sailing as a learning experience

[rmd]

it was my first time out as the 'captain' of a boat. it was my first time out captaining a boat in very gusty and variable winds. my crew was the very able and fun tcb.

it was, to say the least, an educational experience.

the boat had a fair bit of freeboard (the distance between the water and the gunwale of the boat), but i still managed to - quite unintentionally - dip the edge of the gunwale under water as it heeled over.

(reference pic of the type of boat i was sailing here:
http://bostonharborsailing.com/images/pearson26_fleet_lg.jpg)

pushing the tiller so i come up into the wind as we heel over more than i want to is becoming a reflex, but i'm way *way* too slow letting the mainsheet out in that situation.

so we dipped the gunwale and sloshed a bunch of water into the boat and that's about when i decided that perhaps i'd had enough education for the day and that discretion would be the better part of valor. so i managed to get us into the wind, rolled up the jib and then dropped the main and got the motor going and made our way back to the mooring.

it was, as i said, educational.

also, incredibly fun.

Comments

[lil-brown-bat.livejournal.com]

The Pearson 26 is one helluva seaworthy boat.

A skill worth cultivating: when you have the helm, learn to keep an eye out to windward for puffs. Watch the water for signs that the wind is kicking up. Actually, you want to look everywhere, in case of wind shifts, but to windward for sure. Once you learn to spot these, it will give you the extra time to get a hand on the mainsheet.

Ideally, you want to handle these by anticipating them, a little -- head up just a bit before the puff hits -- and dousing the main just a bit. If you have to do it all with the helm, a lot of the time the boat will fight its way upwind and then luff completely, flopping flat and leaving you with no headway a-tall.

With all that said, laying the rail in the water isn't the worst thing in the world. Here's me (http://www.flickr.com/photos/87855317@N00/177074827/) lounging on a lee rail that's about to go under water. Wasn't a big deal until one of the gudgeons holding the rudder snapped...50 knot wind...

[rmd.livejournal.com]

yeah, the pearson appears to be very solid.

i've been learning to watch the water for changes in wind in milder weather. one of my problems yesterday was that with the amount of chop and wake and wind out there anyways, i wasn't seeing the wind changes on the water. couple that with being a bit overwhelmed, and i wasn't quite able to keep up with things. but the way to get better is to go do it some more. :-)

burying the gunwale felt very much like scraping a footpeg when cornering on a motorcycle - not catastrophic or anything, but scary the first time it happens unexpectedly.

[gayathri.livejournal.com]

mmm! I miss sailing in boston harbour. Thanks for the good memory!

[catness.livejournal.com]

M - you olde farte. Sailing a P-26 is like sailing a bathtub.

:)

R - you're sailing at Boston Harbor Sailing Club then? Totally cool.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

you're sailing at Boston Harbor Sailing Club then?

yep! i did their basic daysailing class a few weeks back, and it comes with a 30 day membership that gets me the soling/boston 27's and p-26's.

and, of course, it's frickin rained nearly non-stop the whole time.

i sailed in seattle a bit, but i figured i'd do the basic course this year and build skills with it then maybe next year do some of the advanced classes. long term plan is to beef my skills up enough that in a few years time i could charter a boat to take off to maine or down south for a few weeks.

[lil-brown-bat.livejournal.com]

A P-26 is not like a bathtub. Try an ODay or a Catalina, or any of those fukked-up swing keel designs if you want that.

Now, what I always wanted to try was a Cape Dory...or a C&C...