Ready to Cruise · j F y
Both Marge, and a new Skipper, Simon!
Well, ok, Simon’s not all fancy-dancy certified by the ISPA, but we finished the last lesson on Wednesday, or at least, my whole agenda for same. We’ve now covered sailing terms, boat handling, points of sail, trim, knots, weather/lee helm, fancy maneuvers, heavy weather, rules of the ‘road’, local navigation…you name it. This last week, we finished up with spinnaker use (fun!), and capsizing (wet, cold, lots of bailing!) Always eager to learn, he’s got it all down now.
Anyhoo, the point is he’s now fully competent, and I’m almost out of things to teach. I’d think up a graduation thingie, but I think the dunking he got in capsize recovery practice & after-hot choc will have to do.
Weekend before last, we went out with Christa, but before that set up a bit of gear, which is what we’re up to in the photo above.
That included new custom-made oars (Simon’s Idea) that push ol’ Marge along at 2.5-3 kts (measured by the time old method of counting alligators while bubbles float by from bow to stern), rather than the sucky old 1.5kts under paddle. And, best of all, it turns out that both crew can row them at once, one to an oar! No deck-flowers a’ be goin on any boat a’ ours!
8-D
The bunnies were out that day tho. Scary things. Fangs like steel, they chase the dogs like nothin’ you’ve ever seen. I think the Jericho staff give em’ beer while nobody’s lookin.
Back to our regular program: So, the oars let us get out of being becalmed, or row away from a rocky lee shore if all else fails. Ah, but what of the other end, winds too strong to handle? You can fisherman’s reef (flatten the mainsail and let it luff a bit), but it’s less than controlled, and you can hardly go to windward that way. So, reefing points! (a 36% reef, if you must know Jess. We’re good to go in 30kt wind now I think!). Here she is reefed down:
It turns out that punching a needle through up to 8 layers of sailcloth is beyond my machine. Has a bit more in common with rivetting than sewing, IMHO. Took forever, a whole Saturday and part of the day before (tho that was mostly making the oars). Anyhoo, it’s done, and we also got a some nice red spinnaker-cloth telltales up all over the main and jib. Makes trimming way easier.
Christa at the tiller, whose camera took these photos (it became overcast as the day wore on, if some seem a little muted). A fisherwoman extraordinaire, of whom all crabs live in fear. She caught quite a large old-man crab, at least to my eye (and his barnacles).
Of course, some take a more leasurely approach to Sunday afternoon:
But me, I’m looking forward to the “Small Craft warning” for tommorow. A skater-guy friend from the physics program and I are going out to Gambier. I’ve lured him with promises of cute kayaker chicks; he has the added benefit of a standard complement of performance-enhancing substances at the end of the voyage. Here’s hoping for wind.
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— Kelsey M j, g:ia #
— Lara M j, g:ia #
— Christa M j, g:ia #