Hello All!
My first solo sailing was not really what I had expected. Day one was
great, I really got the tacking down to a routine and my self
confidence really soared. The boat was doing great and my speed was
fantastic, nothing could stop me! After a many hours of sailing I
ended up looking for somewhere to dock for the night, as I had sailed
away without thinking about accommadation I had to find something on
the run. I found ( what I thought was) a protected area and dumped
both anchors. After some nice soup for diner I went to sleep. Around
3:30 am I awoke to find that that the wind was blowing hard and it
was raining like crazy. I figured that I should get dressed just in
case and then went back to sleep (bad move ). About 10 min. later I
awoke to some really fierce sounds of storm and looked out the window
only to see myself drifting towards rocks! I jumped out of the cabin
full speed and saw that the anchors had lost grip, using all my
strength I yanked both anchors out of the water in few mighty
strokes. Only a few meters away from rocks I managed to get the
engine runing and steer clear of disaster. After getting the boat a
few hundred meters from land the engine quit on me ( I think this was
one if the lowest points in my life) so I had to run around the deck
trying to get my sails up, not an easy thing to do when the seas are
angry. I finally got things right and sailed as close to home as I
could and then droped anchor to fix the engine. One of the links
connecting the engine to the carb had broken off so I only had to
merge the two arms together to get it under cotrol. I then powerd her
home. Being new to sailing I can say that I have learned the
following: Always wear a lifevest ( I had none), be prepared ( I had
nothing to protect me from the rain), dont get ahead of yourself ( I
had no clue about proper mooring), and DO NOT underestimate Mother
Nature! She really kicked my butt.
I'm sailing away with a few freinds tommorow on a week long journey
and I have purchased enough equipment to say that I'm as prepared as
I know how to be.
Happy ( and safe) Sailing!
Nik
