Saturday was a great day for sailing.
After being a powerboater for 40 years I cashed them all in and bought a small sailboat. After the reasonable purchase price of a “ready-to-sail” fixer-upper, I put another $935 in to it. (it adds up fast in the marine supply store). But after all that expense on such a basic little boat, it all worked beautifully together on Saturday. I have never stepped foot on a sailboat in my life until I was checking this boat out a couple months ago. I had looked at many before it, but nothing that caught my attention like this one. I was told by so many that I need to know how to sail before I buy a sailboat. They said that until I have sailed on a few boats I wont know what I want in a boat..... but sometimes a man just knows what he wants when he sees it. And I got exactly what I wanted. A nice seaworthy, trailerable, daysailer that will also work well as an overnighter....
on Saturday, Chris, (who is a seasoned sailor) and I went to fern ridge reservoir near Eugene, Oregon. The day was rather warm as we rigged the boat in the staging/parking area, and it was then I realized I had dressed too warm for the weather. Keep in mind that this is my first time ever with a sailboat so I didnt know what to expect or how to dress for being out in the wind all day, but I think I had everything else planned out fairly well... after about an hour of rigging and adjusting the shrouds and stays to what Chris thought would work good, we got the tools and things put back in their proper places and made it ready for launch.... (and we took a couple of photos) It sat very well and trim in the water, and as it being a 35 year old boat, I put my effort and money into making it dependable to float and sail, not to look like a show piece. It has its little blems here and there but for the most part it is in good condition, but NOT shiny and new. (that will come soon) it looked way better than some, but not quite as good as others.....
a couple of weeks ago when Chris was out to the reservoir he saw some bald eagles and there are usually blue herons and osprey and many other birds on and around the lake but we didn’t see any Saturday.... But being as the weather was so warm and fair and such a nice day for a picnic, I was hoping to see a lot more wildlife in the park, but it must be a little early in the season yet because we never even saw any girls at all.....
as we gently motored out on to the reservoir and more adjustments were made, we got settled in and then hoisted the sail and stopped the motor..... just the main for about 20-30 minutes in a light 4-6 knot breeze just to get the feel of her. At that pace she slipped through the water silently, and even with a little stronger wind she seemed to do well. So then we hoisted the jib. That made a difference in the speed and of course, the handling of her.... in the few hours of cruising around the reservoir, we had some pretty good puffs come up briefly.... about 5-10 minutes at a time, and it was a beautiful thing to feel the boat surge forward and watch her gently heel over. I could actually feel the power of the wind as she drove thru the water. I am sure we never hit top speed at anytime, but it was impressive enough feeling as it was.
We eventually headed back to the marina and by then the wind had shifted a little so we were mostly on a beam reach all the way back to the marina, and it didn’t take us long to get there.
On our way in, Chris took a few more photos of the sails full of wind and a couple of me at the tiller. It was all so perfect.... and we were going to have pictures to prove it. but then Chris made a contribution to Neptune's treasure trove, as the little green sport camera slipped from his pocket and failed the float test....:cry: I felt bad, but not as bad as Chris did I'm sure...as I thought about how it spiraled down out of sight, it took a little while for me to comprehend how cleaver Chris was to make the loss of his camera look like an accident. It was then realized that he had purposely sacrificed his camera to appease Neptune and all his cronies on the maiden voyage of my new used little boat. It was to insure safe and dry passage on all the waters she may ever sail on as long as she sails under her new name “Allusion”..... and to that, I can only say “Thank you Chris, someday I will make it up to you”.
The single most impressive thing about the whole experience was not really a single thing but the harmony of all of the things about it put together... It was the most relaxing time I have ever spent on the water, ever. Being able to have a normal conversation without the noise while being underway to the destination, not being in a hurry to get there and having time for the conversation. Things were not happening so fast like with a powerboat and we had time to drink our water and eat our crackers and granola bars without fumes and exhaust from the engine.... nothing could have made it any better. except for maybe some wildlife....
I gleaned a lot of information from this site and from the people that have been here before me. I have taken the wisdom you shared with me to make my transition from power to sail a pleasant one. And maybe its just me, but all the information the books hold about the subject, it all seemed so overwhelming as to make me doubt whether or not this is actually something I want to do.. but in actual practice, it all seems so natural and easy...... I still have a lot to learn and a lot of experience yet to gain, but Saturday I learned that it is something I want to do, and I should have made the switch years ago.. and its easier than the books make it out to be.
And I could name the people on this site who have helped me the most, but where would it stop..... I got help from every post I read.... either an idea about how to do something, or more importantly, ideas of what not to do....
I want to thank everyone for taking the time to explain in detail to me how things work for you and why. I have taken them and adjusted them for my boat and made them work for me.
Its just a little 21ft Macgregor sailboat that I have renamed “Allusion”, but its mine, I like it and it gets me to where I wanna go....
After being a powerboater for 40 years I cashed them all in and bought a small sailboat. After the reasonable purchase price of a “ready-to-sail” fixer-upper, I put another $935 in to it. (it adds up fast in the marine supply store). But after all that expense on such a basic little boat, it all worked beautifully together on Saturday. I have never stepped foot on a sailboat in my life until I was checking this boat out a couple months ago. I had looked at many before it, but nothing that caught my attention like this one. I was told by so many that I need to know how to sail before I buy a sailboat. They said that until I have sailed on a few boats I wont know what I want in a boat..... but sometimes a man just knows what he wants when he sees it. And I got exactly what I wanted. A nice seaworthy, trailerable, daysailer that will also work well as an overnighter....
on Saturday, Chris, (who is a seasoned sailor) and I went to fern ridge reservoir near Eugene, Oregon. The day was rather warm as we rigged the boat in the staging/parking area, and it was then I realized I had dressed too warm for the weather. Keep in mind that this is my first time ever with a sailboat so I didnt know what to expect or how to dress for being out in the wind all day, but I think I had everything else planned out fairly well... after about an hour of rigging and adjusting the shrouds and stays to what Chris thought would work good, we got the tools and things put back in their proper places and made it ready for launch.... (and we took a couple of photos) It sat very well and trim in the water, and as it being a 35 year old boat, I put my effort and money into making it dependable to float and sail, not to look like a show piece. It has its little blems here and there but for the most part it is in good condition, but NOT shiny and new. (that will come soon) it looked way better than some, but not quite as good as others.....
a couple of weeks ago when Chris was out to the reservoir he saw some bald eagles and there are usually blue herons and osprey and many other birds on and around the lake but we didn’t see any Saturday.... But being as the weather was so warm and fair and such a nice day for a picnic, I was hoping to see a lot more wildlife in the park, but it must be a little early in the season yet because we never even saw any girls at all.....
as we gently motored out on to the reservoir and more adjustments were made, we got settled in and then hoisted the sail and stopped the motor..... just the main for about 20-30 minutes in a light 4-6 knot breeze just to get the feel of her. At that pace she slipped through the water silently, and even with a little stronger wind she seemed to do well. So then we hoisted the jib. That made a difference in the speed and of course, the handling of her.... in the few hours of cruising around the reservoir, we had some pretty good puffs come up briefly.... about 5-10 minutes at a time, and it was a beautiful thing to feel the boat surge forward and watch her gently heel over. I could actually feel the power of the wind as she drove thru the water. I am sure we never hit top speed at anytime, but it was impressive enough feeling as it was.
We eventually headed back to the marina and by then the wind had shifted a little so we were mostly on a beam reach all the way back to the marina, and it didn’t take us long to get there.
On our way in, Chris took a few more photos of the sails full of wind and a couple of me at the tiller. It was all so perfect.... and we were going to have pictures to prove it. but then Chris made a contribution to Neptune's treasure trove, as the little green sport camera slipped from his pocket and failed the float test....:cry: I felt bad, but not as bad as Chris did I'm sure...as I thought about how it spiraled down out of sight, it took a little while for me to comprehend how cleaver Chris was to make the loss of his camera look like an accident. It was then realized that he had purposely sacrificed his camera to appease Neptune and all his cronies on the maiden voyage of my new used little boat. It was to insure safe and dry passage on all the waters she may ever sail on as long as she sails under her new name “Allusion”..... and to that, I can only say “Thank you Chris, someday I will make it up to you”.
The single most impressive thing about the whole experience was not really a single thing but the harmony of all of the things about it put together... It was the most relaxing time I have ever spent on the water, ever. Being able to have a normal conversation without the noise while being underway to the destination, not being in a hurry to get there and having time for the conversation. Things were not happening so fast like with a powerboat and we had time to drink our water and eat our crackers and granola bars without fumes and exhaust from the engine.... nothing could have made it any better. except for maybe some wildlife....
I gleaned a lot of information from this site and from the people that have been here before me. I have taken the wisdom you shared with me to make my transition from power to sail a pleasant one. And maybe its just me, but all the information the books hold about the subject, it all seemed so overwhelming as to make me doubt whether or not this is actually something I want to do.. but in actual practice, it all seems so natural and easy...... I still have a lot to learn and a lot of experience yet to gain, but Saturday I learned that it is something I want to do, and I should have made the switch years ago.. and its easier than the books make it out to be.
And I could name the people on this site who have helped me the most, but where would it stop..... I got help from every post I read.... either an idea about how to do something, or more importantly, ideas of what not to do....
I want to thank everyone for taking the time to explain in detail to me how things work for you and why. I have taken them and adjusted them for my boat and made them work for me.
Its just a little 21ft Macgregor sailboat that I have renamed “Allusion”, but its mine, I like it and it gets me to where I wanna go....
