Singlehanded

Saturday at last! The sky was clear when I got up and made coffee. I passed the time while Lori was still sleeping by cleaning some of the hard stains in Aelena's gelcoat and putting her gear in order. After breakfast, I headed down to the marina, stepped the mast and rigged the sails. Lori met me there and helped with the launch, but I was flying solo today.

This was my fourth trip out with Aelena, and the first time there was any appreciable wind. It was the second time I took her out solo, and I was looking forward to getting to know her a little better.

As soon as I got out of the harbor I hoisted the main sail and then the jib. Within minutes the wind freshened and suddenly the boat was heeling at a good 35 degrees. I was caught unawares and remembered from sailing with Malcom a couple of years ago that you have to either dump wind from the sails or head up into the wind. I opted for the latter and the heeling actually increased at first and then she calmed down as the bow pointed into the wind.

I furled the jib immediately and headed west towards the Isle of Shoals. It's 6 miles out and I was within a mile of the islands in 1 hour and 5 minutes. She was really cruising! I think she was making a good 5 knots, and that was without the jib.

The seas were choppy and the wind was brisk and out of the NW. I tacked and headed back toward the Rye Harbor buoy. I made great time and rather than return to port, I headed back to the islands, this time with the jib up.

Again she flew and we got a little closer to the islands this time. But the seas were getting rough and the wind was steadily increasing. It had shifted, too, and had been driving me south as I was making my way out to the islands. When I jibed to head back to port, I saw that I'd been blown about a half-a-mile south of where I started. Not a big deal, but since the wind was out of the north west, I had to sail directly into its eye to get back to the harbor. I tried a close reach and then I tacked back and forth, but the progress was very slow. It took me an hour to make two miles.

And it wasn't fun sailing. Whitecaps had formed on the waves and every time I tried to use the jib to increase my speed, the boat heeled to uncomfortable heights. The swells were two-to-three feet and there was a lot of motion on the boat. (I'm writing this 6 hours after getting in to port and I still feel the rocking. It's a strange feeling.) After an hour, I fired up the outboard and motored in. It was a great choice since I was getting tired and that's when I tend to get careless.

I docked easily and called Lori who came down and helped me get her out of the water and onto the trailer. I now have a parking spot at the harbor (on land), so I didn't have to drop the sails, unstep the mast, etc. Just buttoned her up and parked her until the next time...

A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are made for.

I learned a few things today:

1) It's harder to leave a dock under sail than under power. Clumsy though it was, our departure was under sail.

2) The aspirator on our outboard has to be open in order for the motor to run. This lesson was learned the hard way and made for an interesting return to the dock.

3) 5-10 knot winds are quite tame.

4) Aelena is eminently sea-worthy.

5) Lori's stomach for sailing will only go so-far.

6) Don't trust the belt-clip on a hand-held VHF radio.

7) Trailoring a sailboat is only worthwhile if you're out for a long time.

8) Fishermen aren't interested in recreational sailors.

9) Distance and direction are less apparent on the ocean than they are on land.

10) A roller furler is a wonderful thing.

11) Aelena loses most of her steering ability under jib alone in light airs.

12) I prefer sailing to sitting on-shore watching boats skim the horizon.

The time has come

I went to the marina tonight and picked up Aelena. She looks great - the cable on the keel winch is brand-new and ready to do its job. Everything on the boat is, as far as I can tell, as ready as it can be for the maiden sail.

I've been reading sailing books ever since I brought Aelena home. I'm 3/4 of the way through The Annapolis Book of Seamanship and I've read two other very good books on the subject. I've also taken a number of sailing classes and gone out on friends' boats over the past dozen years. I am ready to sail my boat! I'm hoping it will happen this weekend, but the forecast doesn't look good. I'll let you know if it happens.