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A nice first sail today. A bit rambling...

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/21/2012 : 23:05:22

Got my first sail of the year in today. Rita has a friend visiting from San Francisco, and they wanted to go shopping, so I called one of my best friends to see if he'd like to go out. He and his oldest son and I drove down to the marina and headed out. This was the first time either of them had been on my boat, but his dad sails a Halberg Rassey 35 in the UK (they refer to him as Capt. Bligh) so the learning curve was short and sweet.

One of the best parts of the day was when the outboard started right up, and idled right back down happily. So pleased that little chapter is behind me. We headed down the Duwamish River and raised sails once we got onto Elliott Bay. There were surprisingly few sailboats out, we only passed about three that were close enough to wave to. We sailed out to the Alki Lighthouse which took about 90 minutes or so. There was enough wind to heel us over a few degrees, but not so much that we thought we needed to take in a reef. We contemplated sailing out and around Blake Island, but that was still another 90 minutes or so away, which meant 3 hours added to our schedule which would have put us at two disadvantages, returning in the dark, and on a falling tide (which makes docking trickier). We opted for the shorter run.

Once we headed back in, we were sailing along Alki beach maybe a couple hundred yards off. There were at least two wedding parties on the beach and no other traffic where we were which was nice. Unfortunately the wind died down and we went from 5 knots to 0, complete standstill. A couple in a double kayak we'd passed earlier were bearing down on us from the stern, and not wanting to be passed by a kayak, I started the OB up and motor sailed for a bit. The wind had clocked around to the east and was now on our nose, so we opted to keep motor sailing till we could turn south into Elliott Bay. We were making about 4.5 knots and the kayakers were keeping up with us! They followed us all the way into the bay, close enough to exchange pleasantries with them a couple of time. Once we made our turn to the south, we were able to sail for another half hour or so until we were in the wind shadow of West Seattle. Once that happens, it's time to drop sails and motor the rest of the way in.

We had an uneventful ride back to the marina, slid right into our slip (with the happy little engine idling us at about 0.8 knots, did I mention I'm happy about it working properly again?). What a nice day. My friend's son had a ball, mostly enjoyed being at the tiller, although he's a little shaky holding a course (who isn't the first time they try?). I'm sitting here at home now after having dinner with some other friends, I can still feel the rocking of the boat as I'm writing this.

I had a great day.

David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor

Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --

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britinusa
Web Editor

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USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 04/22/2012 : 05:42:37

Envious!

Paul

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Joe Diver
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1218 Posts

Response Posted - 04/22/2012 : 06:46:40

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by delliottg
 I had a great day.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

That's what it's all about! Nice story...thanks for sharing....

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Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 04/22/2012 : 07:59:00

Sounds wonnerful. I want to get out and get some boat chores done today, but its so ugly out there, that teh bed is equally appealing right now.

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TCurran
Admiral

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USA
588 Posts

Response Posted - 04/22/2012 : 11:29:29

Great story, always like reading them. Our weekend was pretty much a wash-out, although it didn't rain near as much as the doomsaying weathermen said it would, there was a real good chance of heavy weather. But on the good side, I finally got the crown molding up my wife's been bugging me about.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 04/22/2012 : 12:41:57

Found out this morning that I got a bit more sun than I thought yesterday by stepping into a hot shower. Yowch! I also ache in a bunch of places, but I always seem to after a sail. The pleasant surprise was no real ache in my lower back. I was diagnosed with "severe degenerative bone disease" (otherwise known as arthritis) in my lower back in January. My bone doc has recommended I move to warmer climes, but that's not likely to happen soon. The last week or so my back's been really grumpy, but I've fallen off of my walking regimen which really helps. I think the exercise sailing yesterday helped with the pain, which is great.

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.