Monthly Archives: October 2011

34th Sail 10/17/11 Sixth Single Hand We’ve Got Wind!

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Monday morning, my customer could not make up her mind about a faucet on my jobsite. I put the word out that this would probably the last adventure for the season.  No positive reponses. The weather bureau predicted nearly record high temperatures of 84 with 5-10 mph wind and no rain. Weather Channel went down over night, but their last prediction was 8 mph. I have come to understand this summer that their predicted speed was the lull speed. This understanding was definitely true today.

I started the rigging process and found that I had lost the protector wire for the rudder. I even looked for it in the parking lot where I had packed up last time. I ended up rigging a piece of cable. Then when I was about to launch, I found that I had not set the lower pental and had to pull the cable and thread a new one. I finally launched about 12:15 into what the weather bureau called an 8 mph wind.

I sailed north around the point an went up the main channel. The theory was that I could sail on a beam in and out of the main channel and only have to tack from the point back to the dock on the return. What I didn’t count on was that the main channel took a dog leg to the north. I was then sailing with the wind again, which meant  that I had to tack back. As I rounded the point, the white caps started up. Wind speeds were 11-12 with gusts to 15 or so. Riding on a beam reach, quickly ran to the west end of the channel, then headed north. I was able to pull in the main before jibing to keep it from radically swinging from one side to the other. A couple of miles up the channel, the boom swung across on a jib, and the mainsheet raked my glasses off my face. At first I thought that they had been swept over board. Then I found the clip on sunglasses on the seat, then found the glasses on the floor aft. I thanked the Lord for preserving my glasses. I need to find a new clip to hold them on. I sailed past mile marker 7, but never saw mile marker 8. It must a have been around the next bend. The scenery was gorgeous. I wish that I could have taken pictures. There was too much wind to handle a camera. I tacked at 1:10 and started back. The wind speed was increasing and the waves were a 12” and above. I let the main out about half way to handle the wind. This meant that my point of sail was inefficient. I was spilling a lot of air. I tacked my way back out to the easterly dog leg, negotiating the shoals at the entrance. Now the winds were 12 to 14 with puffs near 20. I was sailing between a close haul and a beam, with a lot of wind shifts. I tried to sail under the lee of the shore to deminish the power of the wind, but generally I tried to stay on close hall to feather against large puffs. The waves increased to about 18” with 2’ boat wakes. I only saw 3 other sailboats on the lake. One was a catamaran with a grey sail.

As I rounded the point , the waves were increasing and the puffs came more frequently. I decided that it was time to get off the water. I sailed across the channel looking for a layline to the dock. I had to tack because I was approaching a shoal. The tack failed twice because I was spilling too much air. I brought the main in some, and picked up some speed. Then the tack was successful. From then on, at each tack, the wind drove me off my layline. I had to tack 4 or 5 times to get a good layine up wind to the dock. Then I ran on a close haul and ended up slightly down wind the dock. I decided to sail right at the leeward dock then cut into the wind toward the windward dock. The plan worked, almost. I drifted a few feet from the dock then was taken back in the wind. I cut  the boat to port, picked up speed and came aoout again only to come up short again. The third time around, I had enough speed, a little too much actually. I rammed the dock at 2-3 mph.  The boat survived. I used the boat hook to pull into the dock. Once secure, I lead the boat around the dock to the windward side so that the wind would not push the boat away from the trailer. I then backed the trailer close to the dock so that I could pull the boat on the trailer. If my map tracing is accurate, this was one of my longest trips( about 17 miles).  Sailing on a beam in moderate to high winds had a lot to do with the distance.

I did a lot of praying on this trip that the”big one” would not capsize the boat. With water temperatures about 70 degrees, I did not want to swim. The Lord answered that prayer. The weather bureau said that the maximum sustained wind speed was 14 mph and maximum gust was 18 mph. From where I was, 14 was a frequent speed and the puffs were at least 18. I went home tired and sore, but happy.

32nd Sail 9/27/11 Fifth Single Hand Wild Ride!

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Tuesday morning, I had only a little going on on by jobsite.
A front was passing through, and uncharacturisticallly for September, it had been raining for several days. There was a thunderstorm at 6 am, but the weatherman promised clearing skies by 9 and 10 mph winds all day with 20% chance of rain and a high of 84. Sounds delicious!  I left  the house at 6:45. I stopped at a customer’s shop in Birkdale Village to adjust a shelf, then headed for the lake. I arrived at Beatties Ford about 9:20 to see white caps, and gray skies with a few breaks
for sun.

I launched about 10:45. The wind was blowing out of the SW 12-15 mph with gusts to 20 mph. Waves were 12” to 18”. One of those clouds sprinkled on me as I went out but that was all the rain that I saw. I was spilling some air because of the gusts. I tacked into the wind heading south toward the dam. Because I was spilling air, I could not point up very high and my progress was slow. A couple of the 20 mph puffs heeled the boat almost to the gunwale. There were very few boats on the lake. The cloud bans were crossing the lake so that it was difficult to discern between a puff coming in and cloud shadow. I saw one sailboat with a cabin from a distance crossing the lake a couple of times, but then it disappeared from my sight.

I was about 3 to 4 miles from the dock when a steady 20 mph wind came up from the SW. I was sailing on starboard tack on a close haul. I sheeted out the main and the jib until they were luffing. I kept the boat on close haul feathering into the wind to keep the wind from overpowering the sails. I also tighten the outhaul and the cunningham to reduce the power.  I kept the sheets cleated, but kept a hand on the sheets in case I need to luff one or the other to prevent capsizing. The sails chattered in the wind. I soon found out that this was no puff. The wind continued for 10 to 15 minutes, blowing me about 2 miles across this 3 mile wide section of lake. The waves increased to about  2 feet. I was approaching an island. I decided to sheet out the main and head back to the dock. I came about to a broad reach which pointed toward another island. So then I jibed, (or tried to!). I pulled the main in to lessen the force of the swinging boom. A puff hit and jerked the mainsheet out of my hand. The boat heeled and I was thrown to the deck. I lost the tiller and the boat spun around into the wind and settled. I then regained control and set a course across the lake toward the dock. Winds had calmed to about 12 mph but the 2’ waves lingered on. I sailed across the lake on a broad to a beam reach. I thought that the winds would be lighter
under the lee of the shore.

When I reached the windward side of the lake, the winds were steady at 12- 15. I thought that the wild ride was over. I decided to jibe and head back across the lake, still heading back toward the dock. I was wrong in my decision. About half way across the lake, the winds came back again. I rode out the wind in the same manner. As I closed in on the leeward side of the lake, I jibed and ran on a beam reach for the dock. The winds backed off again to around 10-12. I guess you didn’t  hear me mention any lulls. There were hardly any on the trip. One of 3-4 mph and a couple about 8 mph. I tried to figure out how I was going to keep from crashing when I landed. The wind shifted so that it was blowing almost straight out from the dock. Easy solution: I sailed in on a close haul then turned in straight down the side of the dock. I dropped my sails about 30’ out and glided straight in. I did have to grab the dock to stop the boat. I was traveling 3-4 mph when I arrived. A perfect landing! That’s 5 in a row! I landed about 12:30. I said thank you, Lord for the adventure and getting me back in safe. Once again the Javelin performed well in high winds.

The official weather report from the airport was maximum sustained winds of 16 mph with maximum gust of 21 mph. I never heard of a 15 minute long gust, but I was also not sailing at the airport. So much for the 9-10 mph prediction. This was just a little over a year from the 9/16/10 sail where we almost capsized.  The winds continued in this pattern for the rest of the day. I went home very sore from the fall and from battling the wind. Yes, I am ready to go again!