I'll Come to You on the Whispers of a Zephyr
I went sailing with my uncle today. I'd say our average speed today was about a half a knot. An almost imperceptible speed, much like the minute hand of a clock or the moon sliding across the sky, if we hadn't seen the tiny weed particles and junk floating past at a crawling pace to confirm our suspicions of mobility.
It is difficult to tell if the sails are trimmed properly when there I hardly any air moving past them. We induced heal by sitting on the lee rail to keep the sails to one side, but I've found Dawn Puffin sails best when she is flat and trim, at least in the gusts that decided visit us for a while. But most of the stronger wind would just taunt us by playing with the water just out of reach and disappear like a ghost when we clawed our way to them. We also had the full batten at the top of the sail tensioned to keep it curved. It was kind of funny, but not at the time, when we were hoisting the main and I stopped to adjust the batten only to have the velcow fastener just rip off. I put some sail tape on it, and that worked for a while until it unstuck and the batten stuck out a few inches and made the upper sail as flat as a board.
You can't really see my uncle here. They don't call them blocks for nothing I guess! Actually I just couldn't see what I was taking a photo of. :P
Don't mind me, I'm just being a dork.
All in all, it was a good day and totally worth the wait. My boat handles very and we even made a wake once or twice sailing close hauled in a good puff. And at least I know I can squeeze as much headway as possible in even the slightest hint of a breeze and with improperly trimmed sails to boot! I just wish the wind didn't freshen and stay as soon as we doused the sails and struck the mast.
Who wants to go on the next cruise?
It is difficult to tell if the sails are trimmed properly when there I hardly any air moving past them. We induced heal by sitting on the lee rail to keep the sails to one side, but I've found Dawn Puffin sails best when she is flat and trim, at least in the gusts that decided visit us for a while. But most of the stronger wind would just taunt us by playing with the water just out of reach and disappear like a ghost when we clawed our way to them. We also had the full batten at the top of the sail tensioned to keep it curved. It was kind of funny, but not at the time, when we were hoisting the main and I stopped to adjust the batten only to have the velcow fastener just rip off. I put some sail tape on it, and that worked for a while until it unstuck and the batten stuck out a few inches and made the upper sail as flat as a board.
You can't really see my uncle here. They don't call them blocks for nothing I guess! Actually I just couldn't see what I was taking a photo of. :P
Don't mind me, I'm just being a dork.
All in all, it was a good day and totally worth the wait. My boat handles very and we even made a wake once or twice sailing close hauled in a good puff. And at least I know I can squeeze as much headway as possible in even the slightest hint of a breeze and with improperly trimmed sails to boot! I just wish the wind didn't freshen and stay as soon as we doused the sails and struck the mast.
Who wants to go on the next cruise?