65 degrees and 14 mph winds here today. Small private lake, lots of tacking...but, she floats and sails. It was as big a test for the wife as it was for the boat. She had a good time and was very good help. We need to learn a lot, but we got it launched, sailed it for two hours and got it back home. New bottom paint got a little scratch while loading it back on the trailer, but no big deal. Roller furling jib is a BIG deal. We had a few gusts that overpowered us and made for some oh $hi# moments. Need to learn to de-power the main quickly. We turned into the wind but that seems a little dangerous at times. I saw my reef point and now I know how to use it, but on a small lake there is very little time to make adjustments before drifting into the bank. I really thought my wife would hate it but now we are talking about renting a slip. The two hours of sailing was in addition to a little more than an hour rigging launching and de rigging and getting it back on the trailer. When I replaced the bunk boards, I left the pivot bolts loose so they would self adjust when I let the boat down. As you may have already guessed, they continually self adjusted while trying to reload the boat on the trailer. This caused me to go on a swimming trip. There was still a little pile of snow on the ground (from a few days ago) this am when I hooked up the boat, so you know the water was cold. All in all, a great day though.
Its important to keep the admiral happy. Plan #1 worked! 