7 Knots in Beam Seas

When I wrote last time, I said that I thought Aelena was capable of 7 knots. Well, that was prescient because I had her up there today on the way back from Star Island.

On the way out of Rye Harbor, the seas and winds were pretty tame. I probably averaged 3 knots and it took me 2.5 hours to get to the little dock on the island at the front of the hotel. The college kid in charge of the dock told me that they weren't supposed to let anyone tie-up there, but he said a half-an-hour would be okay. I took off my life jacket, put on a tee-shirt and took a walk around.

There were a lot of people at the hotel for whatever conference the Unitarians are holding there this week. To get away from the crowd, I took an exterior staircase up to the roof level and could see for miles around. Absolutely beautiful.

Next, a short walk to the east side of the island revealed a small cluster of stone buildings - one with a sign that said 'Thaxter Exhibit 1-3' . It was just past one so I went in. The small post-and-beam building was empty except for a young girl who greeted me and told me all about the history of the place. It was completely surreal - like out of a movie. We sat in rocking chairs while seagulls wheeled outside and the bell-buoy chimed to the beat of the waves. Sun came into the wooden room through old windows and illuminated the modest displays of porcelain, pictures and paintings from the island's early inhabitants. I was mesmerized and would have liked to have stayed for a lot longer than I did.

At 1:30, I politely excused myself as I knew the 30 minutes I was allotted at the dock were more than over. I didn't rush, but was quickly back at the dock, which was empty except for a couple of tenders and Aelena. As I hoisted the mainsail, a college kid offered to cast off my lines, which I gratefully accepted.

As I turned the boat back towards the mainland I had to wrestle with the halyard while unrolling the mainsail from the boom and keeping a relatively steady course. Before I got the sail all the way up, she was pulling hard - I hit 5 knots before I had the jib hoisted.

I considered leaving the jib furled, but I didn't consider it for long. As soon as I had the main up and a course set toward Rye Harbor, I pulled out the jib and the ride started to get interesting.

The boat has a fair amount of weather helm, and as I cleated the jib, she turned into the wind and heeled about 15 degrees. At about the same time, the seas really started kicking up. White caps all around and the swells were easily 4-5 feet, hitting the boat directly on the port side.

I had both sheets in one hand and the tiller in the other riding her like a bull. One wave after another first pointed her upwards, kind of sideways, and then set her down spraying salt water over the bow. The leeward gunnels were just above the water and getting wet, but not submerged. The sails were full and pulling hard.

For the first half hour, I was holding on for dear life. But it didn't take long to figure out how to handle the conditions. I kept an eye to the port side looking for especially large waves. They seemed to come in groups of three or four, so when one hit, I held the stern to the waves until they calmed down a little, slowing the boat and minimizing the side-to-side motion. Then the boat's weather helm headed her up into the wind and we'd pick up speed again.

I couldn't watch the knotmeter on the GPS very well as I had my hands full, but I glanced down and kept track of the speed whenever I felt comfortable. There were a couple of times when it hit 6.8 knots and I let out a holler when I saw 7.0. There's a chance that she was going faster and I missed it, but I'm thrilled with 7 knots.

So now I'm back home writing this, feeling like the computer desk is pitching and bobbing. I'm getting to like this feeling.