Return: 5:30pm
Weather conditions: Strong winds, mostly clear (48deg)
Tide: strong ebb
Boat: Blue Club Boat
Crew: 6 (Woody, Tom, Carol, George, Frederick & Andrew)
I've mentioned before; the sad irony that the best sailing weather is often the worst weather. Or at least windy , and in the Northwest, windy happens in the spring and fall when it's still cold. Yesterday was a great sailing day, and we had a great trip. The skies were clear and sunny for the first half and the winds were very strong.
We had a large crew this time. Besides the regulars Tom, Carol and myself, there were George and Frederick (newer members) and Andrew, Tom's son.
There's not a lot to say, that I haven't said before, so I won't. There also wasn't anything new that I haven't photographed before so I don't know if I'll post a picture or not. I'll just briefly describe where we went and what we did and be done.
Because the tides were going out, it seemed appropriate to head south towards the bridge. Even with currents we made good time because of the wind. We probably would have made the bridge, but at some point, a new helmsperson, decided to head north and so we zipped (literally) north towards the junction of Colvos, the narrows and Dalco passages. We then headed east for maybe a third of a mile and then north again. This seemed like a bit of a poor choice to me because a) the wind was at our backs which meant we'd be tacking home, and b) even thought it's slight, there is still a northern current in Colvos passage which was where we were heading. We'd be fighting the current back as well. This brings up an interesting point though...
Why didn't I say anything? Why would I let us take a course that I felt was maybe not so wise (not that there's anything wrong with a slow return, but it usually means we're late)? I think the reason is that we have no designated captain on these trips. And, we are all so deathly nice, none of us seems to feel comfortable taking charge. I say deathly because I sometimes wonder if, in a crisis, we'd end up killing ourselves because we hesitate to take charge. To be fair, I think we all recognize that none of us are necessarily better or worse than the others at sailing. Sailing by consensus! I sometimes chuckle at the way we come to decisions, but it's all very pleasant because everyone is so respectful and considerate. It makes for a great trip every time, even when we do get in late.
While we were out, we practiced several man overboard recoveries and reefing the sails.
A good day.
