Went out with R for 3 hours. He was trying out his near cold gear that he got as gifts, while I just like the cold wind blowing in my face (ok, so I was trying out some gear too). Started out fine with oh 5 knot winds and temps slightly over 40F. Then the wind died. It was gone for oh 30 minutes then came back at about 10 knots steady. Made it to the fort and turned around, as the wind started getting even stronger and gustier. One gust hit hard just as we were about to tack. Luckily it was in an ok direction but dang those "accidental" tacks bug me. We had to dock over on the pilings side of our docks -- which meant right into the teeth of the wind. But with the variable gusts it proved tricky; I had to abort twice narrowly missing the other docked boat (it was a parallel parking job). Ending up having to come in at a very steep angle and turn at the very last second (all while filling and spilling for speed control). A fun sail. Oh, and the rain/sleet/snow started just as we were packing up...