Departure: 3:00pm 4/28/2007
Return: 5:00pm
Weather conditions: Clear and breezy
Tide: Ebbing
Boat: Club Dingy (Walker Bay)
Crew: 1 (Woody)
One of the things I really like about sailing is how it all seems to come together when I go. That's how I know it's right for me. Take last Saturday for instance. I had it in my head that I'd like to go. Several weeks earlier, I had been asking men to join me in renting a boat and we had planned for Saturday. But, as the day approached, I couldn't find enough men available. I was also a volunteer site leader in our community "Parks Appreciation Day" and would be spending the morning doing that. Monica was out of town buying a new car for the family so I had all four children in tow. In other words, it didn't look like I'd be going sailing. But, it was still on my mind; I left a tiny window of hope open in my mind and waited to see what happened.
I decided I'd take the club dinghy out instead. It's free, and a one man job. However, after the park stuff, the kids and I needed to get a couple of things done before I could justify it. The fact that I'm making an entry should have been clue enough that I did end up going. In fact, it was funny that a friend of mine called me up that afternoon and wanted to know if I wanted to go out on the harbor. I was already going so, we planned to hook up.
Sailing a dinghy is nothing like sailing a larger boat. For one thing, it responds to forces much more quickly. Winds, tides and weight shifts all have an immediate effect. For another thing, they are small. The club's Walker Bay is 8' long. I'm a large 6'5" man who weights around 250lbs. TAcking and jibing and steering (with my hand behind my back on the tiller) is akin to changing clothes in a small closet. If you've ever had to do that, you know what I'm talking about.
Still, it was fun. The sky was a happy blue, dimpled with puffy white clouds. The breeze was nice and steady. The currents were negligable as well. It was especially fun to meet friends.
It's funny. I'm always wanting to have other's join me in their boats on the water, and yet, it's really not a good way to socialize. You can see each other, but other than that you're sort of doing your own thing. My friend brought his canoe, 5 children and a puppy with him while I was sailing solo. We chatted a bit when I sailed close, but in general I was faster than they were. When they paddled in to explore the estuary, I couldn't follow because I didn't want to risk getting pinned in by the wind. In order to go int othe estuary, I'd have had to raise my center board and depower the sails.
We didn't do much interacting, but it was fun to be out there together. It was hard not to feel slightly superior as I circled the canoe in order to chat. Every now and then the wind would let up to remind me of my fallibility.
I don't know how much this is making sense, but I did want to record that I went out. Have a nice week.
Showing posts with label boats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boats. Show all posts
May 3, 2007
Apr 29, 2007
Wheel of fortune
Departure: 1:00pm 4/23/2007
Return: 5:00pm
Weather conditions: Partly Cloudy and breezy
Tide: ebb tide
Boat: 30' Catalina
Crew: 4 (Woody, Tom, Paul & Carol)
Okay, it's a stupid title, but I loved using a wheel at the helm instead of a tiller. Don't get me wrong, I love tillers. They're simple and elegant and I feel more connect with what the boat is doing when I use one....
However, they require more free space in the cockpit and even worse, they require you to sit facing 90 degrees away from the direction being steering. After a while, I get tired of torquing around to look ahead. The wheel was very comfortable, and, what can I say, it made me feel authentic.
Picture 1: At first glance, this picture seems pretty lame. However, it illustrates an important fact. Most people think of wide open spaces when they think of sailing, but a good portion of interacting with a boat is spent in small cramp, dark, smelly compartments. Even here in the cockpit, Paul is reduced to crouching over the starter buttons trying to get the motor to turn. He was in this posture for quite a while.
You may be asking yourself "What wheel? Is it a toy boat? Is he sailing his car? Is he mad?" No, Nothing so interesting. Instead, this was a boat the four of us rented. At 30 feet, it was larger than what we usually sail. It's a nice boat with a roomy cabin that would sleep up to 6. It had a head (sailor talk for toilet) that flushes, a sink with running water, a range, stove and cooler. It also had a heater for the dainty sailors. And of course, it had the wheel. We wanted to practice our skills on a larger boat in preparation for the cruising class. Paul has already taken the class and wanted a review.
Picture 2: Most of the waterfront in Gig Harbor is crowded with structures: ramps, docks, sheds, pilings, homes and whatnot. And yet, this little house sits in it's own little world; holding it at bay . It always catches my eye when I leave the harbor.
Hmmm. Now you're probably asking yourself who "we" is. I guess I'm not being very cohesive here. The "we" was the usual "we" as in Tom, Paul, Carol and myself. I should probably come up with a name for our group since we seem to be the core of the sailing club. I'm too tired to do that now though. I should just finish up so I can get to bed instead.
The check-out was a bit of a drag. It ended up taking 2 hours to get the boat out of the slip. The cause? dead batteries. We finally had to call the owner and have him come help us out. And this was with Dave helping. Dave indicated we could take her out longer, but I needed to be home by 5pm to be with the family. We were cut short on time, but other than that, it was a great sail. We had a nice breeze and enjoyed taking turns at the helm, trimming sails and chatting - always plenty of chatting.
Picture 3: This picture caught my eye because it made our lighthouse seem so noble and strong; not the minimal structure that it actually is.
We did have a moment of two of excitement. As we chatted, we noticed another, similarly sized, sailboat off the port bow. We'd seen them earlier, but it appeared to us that they'd purposefully changed their tack in order to pass us by. Clearly this was a challenge, and so we wheeled around and gave chase.
Naturally, we started gaining on them; it wouldn't have been long before they learned their lesson when disaster struck. Someone, and I won't say who... well okay, I will so you don't think it was me. Tom, accidentally kicked an instrument cover out of the cockpit into the water. This happened as we were changing posts. I had just taken the helm when the call went out - "item overboard". Paul did a great job of keeping the item in sight, but I had trouble getting my bearings. By the time, I brought us about to begin the rescue maneuver, we'd lost site of the victim. In our defense, I want to point out that this cover was about 4" x 6" x 1" in size so we're not talking about a large item. However,
this illustrates when such accidents are going to occur - when the crew is preoccupied or there is some disturbance distracting everyone, or the weather is challenging. I'll have to practice some more. In the meantime, we'd lost the "race".
Picture 4: What do you get when there's more than one sailboat on the water? A race!
There is a happy ending though. As we were heading back to the harbor, we came across our plastic item floating in the water. This time, Paul was at the helm and he struggled with the rescue as well. In fact, I think he finally cranked up the motor. After several tries, Tom managed to hook it with a pole and drag it aboard. Talk about luck.
Until next time.
Return: 5:00pm
Weather conditions: Partly Cloudy and breezy
Tide: ebb tide
Boat: 30' Catalina
Crew: 4 (Woody, Tom, Paul & Carol)
Okay, it's a stupid title, but I loved using a wheel at the helm instead of a tiller. Don't get me wrong, I love tillers. They're simple and elegant and I feel more connect with what the boat is doing when I use one....
However, they require more free space in the cockpit and even worse, they require you to sit facing 90 degrees away from the direction being steering. After a while, I get tired of torquing around to look ahead. The wheel was very comfortable, and, what can I say, it made me feel authentic.
Picture 1: At first glance, this picture seems pretty lame. However, it illustrates an important fact. Most people think of wide open spaces when they think of sailing, but a good portion of interacting with a boat is spent in small cramp, dark, smelly compartments. Even here in the cockpit, Paul is reduced to crouching over the starter buttons trying to get the motor to turn. He was in this posture for quite a while.
You may be asking yourself "What wheel? Is it a toy boat? Is he sailing his car? Is he mad?" No, Nothing so interesting. Instead, this was a boat the four of us rented. At 30 feet, it was larger than what we usually sail. It's a nice boat with a roomy cabin that would sleep up to 6. It had a head (sailor talk for toilet) that flushes, a sink with running water, a range, stove and cooler. It also had a heater for the dainty sailors. And of course, it had the wheel. We wanted to practice our skills on a larger boat in preparation for the cruising class. Paul has already taken the class and wanted a review.
Picture 2: Most of the waterfront in Gig Harbor is crowded with structures: ramps, docks, sheds, pilings, homes and whatnot. And yet, this little house sits in it's own little world; holding it at bay . It always catches my eye when I leave the harbor.
Hmmm. Now you're probably asking yourself who "we" is. I guess I'm not being very cohesive here. The "we" was the usual "we" as in Tom, Paul, Carol and myself. I should probably come up with a name for our group since we seem to be the core of the sailing club. I'm too tired to do that now though. I should just finish up so I can get to bed instead.
The check-out was a bit of a drag. It ended up taking 2 hours to get the boat out of the slip. The cause? dead batteries. We finally had to call the owner and have him come help us out. And this was with Dave helping. Dave indicated we could take her out longer, but I needed to be home by 5pm to be with the family. We were cut short on time, but other than that, it was a great sail. We had a nice breeze and enjoyed taking turns at the helm, trimming sails and chatting - always plenty of chatting.
Picture 3: This picture caught my eye because it made our lighthouse seem so noble and strong; not the minimal structure that it actually is.
We did have a moment of two of excitement. As we chatted, we noticed another, similarly sized, sailboat off the port bow. We'd seen them earlier, but it appeared to us that they'd purposefully changed their tack in order to pass us by. Clearly this was a challenge, and so we wheeled around and gave chase.
Naturally, we started gaining on them; it wouldn't have been long before they learned their lesson when disaster struck. Someone, and I won't say who... well okay, I will so you don't think it was me. Tom, accidentally kicked an instrument cover out of the cockpit into the water. This happened as we were changing posts. I had just taken the helm when the call went out - "item overboard". Paul did a great job of keeping the item in sight, but I had trouble getting my bearings. By the time, I brought us about to begin the rescue maneuver, we'd lost site of the victim. In our defense, I want to point out that this cover was about 4" x 6" x 1" in size so we're not talking about a large item. However,
this illustrates when such accidents are going to occur - when the crew is preoccupied or there is some disturbance distracting everyone, or the weather is challenging. I'll have to practice some more. In the meantime, we'd lost the "race".Picture 4: What do you get when there's more than one sailboat on the water? A race!
There is a happy ending though. As we were heading back to the harbor, we came across our plastic item floating in the water. This time, Paul was at the helm and he struggled with the rescue as well. In fact, I think he finally cranked up the motor. After several tries, Tom managed to hook it with a pole and drag it aboard. Talk about luck.
Until next time.
Mar 16, 2007
March Club Sail 2007
Departure: 1:00pm
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.
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.
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