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Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/27/2002 : 23:43:04

Weekend Sailing Report

I notice that, compared to say Trailer Sailor or Cruising World, this board gets relatively fewer "I went sailing" posts. I don't know if we go sailing less than those folks, or its just that we consider a fine weekend of sailing so routine that there's no point in cluttering up the board by mentioning it.<img src=icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle>

Anyway, I had such an enjoyable weekend of sailing, I just thought I'd tell y'all about it. Feel free to say, "Yes we'd like to see more posts of this sort", or "That was a boring waste of bandwidth, get a life!"

I sailed a lap around Merritt Island, which is about 45 or 50 miles round trip (as the powerboat flies). I started out from Cocoa Beach on Friday afternoon towing my freshly build 8' dinghy (having taken the day off from work to get the boats ready). I only made about 10 very leisurely miles before sunset, and anchored north of Cocoa in the Intercoastal Waterway. Winds were from the east at about 15 knots on the Banana River (windward side of Merritt Island), 10 knots on the Indian River (leeward side of Merritt Island), and were forecast to build slowly throughout the long weekend. Temperatures were in the low 70's at night and in the high 80's by midday. There were a few puffy clouds, but no rain was forecast. Saturday I had a fantastic close reach under full main and 110 jib making 4 to 5 knots all day long (after sleeping luxuriously late). By early evening I was at Dragon Point on the south tip of the island. Nearby is one of my favorite waterfront restaurants, Conchy Joe's, which has rocky shallow water at their dock, but a nice beach. I anchored the C-25, washed up a bit, changed into civilized clothes, and rowed the dinghy to the beach for dinner. And a fine Bahamian style seafood dinner it was. The drinks were pretty good too; at Conchy Joe's, the mixed drink menu has maybe two or three times as many pages as the food menu.

After rowing back to the boat I took a brief nap before seeking a more sheltered anchorage for the night (Conchy Joe's was on the lee shore). All the best spots near the Dragon were taken (Memorial Day weekend, right?). I saw what looked like the perfect spot just a bit north in the lee of Merritt Island, and dropped anchor there. Just then, the local garage band a few hundred feet away on shore finished their break and fired back up. I then looked around me be in the fading light and noticed that the nearest boats were all anchored in a semicircle a respectful radius from the band house. After asking myself the foolish question, "How long can they keep that racket up, anyway?" (well, all night of course!), I raised anchor and took my place in the semicircle of other boats.

The next morning, after again sleeping late, I raised anchor and sails, and did a few tacks in the open water to the west of Dragon Point before joining the floating traffic jam waiting to get through the creaky old swing span of Mather's Bridge just northeast of the Dragon.

In this narrow section of the Banana River, I was very glad to be able to close reach the vaguely marked channel without tacking. I was still under full main and 110 between narrow tree lined banks, but some of the heavier gusts from between the towering mansions on Turtle Mound Island hinted that I might be reducing sail before the day was out. After sailing north under the Pineda Causeway, I entered a much more open area of the river, miles wide with long fetch and plenty of whitecaps. By now, the full main and 110 were a handful with 20 degrees of heel, lots of weather helm, and a snake wake in the gusts. As I approached the channel markers near the south end of Thousand Islands west of Cocoa Beach, it became obvious I wouldn't be pointing the narrow channel on one tack. Having previously wasted more time and frustration than I care to remember trying to tack up that miserably marked ditch, I resorted to a pleasant, if less seaman like alternate route.

There is just barely enough depth to motor a C-25 with raised swing keel through Thousand Islands by hugging the developed shoreline of Cocoa Beach most of the way, which I did. I also stopped briefly to visit with a favorite aunt and uncle (and what other kind of aunt and uncle would they be with a waterfront home in the tropics?). While weaving my way through the maze of canals back in Thousand Islands, I also passed a fellow poster from the Trailer Sailor and Cruising World boards, but since he was in a powerboat at the time, I won't embarrass him further by mentioning his name here. While in the shelter of the islands, I took the opportunity to tie in a reef, and change down to a hard flat 90% jib. (I did this in shallow water behind some tall pine trees, and used the swing keel as a parking brake.)

Upon leaving the maze of islands and reentering another of the open areas of the Banana River, the wisdom of the sail change was confirmed. I was still making 4 to 5.5 knots, but with much less heeling, and nearly neutral helm. Although there were small whitecaps all around, and the foredeck was soaked, very little spray made it back to the cockpit, and what did was as warm as bath water. The dinghy by now had about 3 to 5 gallons of spray sloshing around in
it, but there wasn't much I could do about that without anchoring to bail it out. I reached the next causeway having only had to tack a couple of times.

After comparing my most tightly pinched course to the required angle of approach for the center span of the bridge, I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and planned on once again switching from sails to Yamaha 4-stroke. I wrestled the jib into submission without incident, but got a boat load of good natured grins from a passing powerboat while doing so. Next, I wanted to get on the opposite tack so as to put the motor on the windward side while lowering and starting it. I decided to do this by jibing. It was a very smooth and controlled jibe, right up to the point where the mainsail blew out like a bald tire! This was an original equipment 1979 sail, and all weekend I'd been noticing how really worn out it was. Fortunately, I have a spare used main in better condition. By this time I was only a mile or so straight downwind from home across thin water, the sun was getting low, dark clouds had formed, and it was just beginning to sprinkle, so I cheerfully motored the rest of the way to the dock.

That was Sunday evening right around sunset, which left me one more day of goofing off before returning to cubeville. Monday, I rigged the new dinghy for actual sailing for the first time. Given the previous couple of days of wind, I decided to test the nearby waters with my trusty Sunfish first. That went quite well, so I tied up the 'Fish, and splashed the 8' plywood project with home brewed sailing rig. I'm very pleased to report that it sails much better than I had any right to expect, given its dubious parentage. I had a blast, tacking back and forth in the lee of the Cocoa Beach barrier island for hours until the sun set.

So that's how I blew away my long weekend! Thanks for your attention, those of you who have hung in this far.<img src=icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle>

-- Leon Sisson

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2002 : 04:07:53

Leon, thanks for the great read. How about some pictures of that new 8 footer <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle> ?

Steve Madsen
#2428
OJ (Ode to Joy)

Edited by - on

MattL
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2002 : 09:01:48

Reading about your week end brought a peasfulness to my heart. I didn't get to go to the boat at all, though I did make a WM order. I don't want to get into what I had to do for most of the week end, lets just say it was not fun. Please keep the reports comming.

Matt Loeffler
E.C. Rider
Cat 25 86'
FK/SR _/)

Edited by - on

n/a
deleted

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163 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2002 : 09:21:41

Sounds like a great trip. We took Teasel out Saturday (the best day, the others were foggy) to stretch the rig after doing a prliminary tune last week in the cold and wet. A great sailing day up here in the NE, crystal clear and 12-15 kts out of the SSE. We were roaring along, and the blanced rudder made for easy handling at 20-25 degrees of heel. Out past the Race Montauk and Block Island were sharp on the horizon. The best sailing was in Fisher's Island sound because the water was relatively flat; once out past Race Rock there was a chop because of the tide being opposed to the wind. We'll re-tension and pin and tapnext week, hopefully. Fair winds to all.

Edited by - on

Derek Crawford
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3324 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2002 : 11:50:33

Hi Leon - we didn't get to do anything that interesting! Our Club held it's annual "Jamaican-Me-Crazy" fun race on Saturday. (About an 8 mile course).
As we were the only non-spin boat they put me in the Cruiser Fleet with the other 7 boats, dropped my PHRF from 225 to 183 (the same as the fastest cruiser) and turned us loose! Now they are working out just how low my PHRF should be to give the cruisers a chance...<img src=icon_smile_blush.gif border=0 align=middle>
BTW - you should see Steve Steakley in a Rastafarian wig and wool cap...<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle> All he needed to look authentic was some ganja!
Derek

Edited by - on

MarkTM
Navigator

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USA
178 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2002 : 12:45:39

Many of my marina neighbors were on their boats this past weekend either enjoying the warm breeze as they sailed through a wretched powerboat induced chop or swimming near their slips in the still cool water of Lake Travis (76ºF). My wife, eight year old son, 100 lb. Doberman and I spent the entire weekend aboard our C250. Although we’ve seen a very unusual (read: DRY) spring here in central Texas, the Memorial Day weekend returned to a more typical pattern . . . 90º+ days with the occasional cold front delivering the expected high winds, frequent lightning and hail. Fortunately, the front blew through overnight Saturday.

Sometimes, I envy the northern sailors this time of year. Your weather provides wonderful sailing conditions. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, our HEAT, HUMIDITY and the tremendous powerboat traffic keeps us sailing mostly at night. I can’t wait until October! Well, I take that back . . . night sailing is a real joy that is best experienced during the dog days of summer. I guess it’s the small price we pay for year-round sailing. Full moon sailing is the best!

Mark Melchior
C250wb "Lorelei" #384
[url="http://www.texassailor.com/"]<img src="http://www.texassailor.com/texas.gif " border=0>[/url]
(click flag to visit Central Texas Sailor)

Edited by - on

LOREN SOUERS
Navigator

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USA
100 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2002 : 15:40:27

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
Many of my marina neighbors were on their boats this past weekend either enjoying the warm breeze as they sailed through a wretched powerboat induced chop or swimming near their slips in the still cool water of Lake Travis (76ºF). My wife, eight year old son, 100 lb. Doberman and I spent the entire weekend aboard our C250. Although we’ve seen a very unusual (read: DRY) spring here in central Texas, the Memorial Day weekend returned to a more typical pattern . . . 90º+ days with the occasional cold front delivering the expected high winds, frequent lightning and hail. Fortunately, the front blew through overnight Saturday.

Sometimes, I envy the northern sailors this time of year. Your weather provides wonderful sailing conditions. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, our HEAT, HUMIDITY and the tremendous powerboat traffic keeps us sailing mostly at night. I can’t wait until October! Well, I take that back . . . night sailing is a real joy that is best experienced during the dog days of summer. I guess it’s the small price we pay for year-round sailing. Full moon sailing is the best!

Mark Melchior
C250wb "Lorelei" #384
[url="http://www.texassailor.com/"]<img src="http://www.texassailor.com/texas.gif " border=0>[/url]
(click flag to visit Central Texas Sailor)
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

Aha! Now the truth comes out. I remember a month or two ago reading from some Texas sailer about being able to sail all year long, and making fun of those of us who have to take our boats out of the "hard" water. The sailing is now beautiful up here on the north coast.

Loren Souers, aboard
Nimue,
The Lady of the Lake

Edited by - on

Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2002 : 23:40:22

For Steve Madsen,<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>How about some pictures of that new 8 footer?<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>Well now, realize this thing is a work in progress, not a finished product ready for the wooden boat shows. It's more of a proof of concept prototype right now, although a surprisingly successful one so far.<img src=icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle> That said, with your indulgence I'll start a fresh thread on the topic of the dinghy, since the thread naming scheme of this bulletin board software tends to hide tangental discussions.

-- Leon Sisson

Edited by - on

ssteakley
Captain

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USA
467 Posts

Response Posted - 05/29/2002 : 00:59:44

Leon,
1st I would love to have the opportunity to take a sail as you described, we all love to read these sailing adventures and dream about the chances to do the same. I also have plans to build a small dinghy sail boat either from a kit or from plans from scratch. There is a back yard boat builders boat association here in Austin, Texas and I plan to hook up with those guys. I am sure the learning curve is great fun and sailing one you build is even better. I do feel fortunate in having Canyon Lake as my sailing grounds, it offers sailors every challenge except the ICW and the open ocean. Our yacht club Hill Country Yacht Club offers every weekend activities to keep sailing fun and the Learning up front. And I for one will not mind having a change of pace for the summer since our spring has been full of 25+ mph winds. I have learned alot from the second reefing point this spring season. I can now go out in 20+ winds and cruise without freaking my wife out. I also look forward to learining night sailing this summer for the 1st time. We have several boats that leave at sunset and return after midnight during the summer...I am going to check that out,
Steve Steakley
Moon Chaser #385 250WK

Ps. Derek could have won with a PHRF of 50 I am sure!

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