was cool and sunny the whole day. We quickly sailed out of the basin and headed towards Apollo Beach, truly an awesome ride. We tacked around a channel mark and I helmed all the way back to the basin. It was real nice to get some helm time, especially in those conditions. The boat handles beautifully and it was an exhilarating sail.

As I neared the pier, which marks the entrance into the basin, the winds kicked up to 18-19 knots and I was experiencing a good amount of weather helm. The set up on this boat is great for single handling so I reached for the jib sheet on the winch and eased her out in order to spill some wind. That allowed her to come back to a nice heel versus being on her shoulders. I think you can tell from the pictures that I really enjoyed myself today.

After the sail we went for a New Years beer and just had great conversation for a while afterwards. I think this is a great way to start a new year, each year. Some people may eat certain bean or meals to bring good luck in the coming year but I think I will be satisfied if I kick off every New Year with a sail.

Cheers and best wishes to all my friends in 2011!