As the temperature hit 59 degrees, I realized that the forecast 15-20 knots of wind had subsided, and it was only 8 with gusts to 12, so took our my sailboat, Lark, from 3:30-5:00, returning just after sunset. At which point the temp dropped dramatically. Had a great time out on a day when I'd not expected to be able to go sailing -- for my 101st voyage of the year! As wind hit 12 knots, got my boatspeed up over 5 knots, which was great.
Had hoped to make it out saiing but ran out of time, so enjoyed the opportunity to kayak through Valentine Creek for 45 minutes. Water was so much clearer than even a month ago, and no jellyfish left. No power or sailboats, either, just geese and heron. Lovely.
It rose to 58 degrees at 3 pm, with 8 knots with gusts to 14, so I took Lark out with my neighbor. We used the jib not the genoa, and couldn't raise the main at the dock since the wind was from the NW. Motored out and had a beautiful time after we raised the main after passing the red mark at the top of Round Bay. Had the boat easily doing 4 knots, and went on a beam reach toward a Beneteau 36, pacing and then overtaking her as we sailed towards the bridge. We both jibed and we again overtook her on the return, which was quite satisfying. Beautiful sunny day with a bite to the wind, but not cold, by any means. Headed in before sunset, and got Lark docked as the sun went down. And the temp dropped five degrees. Great time out on the water!
Weather finally warmed up -- to 59 degrees from the 40's our high temps have been stuck in lately -- so I mounted the genoa on Lark and ventured out at about 3:30 pm. Light and variable breeze from the West in the 4-7 knot range allowed me to move along nicely at 3-4 knots. Only one other sailboat out, but I sure enjoyed being out on the water after two weeks cooped up inside in the cold. Sadly, the sun goes down awfully early these days, which I recorded on the attached photo at about 4:45.
The remnants of Hurricane Nicole came through on Friday, but by Saturday afternoon the rain was gone and the wind had died down but it was still in the low 70's, which was a welcome surprise. By the time I realized it and got the jib switched out for the Genoa it was 3:30, but had a good hour out enjoying the Genoa in light breeze (5-7 knots) before the wind died completely, and I came home. In 66 degree weather. Fabulous for November 12!
Had planned to go out sailing, since it was 72 degrees at the time of year when it is supposed to be in the high 50's, but the wind died before I could get off work so I took the kayak out for a nice ride out Valentine Creek into Round Bay, which was nearly still. Great time to kayak with the water getting so clear -- though I could STILL see little jellyfish!
Had to get my powerboat out to go pick up a race mark that we'd used on Saturday but that had drifted toward land near enough to shallow water that I couldn't go pick it up via my 24' sailboat that I used to set it. So got my 21' Sea Ray off my neighbor's lift and took it out to hunt down the large fender attached to a 15 lb Danforth. Found it fairly easily and was glad that it wasn't too hard to grab it with the boat hook, put the engine in neutral so it wouildn't get fouled on the prop, and then bring it in. The bottom of the chesapeak remains mucky, but at least I got my anchor back!
Weather was supposed to be 10 knots with gusts to 20 at 2 pm, for which we scheduled an Impromptu race in the Round Bay Sailing Association fleet.
At 1 pm it was 10 gusting to 18, but by 2 p.m it was 16 gusting to 22. By 2:30, it was 18-20 sustained with gusts over 23.
Luckily I was able to get two experienced bowmen from a 39-footer in my fleet and from a 46-footer, plus a mainsheet trimmer who skippers the 39.
Put my spin up for the very first time before the race, and successfully jibed. Very heartening to see our boatspeed rise from 5.5 mph without spin to 6.5 with spin, increasing to 7.6 mph in the gusts. That's why we got a spin!
Was 3 minutes late to the starting line since the roller furler inexplicably wrapped the line all around the drum, making it so we couldn't get the jib out. One of our crack bowmen went forward and figured it all out, allowing us to get back to the starting line and head upwind. Caught up to the Beneteau First 27 that had started about a minute before us at our first crossing with them and they never caught us from there. The trimiran had a harder time starting than we did, but they started going over 12 knots upwind, so not surprisingly beat us to the windward mark.
Put the kite up after our mark-rounding, and headed back to the start line. A gust blew us over, putting the main in the water (on starboard tack) and causing the spin to fill and starting pulling us over. Dropped the spin halyard and got her back down below. And then couldn't get the jib out. But managed to run downind with just the main and go 6.3 knots -- which was plenty. In true wind consistently over 20.
An exhilirating day, and proof that the boat is a pretty stable platform in the breeze.
Also got a good list of things to improve/fix. Ranging from the vang and backstay hardware that was installed backwards, needing a stronger mainsheet system, a higher barney post, and a better angle for the mainsheet trimmer. Also need to tape up the leading edge of the fairleads, since the jib sheets were consistently catching on them.
But a fantastic first kite run, thankfully with experienced crew.
Got to sail with my new boat's genoa for the first time -- its a 155% vs. the 110% jib, and in 6-8 knots of breeze I got a substantial boost in speed. And it was all eminently manageable single-handed. And to be out of a late afternoon in early November going 5 knots in 8 knots of wind, or 4 knots in 5 knots of wind was fantastic. Definitely a game-changer from the jib. Now in the summer in the Chesapeake I'll be able to compete much better in my mixed fleet, many of which have gargantuan genoa's.
But switched out my jib for my boat's brand-new genoa and went out anyway, since it looked like there might be little bits of wind. There weren't any, but the good news is that swapping out the jib for the genoa was not as hard as I was afraid it was going to be. Also finally added tell-tales to the shrouds. And benefitted from the adjustments I'd made to the tiller yesterday so that it clears the seats. Still having issues with the wind instruments. Need to figure that out tomorrow.