My girl and I spent seven hours on the water yesterday, the first time since we got the boat that we were able to spend all day just sailing. The weather started to look ugly a couple of times, but we managed to not have to reef (or douse and motor) but it was tough going getting her back from the Wilson bridge.
We set out around eleven from the southernmost point of DC and sailed down (and under) the Wilson bridge without having to do anything more than trim the sails a bit, the entire way. We went a little past the bridge to the dredge barges out in front of National Harbor and back up, hit a weirdly becalmed spot and motored a couple of hundred yards to clear the bridge on the return. Then we spent four and a half hours tacking back and forth across (and sometimes outside) the channel, avoiding the pilings, taxis, motorboats, and tourist cruises in increasingly gusty winds. My girl is a heck of a lot better at the helm than I am (a genius at finding the best point of sail), so she had the tiller. It was a great time, with some hairy moments, and did wonders for both of us increasing our confidence in our boat. We saw some of the PSC boats out and passed (trying hard not to get in the way) a race (Lasers, I think) a little north of the airport and another out of the Washington Sailing Marina. Whoever skippers "Reprisal" has got a great boat and crew.
Since it was overcast, the bow bunnies and careless motorons were in shorter supply than a couple of weeks ago. The temperature was cool but comfortable and we ended up not getting rained on at all. It was heavenly!
NOAA was a little off, the forecast said 5-10 knots wind yesterday, but we saw a lot of puffs in the 20-25 knot range. When we finally put in at about six, we were the biggest sail still on the water. Does that mean we were the bravest or just the most foolhardy?
Anyway, just wanted to tell you folks how much fun we had and thank you for your help on the board in learning about our boat.
We set out around eleven from the southernmost point of DC and sailed down (and under) the Wilson bridge without having to do anything more than trim the sails a bit, the entire way. We went a little past the bridge to the dredge barges out in front of National Harbor and back up, hit a weirdly becalmed spot and motored a couple of hundred yards to clear the bridge on the return. Then we spent four and a half hours tacking back and forth across (and sometimes outside) the channel, avoiding the pilings, taxis, motorboats, and tourist cruises in increasingly gusty winds. My girl is a heck of a lot better at the helm than I am (a genius at finding the best point of sail), so she had the tiller. It was a great time, with some hairy moments, and did wonders for both of us increasing our confidence in our boat. We saw some of the PSC boats out and passed (trying hard not to get in the way) a race (Lasers, I think) a little north of the airport and another out of the Washington Sailing Marina. Whoever skippers "Reprisal" has got a great boat and crew.
Since it was overcast, the bow bunnies and careless motorons were in shorter supply than a couple of weeks ago. The temperature was cool but comfortable and we ended up not getting rained on at all. It was heavenly!
NOAA was a little off, the forecast said 5-10 knots wind yesterday, but we saw a lot of puffs in the 20-25 knot range. When we finally put in at about six, we were the biggest sail still on the water. Does that mean we were the bravest or just the most foolhardy?
Anyway, just wanted to tell you folks how much fun we had and thank you for your help on the board in learning about our boat.