Sails up...
Sails up!
So redherring and I went back to the lake today for another fun day of sailing. Here, finally, is a picture of the boat with the sails up. Heather is assing out on the trampoline. We had, I'd estimate, about 15kts of steady wind with gusts to 25-30kts. This meant LOTS of paying attention.
With the wind we had, it was an interesting day. We legitimately flew a hull for the first time, but we also had another pitchpole (and a half -- we almost went over a second time, Heather went flying but I managed to keep the boat from going over.) In the coming days I will be polling the Hobie boards to see what I can do to reduce the boat's seemingly irresistible tendency to bury the lee hull. The good news, I suppose, is that Heather and I can right the boat when its just the two of us. That's reassuring. The two of us are pretty beat up; a whole palate of bruises, sunburns, etc, not to mention the fatigue of two consecutive days of athletic sailing.
As for today's "damage," I managed to rip the hiking strap off the trampoline while getting back on. This is not a HUGE deal, but it somewhat inconvenient, and will mean that while I had hoped to put off the purchase of a new tramp for next season, well, it's probably going to happen this season. We also snapped one of the jib battens in the pitchpole, which, again, isn't crucial, but is annoying. Everything else continued to function beautifully.
Other lessons from this weekend include learning the effective weight limit of the boat is about 500-600lbs. With myself, Heather, Dirk and Cammie on the boat, it was sailable, but riding quite low in the water. I think in the future we'll bring roller blades or a bike or a book or something and limit it to three people on board at once.
Also, I've been admiring them all along but now that we have a picture with the sails up, everyone else can behold the magic that is the very 1970s looking font my sail numbers are in. My sail color pattern is called "Tequila Sunrise." How fitting all around.
As for right now, I'm mostly ready for Advil and bed.