Beats a Day at the Office

From the Log of SV Esmerelda:
4/30/2015
-1500
Post Sailing Review
Location: Big Arm Bay
Weather Gusty, Changing, blowing winds. Mainly SW 5kts and climbing steadily. Sailed with Jim Young and SV Desdemona. No issues with wetting boat but wet lines made post launch sporadic. Vessel never showed bad manners and accorded herself like a lady. Once underway lost mainsheet block and cleat. Sailed in hand. Need to get gloves. Sailed all points in rising wind. Jib tension and mainsail downhaul are crucial in higher wind conditions to ensure continued ability to windward in arduous conditions.  Priority is tiller extension with thoughts of making the sail controls more conducive to single handed sailing. No issues with boat. Manners in all conditions encountered. Today a trailer leaf spring broke. Sailing suspended pending trailer repair.

Yes it was quite a first sail! But Essie was a doll and I survived to tell the tale. Was to meet up with a friend of mine for some sailing, forecast was good so loaded up and headed north. Upon arriving at Big Arm I saw Jim's big lug way out across the bay. So I rigged up the Lido and launched. The two boats could not be more different but it was sure nice having another craft on the water.

Two fine boats. Sure beats a day at the office!

 This is where the first fiasco started. Wet lines and general mistowage led to a comedy of rigging errors as we left the dock. The wet mainsheet started doing tricks and got the jib sheets involved. The rudder enjoyed it's new freedom and sent us into a joyful spirals. And I forgot to secure the downhaul for the main. It was memorable departure. At least I had my captains hat on! Eventually we got to the business of sailing and it was quite a day for that! The cloud cover made the water dark and the rising winds only added to atmosphere. Jim on the other hand was zipping around like a man possessed. In my fertile imagination my Lido is a very nimble and fast boat, held out of the Americas Cup only by her fourteen feet length and fine breeding.  But what I saw most was the stern of Desdemonda as she reached, tacked, sailed backward, ran, and in general was a joy to behold!

Look at that fine lug sail!

I'm not quite standing still here but MAN can that boat move! Jim did this for 200 miles in the Texas 200!

 I believe I've mentioned before I've had  goal to fire broadside at marina across from the state park. After reacquainting myself with all the sailing bits and losing the mainsheet block, I felt at last equal to that task that has so far eluded me for two years. Following a fast reach we began a long run up the south side of Big Arm Bay. Jim is a veteran of the Texas 200, the famous 200 mile run through godforsaken country attended by wild men and idiots. (Jim is not) So this is old hat to him but Esmerelda was flying! Apparently we hit close to seven knots on the way east. At one point I looked forward and saw my jibstay was slack. The force of the wind behind forcing the mast forward. Believe it or not that is a design detail of the Lido 14. A loose rig for more optimum sailing upwind and downwind. Well I thougth I had tightened the rig enough but apparently not. That would be important later. Of course I was just happy to be running. I primed the guns and rendered a salute to the marina. I had done it!

The photo makes it look farther away. Look at all those boats on the hard!

I now turned into the wind to head home. I had forgotten that it's best to turn away from your sail for this maneuver. Also that if the winds pick up while running it's much harder to tell. It was the most violent jibe I've experienced in the boat. That includes last years skying incident. With sheet in hand I let go of the rudder as I crossed the boat. She whipped around in a tight circle, shook herself and with a voice that was tinged with sarcasm "There you go. Are you ready to go sailing again?" I was a bit stunned but if all she was going to do as a result of such a boneheaded move was give me sarcasm I might as well go sailing. 
 Wow. This was sailing. We had a bit more then scattered white caps and for the first time I've noticed we had real honest to goodness waves. Standing about a foot and half high and coming in sets. I could feel the end of my boat lose contact with the water nose over and catch the next wave. The sail was pulling like a locomotive and I'm not ashamed to say I was near the limit of my fun threshold for the day. I then noticed someone belting out a nervous sea chanty at the top of their lungs as if to take a mind off something else. Then I noticed it was me. At least I remembered all the words to Heave Away Me Johnny.

Sunshine would have been nice.

 This was beating. Well kind of. She was refusing to get up on the wind. The jib was stalling constantly flapping to beat hell and anything but a shallow beam reach caused her to lose her way. I noticed a bubble of sail right at the luff. The downhaul, redone in a slightly more modern style, had slipped. I also noticed the jibstay was still loose and the jib halyard just a bit slack. But there was nothing I could do. The Lido is designed for a second crew member and in conditions that are not ideal it really begins to show. When you're daysailing on a calm warm day in 5kts of breeze single handing the boat is a breeze. The benches are wide the water pleasant. But when Neptune decides to throw a party, even a small one, the boat in stock form really falls down for single handed work. As my situation worsened I began to lament the things I did not have. I call this feeling "McMullen's Ghost". Well I was being haunted to beat Hades.
 Making only scant progress to windward and things not improving weather wise I decided I'd had enough fun. I doused the sails and fired up the electric spanker. Drove me home at three knots in fine style. The boat during all this was a joy. She's stable and takes the weather well. Never feeling out of her element but enjoying the challenge. She also suffers fools well. For that I am thankful.

A fine day indeed.

 Jim and I hauled out and discussed the finer points of our boats. Well mainly his boat. If I were to do a true single handing voyaging boat, Jim's is a good start. Utilitarian through and through. A great sailor. And has a mizzen. I plan on doing another blog on some of the finer points but I've got a bit to think about in doing things with my boat it's not quite designed to do. But love the boat you have. And I really do.
 I had a meeting later in the day in Lakeside so with a few hours to kill I wandered through the Dayton Yacht Marina yard. It was slightly depressing seeing all these boats still on the hard. When I think of a boat I think o freedom. Waiting for the lake to pool and a crane to step your mast and a way of launching does not sound like freedom to me I found a newer relative of Esmerelda, a Santana 20. Someday I might like to have a boat stored here. But only if I can launch it early season.

Then it was on to West Shore Campground. It's on the Flathead Marine Trail and I've never gotten a chance to look at it. Looks like a decent place, if not for trailerable sailboats. I also saw the amazing mood of Flathead Lake. It is truly an inland freshwater sea. The waves were rolling in and it was easy to imagine yourself in Maine.

You're gonna need a bigger boat.

 It was a good day. And today I was supposed to do it again, of course on a slightly smaller lake. After the Typesetter arrived I finished getting the rigging right again. It had done awful things when I frantically dropped sail and needed correcting. As I did a final check of the trailer I noticed one of my leaf springs had broken. And finding a replacement has so far been like finding unicorn teeth. Only harder. So sailing is on hold until the trailer is fixed. Of course I do have a deadline of the 16th for the 1st Annual Big Arm Messabout. And Essie will make it. Be sure of it.

An obstacle and a challenge. Nothing more.