At work last Thursday I was sitting next to a company VP during lunch. While making small talk I found he has motored a houseboat but had never been on a sailboat. So of course I asked him if he wanted to go sailing. He quickly said yes.
On Friday we went out for a few hours. I explained to Rolland that it might be a little rough and windy but if he was up for it I thought we could handle it.
This season I’ve gotten comfortable in 15 plus winds so I was worried more about my visitor being on a sailboat for the first time. I explained healing, heading up, safety procedures and steering while we motored out. I also explained that at anytime we could head in easily. He assured me the weather didn’t bother him so I gave him the helm and raised the reefed main. It was a bit rough but he held our course well so after a mile or so I unfurled about 50% of the jib, which really balanced the boat.
We did close and beam reaches 2 to 3 miles long. He did well on the helm as shown by the GPS when we did a max speed of 7.3 knots, a personal record for me.
I took it as a sign that we should head in when we no longer were able to pull in the main without excessive heeling. (This is with my original 35 yr old main, I have a new one on order)
Back at the dock my neighbor told me he was reading 22 knots so it was bit higher out on the water.
Man that felt good, being able to enjoy that much wind while maintaining control and sharing it with a newbie sailor at the same time.
Then on Sunday the Admiral, our 1st mate Copper and I went down to the boat for a sail. Winds were light so after a bit we decided to try anchoring for lunch. We had never anchored before so it was a new experience for us. We ate lunch, took a nap then headed back in.
The Barnegat Municipal Dock has live music every Saturday and Sunday during the summer and the concert was due to start in an hour. We decided to motor back out and anchor across the channel from the dock. We thoroughly enjoyed listening and singing to the music while anchored for the second time since we owned the boat.
From blasting across the bay to lazing at anchor enjoying live music, it was a pretty good Labor Day on Moon Shadow.
Thanks for listening!
PS: We also met Scott T-Bird and Sue this weekend. They chose the slip directly across from us.
On Friday we went out for a few hours. I explained to Rolland that it might be a little rough and windy but if he was up for it I thought we could handle it.
This season I’ve gotten comfortable in 15 plus winds so I was worried more about my visitor being on a sailboat for the first time. I explained healing, heading up, safety procedures and steering while we motored out. I also explained that at anytime we could head in easily. He assured me the weather didn’t bother him so I gave him the helm and raised the reefed main. It was a bit rough but he held our course well so after a mile or so I unfurled about 50% of the jib, which really balanced the boat.
We did close and beam reaches 2 to 3 miles long. He did well on the helm as shown by the GPS when we did a max speed of 7.3 knots, a personal record for me.
I took it as a sign that we should head in when we no longer were able to pull in the main without excessive heeling. (This is with my original 35 yr old main, I have a new one on order)
Back at the dock my neighbor told me he was reading 22 knots so it was bit higher out on the water.
Man that felt good, being able to enjoy that much wind while maintaining control and sharing it with a newbie sailor at the same time.
Then on Sunday the Admiral, our 1st mate Copper and I went down to the boat for a sail. Winds were light so after a bit we decided to try anchoring for lunch. We had never anchored before so it was a new experience for us. We ate lunch, took a nap then headed back in.
The Barnegat Municipal Dock has live music every Saturday and Sunday during the summer and the concert was due to start in an hour. We decided to motor back out and anchor across the channel from the dock. We thoroughly enjoyed listening and singing to the music while anchored for the second time since we owned the boat.
From blasting across the bay to lazing at anchor enjoying live music, it was a pretty good Labor Day on Moon Shadow.
Thanks for listening!
PS: We also met Scott T-Bird and Sue this weekend. They chose the slip directly across from us.
