Weather report for today was sun and 5 to 8 mph winds. Sounded like a good day for my first sail in my Newport 17. I had motored in it once but this would be my first time sailing it.
Now, I should point out that I am 58 and 230lbs. Not in the best of shape.
Got to the lake, went to raise the mast. Where was the hinge pin? There it was, in the bottom of the boat. Forgot to put it back in last week when I practiced putting up the mast. At least it dropped in the boat and not on the road. Put up the boom and hanked on the jib. Using the jib halyard to help raise the mast worked well. So did the new topping lift for the boom.
Hung the outboard and tried to plug in the line from the portable tank. Gas sprayed every! Over the motor, back of boat and my arms. Whoops, forget to let off the tank pressure.
Cleaned up that mess and backed down the ramp. Got the boat off the trailer and tied to the dock. Put the truck away and went on the boat to get out cushions and make ready to sail.
"What's that water doing in the bottom of the boat?" By the time I found the drain plug and pulled the stern over to the ramp where I could reach down and install it, I had 2 - 3" of water in the bilge. Do I go get the trailer and pull it out to drain? By now four bass boats were lining up for dock space. Decided I could pump it out if needed while out on the lake.
Motored out to the middle of the lake, headed into the wind and raised the mainsail. Whoops. It was tangled. Brought it back down, straightened the boltrope and tried again. Still tangled! Got that straightened and raised it again. Now tangled in the spreaders.
Finally got the mainsail up. Shut down the outboard and tried to raise it. Didn't have the strength! (The motor bracket will be the subject of another thread)
Oh well, I was finally moving under sail. Time to raise the jib. I was so beat all I could do was sail on a beam reach under the mainsail. The jib just would add more work so that could wait also.
After about half an hour I got my breath back, my chest stopped hurting and I was ready for more action so I raised the jib. This was more like it. I was tacking back and forth across the lake for about 1 1/2 hours. Boat didn't handle that well due to the water in the bilge and the motor being down but I was sailing and finally relaxing a bit. Glad I had the windex because the wind was shifty. Wait a minute. It's not moving. Got stuck. OK, I can watch the water for the wind.
Felt good, got used to heeling 15 degrees and moving pretty good! Lost the wind after a bit so I decided to douse the sails and motor back. Dousing line for the jib worked well. No sail ties so mainsail was in the way but I worked around it.
With the extra water the boat was sitting lower in the water and tougher to get back on the trailer. Drove up off the ramp and out of the way so I could stow away the sails, mast, so forth. Pulled the drain plug and drained the water. Boy was I beat. Took awhile but finally had everything stowed. Boy, the boat was sitting crooked. Decided to back down the ramp, float it and line it up better. No problem now the water was gone. Pulled it up the ramp a bit and stopped to put on the waist strap.
"Excuse me, Sir! Can I see your ramp permit?" Turned around to find the DFW officer was talking to me. Sign, what sign? Oh that big one over there. He took my license, instructed that it was ramp ettique not to work on boat on the ramp. I was too winded to try to explain anything so I followed instructions to meet him in the parking lot.
He advised me that DFW violations mandated court appearance and fines could run up to $1500. He took pity on me and told me to get my permit and fax it to him within a week and he wouldn't write it up. We talked a bit, he looked over my trailer and hitch set up and sent me on my way.
Glad I took the suggestion from this forum and left the Admiral home for my first sail. Might have been her last!
Now, I should point out that I am 58 and 230lbs. Not in the best of shape.
Got to the lake, went to raise the mast. Where was the hinge pin? There it was, in the bottom of the boat. Forgot to put it back in last week when I practiced putting up the mast. At least it dropped in the boat and not on the road. Put up the boom and hanked on the jib. Using the jib halyard to help raise the mast worked well. So did the new topping lift for the boom.
Hung the outboard and tried to plug in the line from the portable tank. Gas sprayed every! Over the motor, back of boat and my arms. Whoops, forget to let off the tank pressure.
Cleaned up that mess and backed down the ramp. Got the boat off the trailer and tied to the dock. Put the truck away and went on the boat to get out cushions and make ready to sail.
"What's that water doing in the bottom of the boat?" By the time I found the drain plug and pulled the stern over to the ramp where I could reach down and install it, I had 2 - 3" of water in the bilge. Do I go get the trailer and pull it out to drain? By now four bass boats were lining up for dock space. Decided I could pump it out if needed while out on the lake.
Motored out to the middle of the lake, headed into the wind and raised the mainsail. Whoops. It was tangled. Brought it back down, straightened the boltrope and tried again. Still tangled! Got that straightened and raised it again. Now tangled in the spreaders.
Finally got the mainsail up. Shut down the outboard and tried to raise it. Didn't have the strength! (The motor bracket will be the subject of another thread)
Oh well, I was finally moving under sail. Time to raise the jib. I was so beat all I could do was sail on a beam reach under the mainsail. The jib just would add more work so that could wait also.
After about half an hour I got my breath back, my chest stopped hurting and I was ready for more action so I raised the jib. This was more like it. I was tacking back and forth across the lake for about 1 1/2 hours. Boat didn't handle that well due to the water in the bilge and the motor being down but I was sailing and finally relaxing a bit. Glad I had the windex because the wind was shifty. Wait a minute. It's not moving. Got stuck. OK, I can watch the water for the wind.
Felt good, got used to heeling 15 degrees and moving pretty good! Lost the wind after a bit so I decided to douse the sails and motor back. Dousing line for the jib worked well. No sail ties so mainsail was in the way but I worked around it.
With the extra water the boat was sitting lower in the water and tougher to get back on the trailer. Drove up off the ramp and out of the way so I could stow away the sails, mast, so forth. Pulled the drain plug and drained the water. Boy was I beat. Took awhile but finally had everything stowed. Boy, the boat was sitting crooked. Decided to back down the ramp, float it and line it up better. No problem now the water was gone. Pulled it up the ramp a bit and stopped to put on the waist strap.
"Excuse me, Sir! Can I see your ramp permit?" Turned around to find the DFW officer was talking to me. Sign, what sign? Oh that big one over there. He took my license, instructed that it was ramp ettique not to work on boat on the ramp. I was too winded to try to explain anything so I followed instructions to meet him in the parking lot.
He advised me that DFW violations mandated court appearance and fines could run up to $1500. He took pity on me and told me to get my permit and fax it to him within a week and he wouldn't write it up. We talked a bit, he looked over my trailer and hitch set up and sent me on my way.
Glad I took the suggestion from this forum and left the Admiral home for my first sail. Might have been her last!
Plan to put the drain plug on a lanyard and loop it around the main sheet traveler so it is in plain site as a reminder. Got to get some sail ties to tie it up when not in use. So far I have been using the mainsail sheet line when tying the sail to the boom for the storage. 
