We left a little after 2 pm. The boat was loaded for bear. The boot stripe was under water a bit. She was heavy but she pulled out of the slip like she was ready! We took great measure to distribute all the weight evenly. We weren't able to take everything we wanted to, but that may be a good thing. We will see in a few weeks if we even want or need any of those "must haves" that were sent up to the car last minute.
After a sad goodbye to our great friends, we left the slip and off we headed for our first voyage since the re-fit. This boat of ours is a real gem. With all the weight she handles even better. Slow to start she pushed through the 25-30 knot winds and 6-8 foot seas here in the bay. We made slow progress across the slot in front of the Berkely Flats as the wind and wind waves wanted to push us sideways. We didn't want to push her over 25-30 degrees, so it was a slow and laborous process to get her past Alcatraz. The waves, although small, were close, steep, and choppy. We were thankful to have the dodger and small side panels up. It helped alot, but since we didn't take into account to get our foulies and just left in our shorts, that after a few breaking waves, we were soaked anyway! They hit over the bow, but the majority smacked our sides and blew in and over the bimini and right in the side cockpit, where there was no shelter. The skirts did alright, but they did tend to help scoop the water to the rear. I think everything got a good dose of saltwater.
The steel frame Neil built did not budge! We had a few gusts that layed us over 45 degrees, and she didn't wiggle once! Nicely done! I have a few things to re-do. My netting I put up under the stove for pots and pans blew when the force of the wave layed us over and my new pressure cooker that Joyce and Barry bought for me went crashing across the floor. We had a bit of water on the floor, mostly from just filling the water tank before we left. The smell of fuel was just as noticeable when we would lay over. My fruit hammock gave up on me which was my fault for overloading her and sent mango maddness all over the nav station.A few other things lost their balance but all in all it was a decent first run.
The new main was wonderful! It took a little while to get a good balance of sails since this one is so much bigger than the old one. We had a bit of trouble with the head sail and could only get her to roll out half way. This was ok since it was too windy anyway and we will look at her today and see where it got twisted. The boat handled very well. Very sound, very stout, and very comfortable. Daisy was much more content to sit on her own this time since there was more shelter. So was I!
We made it into Aquatic Park around 6:30pm. We put up the side panels and that allowed us to block the wind and warm up a bit. (Love those panels). We invited Katie's friend from school and his dad to come aboard to watch the fireworks. They had come in just for the opportunity to be in the city for the 4th of July, and they had never been on a sailboat before. They got the experience of riding in a dinghy back and forth to shore and see what it like to be self contained. It was a neat experience to see and hear all the "wows". The kids went inside and starting playing X box while waiting for the show to begin....ya they are not hurting at all!
The city put on a great show dispite the fog and wind. The boat felt great sitting on anchorage and the flopper stopper made it especially nice when the rollers come in from time to time. All in all, it is going to be a nice and well awaited for transition into giving up land and becoming full time cruisers!
No comments:
Post a Comment