Outing #8: OWSA rules!

So, Saturday the 15th, Gail from OWSA and I went out for a nice afternoon sail. My boating neighbors were up working on their boat but they were not taking her out. Apparently they drive up from Salem for such events! Yikes! We left around 2:45 or so - the boat was pretty much ready to go, since I arrived a bit early, and off we went. I still struggle a little bit with backing the boat out. I think this needs a bit of practice next time. Perhaps having a line on the dock and a person at the bow holding the line will help keep the bow lined up. Gail did have to push off Kim's boat, but no damage was done, and away we went. The entrance to the slough is getting very shallow - down to under 9 feet. I'm wondering if I need to hug the shore more, because my normal course of travel seems to be shallower than I like.

We were on a broad reach or a beam reach the whole time! There was no jibing, no tacking required. Kind of bizarre, actually. It was like driving an automatic rather than a stick shift - easier to get a bit complacent. Gail wants to get her friend Jim on my boat, and then we can try to get a spinnaker up. I have a homework assignment to read up on them a bit before we try that. She's such a firecracker! She was telling her buddy Jim about me & the boat, and estimated my age to be around 27 or so. And then she asked how old I am! I would guess Jim, when I finally meet him, is going to be a bit surprised that I've worked for Intel for 12 years, eh? But Gail didn't know that, and now I'm under instructions not to tell Jim since she doesn't want him to think that he's being set up.

The sun did come out for a bit, and we had a wonderful breeze (but not too strong). We got up to about 3.7 knots as our top speed, which is pretty good.

LESSON: experiment with picking up speed with puffs by pointing downwind to accelerate and then resume course.

LESSON: Being on portside when docking works too. And it is possible to come into the dock further from the boats for an easier turn in, especially now that the current is lower. But the current was so low, I hardly was pushed back when I turned towards the row - I got impatient waiting and did some more steering and giving the boat more thrust.

Again - no shaking knees!!!! AWESOME!!! I am so going to help with the class next year. I've learned so much, and if you think about doing something 6 times to "get over it" it doesn't sound like all that much, think about doing something that terrifies you...6 times. It feels like it's been an enormous journey to get here. I guess overcoming fear will do that for you.

Here's the skipper and her fearless crew!!!


(Oh, and I did remember to bungee the oven door shut this time. We didn't really heel over, but that's because we were prepared!).

Also note - one of the keel bolts seems to have some water around it. I dried it off - I need to open up that hatch and really dry things off, and then see if it still is getting wet. And I need to check the diesel levels, get the anti-corrosion stuff on the keel bolts, and check battery #1.