Fall sailing can definitely be spirited. Our lake runs roughly East/West. Predominant winds are from the West. Of course, last weekend and this weekend, we had gusts out of the NW. I hate NW winds. Along the N side of the lake, we have a lot of terrain variation, hills and coves and valleys and such. So, NW winds are always gusty to begin with, but super variable direction-wise due to the topography. Now, SW winds are a dream, because the S side is pretty flat and even...
Anyhoo, last Saturday, I was sailing to West, close hauled on starboard tack riding the main breeze from the W. But gusts were coming fast and furious from the NW, and they were short and nasty. Normally, I'm not opposed to a puff that can lay me down to wet the rail - "washing the toe rails." If it happens too frequently, I'll put in my reef. But I was already reefed, and I got hit by one of these gusts, and it laid me over. I started steering up, but it kept coming, hitting me hard from what, 45º to starboard, so that I was completely and suddenly over trimmed. I learned the difference between washing the toe rails, and "cleaning the seat off from water dumping over the coaming!"
I became ever more vigilant in steering for the puffs, which measured out about 23 knots. But what a freaking hassle, because I'd get hit by a puff, steer up for it (which should have been a nice lift) but there was a razor's edge between being over trimmed, and the jib flogging like a lunatic.
This Sunday, we had average winds around 17 knots, with gusts regularly at 25 knots with one measured 26. That means it might have been a bit stronger out on the water. Yeah, I thought about it. I started thinking "Hey, I
could go out with just a reefed main, no jib…" but I was saved from my folly by a dockmate who was checking his slip after hauling out on Saturday. We sat in the cockpit and jaw-jacked for a good long time, and when he left, I went back to doing what I was
supposed to do: unloading all the cruising junk before next weekend's haulout. Amazing how much stuff I pack into that little boat…
Winds died down somewhat in the later afternoon. At least, there weren't whitecaps along the short fetch width of the lake (never saw that before.) I saw a guy out in his Victoria 18 moving smartly with just his jib up. And a lunatic in his Sunfish. I was jealous of the lunatic, because that is exactly the reason I want a Force 5 - big wind, mach 5 with my hair on fire! Hey, small go-fast singlehanded cat-rigged boat in the fall? No problem, I have a drysuit!