The First Few Days of Sailing in our Very First Sailboat

Siren

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Apr 2, 2018
52
Catalina 22 12491 Lake Charlevoix
Three weeks to the day after buying our very first sailboat, we christened our new-to-us girl and took our Catalina 22, S/V Magnetic North, out on Lake Charlevoix for the first time!

We christened the boat at her slip in the marina. I popped the bottle on the champagne, and the cork went....somewhere. :doh: We looked for about 5 minutes before giving up, and heading out.

Below are the pictures from her Christening Ceremony, and the very Happy Skipper, @ScubaGuy2 , motoring out of the marina! :dancing:
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Our next post will cover the Maiden Voyage - here is a sneak peak....

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The neatest part of the day and biggest surprise happened when we arrived back at the dock. When we got back to our boat slip, an ex-coast guardsman who is camping here happened to see the whole christening ceremony and the subsequent 5 minute search for the cork afterwards. After we headed out, he went and found it for us and surprised us by putting it atop our boat slip!!! :wow3: :clap: He came up to shake our hand when we arrived back at the dock and said he knows how special those things are because he christened 3 ships for the coast guard. Classy. And so neat!! :pray:

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Siren

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Apr 2, 2018
52
Catalina 22 12491 Lake Charlevoix
S/V Magnetic North's Maiden Voyage - Tuesday, June 19th, 2018

The whole afternoon was AWESOME!!!! :biggrin: We didn't necessarily plan to sail since the winds were low, we just wanted to start by motoring until we got the feel of how her rudder responded. Man, are those Cat 22's responsive!!

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About 10 minutes into it, we were surprised and pleased that the winds picked up enough, that we thought "WHAT THE HECK! LET'S GO SAILING!!!" So @ScubaGuy2 lowered the keel, I went up to the mast, untied the mainsail, and hoisted her up.

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What a THRILL to see her, and hear the sail luffing. We got the sail trimmed, and we were off! We squealed with excitement, and couldn't believe our life. It was such a high, catching that first wind.

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We sailed 4.2 nautical miles, but in actuality, more like 6 miles because of all the tacking. It took 2 hours to go the first 2.1 miles, and only an hour coming back, while flying just the mainsail.

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We were SO proud to get her back to the dock safely, to have recovered the Christening Cork, and we toasted appropriately with a gorgeous red sunset promising fair winds the next day. :D:D
 
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
Congratulations and a job well done. I too know the feeling of a first sail in a new-to-me(you) boat. One never forgets. I remember so well because I forgot to release the topping lift and could not figure out why the sail looked pregnant. LOL

Again, kudos and BZ to you both!
 
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Siren

.
Apr 2, 2018
52
Catalina 22 12491 Lake Charlevoix
Day 2 of Sailing on Lake Charlevoix - Wednesday, June 20th, 2018

On our 2nd day of sailing, we made it substantially further up the south arm of the lake. :clap:Covered 8.8 nautical miles total, (probably more like 10 with tacking) with the first 4.4 taking 3 hours and 45 minutes on a tight reach into the wind, and only an hour and half to get back home. Still only sailed with the mainsail, but we got a much better handle of the way she moves. We thought we might be brave enough to try the Genoa on Day 3, we'll see.

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@ScubaGuy2 was already excited about Day 3 - Thursday's sail, because the winds were going to come from an entirely different direction - less tacking, more distance, he hoped.
 
Nov 6, 2006
9,884
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Congrats on getting out on the lake! What you've started is an addiction! and a wonderful one.. I smile every time the sails fill and I feel the boat come alive under us.. what a treat!
 
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Sep 30, 2013
3,538
1988 Catalina 22 North Florida
It was such a high, catching that first wind.

:D:D
That high never seems to wear off. ;)

Congratulations, welcome to the addiction. Carlotta and I are both sharing your joy!

And BTW, speaking of christening, my avatar pic is from our own christening ceremony. You could probably have guessed it by the grins. :biggrin:
 
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Siren

.
Apr 2, 2018
52
Catalina 22 12491 Lake Charlevoix
Day 3 of sailing on Lake Charlevoix - Thursday, June 21st, 2018

Okay, y'all! Are you ready for Day 3 of sailing?! What a mess!! There is not much that went right, but we laughed a lot and still had fun. We started backing out of the dock, fuel line pops off. @ScubaGuy2 gets fuel line back on, we motor out. The winds are blowing from an entirely new direction. Attempting to put the mainsail up, Douglas' hat blows off and into the water. Impromptu man overboard drill to retrieve hat with boat hook. Soaking wet hat on head, check. Mainsail up, we catch some wind and we're off. Nice! Wind dies. We're floating. Wind picks up, wooooo, and we're off, then it dies off. We decide that since the winds are low, maybe NOW is the time to try and unfurl the 150 Genoa for the first time ever. Go to deploy, and the wind dies. Wind picks up, we unfurl the Genoa all the way. Now we start really cooking at 5.5 knots. We start heeling, and get everything under control. All is seemingly well. We were going SO fast and making SUCH GREAT TIME, we were afraid we were going to hit 88mph and go back in time. :yikes: Then the real chaos began.

We turned the bend in the lake, then the wind died. Then it picked up and then it died. Then the wind changes direction all together and we unintentionally heave to because the jib sail has caught wind from the other side. Then it dies. Then we start flying. Then it dies. Then it picks up in the other direction. We probably tacked 8 times in 30 seconds without trying. I think we had every line and sheet simultaneously in AND out while the boat was so heeled over, I swear I looked into the eye of a fish and he looked scared. :laugh: This mess continued back and forth for about 45 minutes, with moments of complete and utter chaos and yelling, and then instantaneous laughter when the winds died until the wind picked up again and we started yelling and screaming again. We decided that it was NOT the day to try the Genoa. :eek:

Furl in the Genoa. Sit with the mainsail luffing trying to catch our breath, and ultimately laughing so hard that this was SUCH a disaster. I told Douglas this was a ONE-sail boat. Mainsail ONLY. We are selling the extra 2 sails. hahaha.....If I never see that Genoa again, I'll be fine. The winds were SO erratic, it was like a wind jetty swirling around and then dying. I was done. I took the rest of the afternoon off and sat back with my feet up on the boat and watched Douglas practice flying the mainsail only. We busted out laughing at least a dozen times more remembering the chaos of the first hour of our sail. But he got some really great practice in, learning how to read the wind and the water and learning how to catch the puff of air. There weren't many, but when they did blow, they were fierce....I think he did an unintentional tack at least 4 more times. The winds were that shifty. :laugh:

And if that wasn't enough, when we came back to the marina under motor, we ran aground - the keel wasn't all the way up. We started laughing. Backed up, fixed the keel, headed towards our dock, winds were blowing us away from the slips, we ended up 3 slips away, and then ultimately towing the boat to the right slip with a rope. :laugh::laugh::laugh: What a mess!! But what fun. The next time we go out, we may try to unfurl the Genoa again, just not as far. ***sigh*** It's a learning process, what else can I say.

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We took Friday off to run some errands, and go to our local WM store, and today has been a cold and rainy day, so no more funny tales or wild adventures yet.

Stay tuned as we learn more, and maybe unfurl the Genoa again.....maybe.....
 
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Siren

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Apr 2, 2018
52
Catalina 22 12491 Lake Charlevoix
Day 3 Summary - 4 hours and 30 minutes on the water and approximately 4 nautical miles in theory....about 7 with all the unintentional tacking...hahaha...and I'm pretty sure if GPS were tracking us, it would've looked like this:
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JRT

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Feb 14, 2017
2,037
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Looks like you had fun and learned. We got a bit ahead of our selves also and had some excitement. I'd keep the jead sail at like 95 vs 150 while learning.
 

Siren

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Apr 2, 2018
52
Catalina 22 12491 Lake Charlevoix
I'd keep the head sail at like 95 vs 150 while learning.
@John Tubb - Definitely had fun. Definitely learned a few things. Good sage advice; we have heard that same suggestion from some of our sailing friends after they finished laughing at our saga. Keeping the sail at 95% seems wise, quite wise. We look forward to trying that out, and hopefully gaining some ground on this learning curve.
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,733
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
That is simply
AWESOME!
Thank you so much for sharing. It is almost like I got to be there. I wish I had been.

- Will (Dragonfly)
 
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Grotto

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Feb 18, 2018
273
Catalina 22 Wilmington
Oh when you are feeling adventurous sailing the grand travers bay is BEAUTIFUL. Plus less tacking! Having sailed on many michigan lakes, from lake lansing, to Huron, Houghton, and Michigan, I must say you are in one of the most beautiful areas to learn to sail in, bar none. Flukey wind is just part of the fun. The bays are pretty forgiving, but Lake Michigan ain’t no joke, Get that Genoa mastered, and start that grand adventure. (So jealous, i’m staring at a bottom job and 101 heat index.) next time I drive to Saginaw to see family might have to check you guys out!!! Hey good excuse for a day trip to the area.
 
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May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
beaver island. 28 miles away. and all the islands around it. heaven!
 
Feb 20, 2011
7,990
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
Nice! I especially like the use of thumbnails for your multitude of photos!
 
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Siren

.
Apr 2, 2018
52
Catalina 22 12491 Lake Charlevoix
Day #4 of Sailing on Lake Charlevoix - Monday, June 25th, 2018 - it was a HUGE SUCCESS!!!! After our less than stellar Thursday sail last week, we got back on the saddle, and went out there and OWNED that boat. :biggrin: The winds were a pretty consistent 7-9mph from the ESE, which meant we were able to go further than we ever have in the least amount of time! We traveled 5.62 nautical miles up the South Arm in 2 hours WITHOUT TACKING ONCE!!! :thumbup: We made it way past the island, and finally saw the "the big house" before turning around. Last week, it took us 3 hours and 45 minutes to go 2/3 the same distance. The secret: THE AMAZING POWER OF THE JIB SAIL!!! We unfurled the headsail to about 95-100% instead of the full 150, and we became the MASTERs of that size. hahah....it was SO much fun to figure things out...finally. We have a LONG way to go, but on this sail, a lot of things clicked. We talked a lot about what was working and why, and what wasn't working, and slowly figured out why. Example:

1. Tacking wasn't tight. I felt like the boat was turning before it should. I was in the habit of sitting on the Leeward side of the boat, because I liked to be nearer to the water, and I thought it balanced out the boat better. Well, in a boat this small, when @ScubaGuy2 would say "Ready about" I would get up to put the turns on the opposite winch, and the boat would start to swing before I said "ready." After talking through it, and trying to figure out why this always happened, we learned there is a PRACTICAL reason why you should sit on the Windward side. After we both sat on the Windward side, tacking became SO natural and seamless. We became a team moving together to the opposite side of the boat, and it was SO EASY. And the boat sailed better! WOW. I love moments like that when we get it figured out. It might not seem like a big deal, but little lessons like this make a HUGE difference to us, and we consider them pretty big "AHA" moments. YAY! :clap:

2. Next best lesson - Using a headsail gets you places MUCH faster than on mainsail alone. It's all about the jib - WAY more efficient to fly the jib at a size we can control. I have decided we are back to being TWO-sail boat. :p

YAY FOR US! We did it. A successful day on the water!! And there are more to come. Plus, it was the first day we sailed with 2 other sailboats on the water. We were all very good about respecting who has the right of way, and for a while, we were all on the same course and tacking in the same places, which was a lot of fun. :dancing:

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Siren

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Apr 2, 2018
52
Catalina 22 12491 Lake Charlevoix
FUN BONUS: we have 4 swans that live on Lake Charlevoix at the south end by us. When we came back to the marina, one of them was gliding through the water with the sunset behind him. SO pretty.

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OH OH AND.....we got upgraded to a better and bigger boat slip for the rest of the summer. I included a few pictures of the boat in her new slip. :thumbup: :p :dancing:

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Sep 20, 2014
1,320
Rob Legg RL24 Chain O'Lakes
You can talk about all the different things you experience, but ultimately a good day sailing is defined by making it out and back again without hitting anything or breaking anything.
 
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JRT

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Feb 14, 2017
2,037
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Congrats, wind sounds perfect for what you did and experimented.
 

Grotto

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Feb 18, 2018
273
Catalina 22 Wilmington
Congrats guys, keep expanding and you will find the groove, heel+weight+sail area. Feel for neutral helm / just a little weather helm (boat wants to round up into the wind) and you got it. If you want to go for super sexy tacking, look up roll tacking. Yeah typically a dinghy maneuver, but the crew sync looks almost effortless when done right. Another fun game (only in light wind) keep the tiller centered and steer by trimming the sails and where weight is in the boat. The 22 isn’t a dinghy but you’ll be surprised by how much these effect the boat.
 
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