Made it out Friday!
This was my "maiden voyage" on the H18.5. She has been patiently sitting in the yard since I bought her last July. Balance of last summer was spent finishing up my dinghy build and sailing her. I have been out once on her a couple weeks ago for my first official sail of this year.
I really have not done a lot of sailing since 2008; so, needless to say I was a bit uneasy. Was hoping for a nice outing with no serious mishaps.
The day was absolutely perfect for lake sailing. After the derecho front went through last night the air was clean and fresh. Temps in low 80's. Humidity below 50%. Winds out of the N at a pretty steady 10-12 mph.
Setup went pretty well except the forestay "T" got stuck in the wrong position after I raised the mast. Had to lower it, take the pin out of the base, slide it back, reposition the "t" and put the mast back up. I was concerned about those t's and had even ordered some plugs for the slots. The plugs were a bit small and just didn't do the trick. Got a hunch these stays are going to be an aggravation when setting up.
I was in the water in about 40 minutes. The redo added 10 minutes so I'm thinking 30 minutes will be a realistic setup time. That is a good 15 minutes less than the Mac.
Launching was easy enough. I did have to put the bottom of the rear bumper of the Blazer in the water.
The wind was blowing straight up the lake which was covered in whitecaps; so we opted to motor up the lake about 4 miles. The motor ran well but seemed a little rough at idle speed. I plan to change the spark plug and probably the impeller (see previous thread).
We anchored in a cove and ate some lunch. While in the cove I decided to raise the mainsail while we had some protection and realized I had forgotten the fiddle block for the main sheet. That was the only thing that I had not set up when I dry sailed her in the yard on my "test" run. Well, I simply borrowed the one on the vang and figured better no vang than a main sheet with a 1:1 purchase.
Once we were out on the main channel I decided to raise a jib. We sailed around for the next 3 hours. Tacked. Gybed. Even sailed wing-n-wing for a brief time. We had her rail down a few times even to the point of my daughter nervously saying "Now, Dad..." I was pleased with the way the boat handled and even her stiffness.
Returning to the ramp, I was concerned how retrieval would go. How difficult was she going to be getting her back on the trailer with her 2' draft? The tongue has an extension but I wanted to try it without it first. Boat went on the trailer very well first try! It wasn't perfect but I was satisfied.
Take down was easy and homeward bound we were.
With some fine tuning on the rigging, setup procedure, and some accessories, I think she'll be a fine vessel.
Kudos to my daughter for crewing today. My wife wasn't really interested in a shakedown sail, especially considering who the captain is. When I got back home, UPS had made a visit at may door. They left a SS ladder that is going to find a new home on the transom of my boat.
