When we started this whole sailing thing, little waves and slight heeling overs rather freaked me out. I felt like the boat would tip at a greater than 45 degree angle, when it had barely gone past 10 or 15 degrees. At these times, I would clutch the life-line and hang on for dear life, sometimes going so far as to hide my head in my arms. Ah, the days of gentle winds.
I have since gotten much better at avoiding panic (remember rule #2: don't panic), and the phrase "I don't like this ..." doesn't crop up as much. Having said that, this past weekend had a little wind, and we went sailing. Our marina sits in a sheltered area, so when you can feel any wind while at dock, you know it's going to blow somewhat stronger once you reach the bay. On this day, you could definitely feel the wind. After all, it blew at somewhere between 15 and 20 knots (about 20-28 kph), which means white caps in the bay.
I have since gotten much better at avoiding panic (remember rule #2: don't panic), and the phrase "I don't like this ..." doesn't crop up as much. Having said that, this past weekend had a little wind, and we went sailing. Our marina sits in a sheltered area, so when you can feel any wind while at dock, you know it's going to blow somewhat stronger once you reach the bay. On this day, you could definitely feel the wind. After all, it blew at somewhere between 15 and 20 knots (about 20-28 kph), which means white caps in the bay.
Mike had gone out the previous day, with similar wind conditions, so he had a blast battling the waves again. Me, on the other hand, I didn't know if it seemed like such a good idea to sail around with waves smashing against the hull and causing troughs to plow through, but I was game to try. Our dock neighbour Paul did, after all, point out that attacking storm-like conditions on your own terms would prepare you for any eventuality of ending up in a real storm by accident. So, best to try your hand at sailing in big (-ish) winds when it didn't really matter and you could always just go home. I did, however, for the first few minutes, utter the phrase "I don't like this," whereupon Mike just grinned at me and forged ahead.
Usually when I steer the boat, I do so standing up. Not sure why, it just feels right. However, with the first blast of wind that pretty much took me off my feet, I promptly decided that sitting down to steer would work far better on this day. One hand for the tiller, one hand firmly clutching the life-line. And occasionally, both feet propped against the side of the bench so I didn't go flying across the cockpit.
Our boat reaches optimum speed around 6 knots - that is, on a typical day, full sails and good weather conditions, once you reach 6 knots, you pretty much stay there. On especially windy or some stormy days, you can push the boat faster, but the sails don't appreciate it. Mike managed to get Freedom Four-Two up to 7 knots one evening when he and a couple of friends sailed to Fifty Point a couple of months ago with the wind at their backs the entire way. On this day, with one reef in and the jib about 1/3 furled, we reached a little over 6 knots a few times as we bombed across the bay. And that was into the wind.
Our boat reaches optimum speed around 6 knots - that is, on a typical day, full sails and good weather conditions, once you reach 6 knots, you pretty much stay there. On especially windy or some stormy days, you can push the boat faster, but the sails don't appreciate it. Mike managed to get Freedom Four-Two up to 7 knots one evening when he and a couple of friends sailed to Fifty Point a couple of months ago with the wind at their backs the entire way. On this day, with one reef in and the jib about 1/3 furled, we reached a little over 6 knots a few times as we bombed across the bay. And that was into the wind.
I can usually get a feel for what I call the "sweet spot," where I've got the boat lined up in the perfect position for the wind to take us places as efficiently as an element with a mind of its own can. Not so much on this day, as the waves mess up that sweet spot. Riding up and down the waves, or smashing through them, depending on when the bow reaches the wave trough, tends to pull you away from an ideal course, pulling at the rudder just when you need it to turn or maintain a heading. I passed off the steering to Mike near the beginning of our sail as I couldn't get myself quite coordinated. He very sneakily managed to pass it back to me a little while later, and it took me a bit to realise that he had relinquished control, and I did just fine anyway, once I got a handle on things.
The waves built up enough that we had considerable spray on our journey. The bow got quite wet ("There's a lot of water up here," Mike said at one point as he went up on deck to check on things - luckily it all drains away off the side), and once or twice, we managed a gentle soaker on ourselves, which quickly dried in the wind. We keep some of the lines to the mast secured with bungee cords when at dock to keep them from rattling around and making too much noise at night, and we usually don't need to remove them when sailing. This day, we lost one as the wind and constant motion tore it away, and we just managed to save another as it clung soggily to the deck. The anchor also somehow jumped out of its holder and banged against the side of the boat for a bit before we figured out what made that nasty sound (apparently, it had tried a similar escape on Mike the previous day too), so we might have to figure out an even more secure holder for it. Considering I usually have a bit of a struggle removing the anchor from its holder on calm days, I'm just as glad not to have gone anywhere near the bow with turbulence enough to jolt anchors around.
Anyway, by the end of this exciting bit of windy sailing, I had gone from "I don't like this ..." to grinning happily as I steered us along a breezy course. Not saying I want to go trying any sailing in truly stormy weather, but I'm more confident I can steer us through a fresh to moderate breeze, if needs must. Happy sailing!
Anyway, by the end of this exciting bit of windy sailing, I had gone from "I don't like this ..." to grinning happily as I steered us along a breezy course. Not saying I want to go trying any sailing in truly stormy weather, but I'm more confident I can steer us through a fresh to moderate breeze, if needs must. Happy sailing!