We (my wife and I) just got back from a wondrous day sail. It was the commonly gray skies of the pacific northwest--no rains but light breezes from the southwest. Probably means a front moving in from the pacific.
The boat is a rather new (2009) Hunter 27, fixed so an old man (78) can sail her.....and she does the job well. We left after lunch with a threat of showers but that held off and the winds never went over 12 or 13 knots. My wife of many years is a good sailer but hasn't been sailing with me much this year. But we had a marvelous time. We headed out of the slip and unfurled sails.
[An aside for you older skippers--the WinchRite, a power assist device makes unfurling a main and jib a piece of cake. It is a well designed device that lets me sail into my golden years]
With unfurled sails, we drifted and played the puffs heading out of Friday Harbor until we were able to get out in the San Juan (WA) channel where a fairly steady breeze came from the south. The boat heeled over, perhaps ten degrees, not much and we had a glorious sail heading for Shaw Island doing maybe five to six knots. The water just gurgled along side the boat--I like that, very comforting.
We continued toward Shaw to stay out of the way of a Washington State Ferry. Big suckers but I love them. They do eighteen knots but have to stay in the channel.....but they leave very little wake for a big boat. Once the ferry passed us, we tacked and headed back to the southern entrance to Friday Harbor. It was a drifter going through and we had to tack once. The boat is very responsive and does pretty much anything we ask of it except going directly into the wind. Then with a light breeze behind us we ghosted through the anchored fleet having circumnavigated Brown Island....gives one a sense of accomplishment even if it is a small island.
What is it that satisfaction of sailing a small boat with just wind that gives one such peacefulness? Einstein wrote of the same feeling when sailing off the New Jersey shore in a small boat. The quietness? The control? The use of a breeze? The sound of the water gurgling by? I suppose all of the above would be the correct answer and yet, there is a sense of satisfaction that is all encompassing. Whatever, it is a good feeling.
We furled the sails (the WinchRite is the answer here) and powered back to the slip, backing in and stepping off on the dock through the open transom to tie the boat down. It took only a moment to put the lines to bed, turn off the instruments and plug in the shore power.
We walked back to our condo to a G&T. What a wonderful day. Thanks for reading.
The boat is a rather new (2009) Hunter 27, fixed so an old man (78) can sail her.....and she does the job well. We left after lunch with a threat of showers but that held off and the winds never went over 12 or 13 knots. My wife of many years is a good sailer but hasn't been sailing with me much this year. But we had a marvelous time. We headed out of the slip and unfurled sails.
[An aside for you older skippers--the WinchRite, a power assist device makes unfurling a main and jib a piece of cake. It is a well designed device that lets me sail into my golden years]
With unfurled sails, we drifted and played the puffs heading out of Friday Harbor until we were able to get out in the San Juan (WA) channel where a fairly steady breeze came from the south. The boat heeled over, perhaps ten degrees, not much and we had a glorious sail heading for Shaw Island doing maybe five to six knots. The water just gurgled along side the boat--I like that, very comforting.
We continued toward Shaw to stay out of the way of a Washington State Ferry. Big suckers but I love them. They do eighteen knots but have to stay in the channel.....but they leave very little wake for a big boat. Once the ferry passed us, we tacked and headed back to the southern entrance to Friday Harbor. It was a drifter going through and we had to tack once. The boat is very responsive and does pretty much anything we ask of it except going directly into the wind. Then with a light breeze behind us we ghosted through the anchored fleet having circumnavigated Brown Island....gives one a sense of accomplishment even if it is a small island.
What is it that satisfaction of sailing a small boat with just wind that gives one such peacefulness? Einstein wrote of the same feeling when sailing off the New Jersey shore in a small boat. The quietness? The control? The use of a breeze? The sound of the water gurgling by? I suppose all of the above would be the correct answer and yet, there is a sense of satisfaction that is all encompassing. Whatever, it is a good feeling.
We furled the sails (the WinchRite is the answer here) and powered back to the slip, backing in and stepping off on the dock through the open transom to tie the boat down. It took only a moment to put the lines to bed, turn off the instruments and plug in the shore power.
We walked back to our condo to a G&T. What a wonderful day. Thanks for reading.
