Life goes on. · j F y
So. Updates.
As it turns out, I have one more evening course to take at UBC in the fall. Luckily, employer’s don’t seem to care so long as it doesn’t inferfere with the workday, and my mental state is as if I’ve already wrapped up the degree. 98.5% of the way there!
In other news, I’ve started up a sort of second blog to keep my glider project “fan base” up to date (scary, isn’t it? There actually is one), while being a bit coy about myself personally.
Summer, on the whole, is shaping up to be ok. “Marge the Barge”, as Colin has re-christened our Albacore (bad luck, says Simon), is up into cruising shape now. That’s thanks partly to a few days work to get all the bugs out and spruce her up, but also due to the generous donation of the old Fireball’s centreboard and rudder by Colin and Jess, and a seemingly random gift of a huge yellow spinnaker from a nice older guy who knew Marge in a former life as “Summer Wind” (the name explains the powder blue paint job). The last bit of work left is to add a reef to the mainsail, for safety while cruising in heavy weather.
Today, Simon and I went out for a sail / sailing-lesson, which must be about the 6th or so for him. Since he decided he wanted to keep his share of the boat and learn to sail properly, he’s been just about an ideal student, and I’ve found I really enjoy teaching sailing. Ditto Ryan, who’s on around trip 3 (less video games, more water action, Ryan!) Both are eager to learn, and becoming stalwart sailors who need little babysitting at the tiller. Plus, teaching really helps clean up the rough spots in my own knowledge, and I’m actually learning a few new things, both about Marge, and about sailing.
For example, we’ve learned that Ol’ Marge isn’t really that pokey, at least compared to a Laser, Laser II, or most keelboats up to 30’ in length, all of which she passes with ease. (Colin’s just comparing her to the wet, narrow, tippy, Firewood :-D that went about a whole 20% faster with the same load. Take that, for besmirching Large Marge’s honour!)
And today, Simon and I found that Marge isn’t slow at all in 20 knots of wind and waves, in fact a 25hp outboard would be hard pressed to push the ol’ girl faster. She planed at high speed, and beating over the waves hard and fast, just the way she likes it.
That is, until the high loads caused the lower attachment point of the rudder to shear off its pin, and we were out in the middle of English Bay with no apparent way to go to windward or get back to Jericho at all.
Luckily, the next part of the lesson was to be how to steer just by using the sails to control weather vs lee helm. We almost, but not quite, even got to practice capsize recovery!
Anyhoo, if you’ll excuse me now, I have to go to bed, so I have time to fix a rudder tommorow morning, and take Tera and Owen out later in the day. That is, without moving them rapidly to lesson #6.
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— Jess M j, g:ia #