We drove through a couple of small showers on the way to the lake but then the sun came out by the time we were half way there so our optimism picked up a bit. The whole way over I kept one eye on the tree tops to make sure they were still swaying in the breeze as I had fears that the wind might elude us again but not this time. I think we rigged the sails in record time and it was not long before Cindy was pulling the Memory Maker over to the boat ramp so we could launch.
There was absolutely no one at the public boat ramp that we use so I told her I was going to close my eyes and sit on my hands and she could take as many tries as it took to get the boat in the water as she had the place to herself. I am so very proud to say that she only needed one try!!! I felt her come to a stop so I asked her how it went and she replied by telling me to turn around and look. I opened my eyes to see the Memory Maker sitting at the water's edge ready for me to climb up into. I climbed up in her and prepared to fire up the motor as Cindy backed us down some more. Somehow we wound up getting a bit crooked at that point and I don't know why it is but she just doesn't like launching off her trailer if she is crooked. Doesn't make much sense as she floats right up off the bunk boards but it has been a issue each time we have tried it crooked. I finally got her backed off the trailer and Cindy took off heading over to the dock for pickup.
It was about now that I nearly did a very big goof. Now please understand that we literally had the place to ourselves. The trimaran sailboat that we see each time we have sailed was out but other than that there were no other boats in sight. The water was calm and I was sheltered from the wind at this point because of the trees so this is all on me. I went to drop the rudder blade down and tie it off and in the process saw that the bungee cord inside the rudder had appeared to have stretched. It is a odd setup that uses a rope tied to a bungee cord to hold the blade vertical. If you hit something the bungee cord will stretch and let the blade come up without damaging it. Well while I was jacking around with the rudder I had failed to keep one eye on where I was heading! I nearly ran her a ground on the rocks not more than a 100 feet off the boat ramp!!!! I about dropped a fudge bomb right there and then when I looked up. I cringed as I turned the motor to get us away as fast as I could. Glad to say the bungee cord in the rudder works as the blade popped up as it drug across the bottom! YIKES! That was close!
I picked Cindy up and off we went in search of the wind. It had been almost a month since we had enough wind to actually sail and almost 2 weeks since we had rigged the sails. I did not check Cindy's rigging of the jib as I she had been doing a great job. Maybe I should have since it had been a few days. As the sails came up and we started sailing I got back down in the cockpit and looked up at the jib sheets. I could see it was wrapped around a lifeline stanchion as Cindy had it ran through the wrong spot. So back up on the cabin top to fix that. No big deal and we were soon sailing right along.
It was not long on the heading we were on before it was time to make our first turn under sail. Looking back I really should have done a better job of communicating with Cindy what the new heading was going to be before we started our turn. Live and learn right? Cindy started the gybe as I was on the jib sheets. We actually had a nice breeze at that point and the boat spun right around to starboard. Where things went bad was that Cindy wasn't sure where to stop the turn so the boat just kept turning. Well once we got broadside to the wind she was really healing over. Like a total idiot, I focused on all our stuff sliding off the table onto the floor of the cabin instead of keeping my eye on more important things, like the BOOM! I am glad to say the boom missed my head but the mainsheet upper turn buckle collected my glasses which somehow managed to cut my nose across the bridge and next to my left eye. Not bad, just enough to let the sweet and oil on my face really irritate me for the next 30 minutes or so. After we did a very tight 360 degree turn to starboard followed by a 90 degree turn back to port we were back on our way heading southwest down the lake a good clip. Lesson learned? Communication is the key to success and main sheet turnbuckles hitting you in the face at high speed hurt!!!!
Off our bow In the distance we could see the trimaran. He was about to enter the narrows so we set course to follow him as it looked like we could have a nice long run down the lake thanks to the northeast wind. Like most sails on lake Monroe it turned into an exercise in patience as the wind lulled about half way across the lake but we kept moving, just a lil on the slow side for a while. As he passed off our port side we waved at the trimaran, who had tacked back to the northeast and was on his way back to dock. We continued on our way west trying to get in as much sailing as we could. Captain Cindy turned over the helm to her first mate, that would be me, and kicked back to relax a bit in the setting sun's warm light. We tacked back to the southeast and picked up a heading for our cove so we could cook dinner.
On our way back across the lake Cindy, after seeing we had the whole lake too ourselves, decided to test her first mate and see how just how good his focus and multi tasking abilities really are. Let's just say I passed all her test with flying colors and no matter what she threw at me I never lost focus, well at least not for very long! In the process of "focus testing" we heaved to for the first time (that is a sailing maneuver ;-) ). Can't really say that was what I was trying to do but it just kinda worked out and was no big deal. We will have to practice it when we are both "focused" on the task at hand LOL!
We finally made it to our cove and dropped anchor as it was starting to get late and we were both hungry. It was after 8 and the wind was still blowing good enough that we could have sailed longer but we both had to work today and sadly we knew we could stay all night. I offered to blow up P squared so Cindy could paddle her around for a bit while I cooked dinner but she was tired an asked if I would be upset if she did not paddle her board. I might have my issues but I don't et upset over things like that. So instead we tried to share a glass of wine while dinner cooked but wound up tossing it over board as it was blackberry wine that had gone bad. Seems you need to drink blackberry wine within 6 months of it being bottled or it gets very nasty!
As I checked the corn on the cob cooking on the grill I turned and notice the beautiful sunset over the water.
No matter how many time we are on the water at sunset I never get tired of taking a picture of it. We really lucked out as the weather had cleared, the wind continued to blow, and we had the lake to ourselves! We got to thinking that Monday evenings might be the time to come play!
After sharing a yummy dinner together it was time to raise anchor and head home. We can tell that the days are really starting to get shorter as darkness was closing in on us fast as we prepared the boat to motor across the lake. We needed more light so I asked Cindy to turn on the spreader bar lights. I was really excited when I put the led lights on the underside of the spreader bars thinking we would use them a lot. But as it turned out we were usually so wore out from all the fun we had during the day that we have not been awake very much at night so they have hardly been used. But now that the days are getting shorter I think we will use them more.
Sadly it was time to raise the anchor and head back in. So I started up the motor for the Captain, that is one of the duties of the First Mate, to get the Captain's motor running ;-) , then headed up on the bow to raise the anchor up. I started pulling in the line but it was really stuck. So like the idiot I am so often am, I really start pulling up on the line holder that the extra line is wrapped around. I am really pulling with all my might when all of a sudden it comes free for about 3 feet. Just enough to let my hands, and the line holder, come up and smack me right in the nose!!! Son of a B#$%^&!!!! That hurt!!! Two good hits to my nose in the same night, what did I do to deserve that??? Now I am bleeding as the line holder skinned the top of my nose, and I felt like Mike Tyson just landed a upper cut right on the tip of my nose. Plus the anchor line is still stuck! After a few minutes to let my eyes clear I realized it was wrapped around the keel. Argh! this is the second time that has happened. Seems when there is hardly any wind and the boat just drifts around the anchor line fouls around the keel. I had my beautiful lil captain move us around with the motor but it was hung up pretty good. By now it is good and dark and my nose is throbbing so I just stripped down to nothing and jumped in. It just took a quick pull of the line to free it from the keel. Luckily the water was somewhat warm, i.e. minimal shrinkage LOL. Cindy got the swim ladder out so I climbed back aboard. Finally I got the anchor on board and put away. As I was drying off I looked up towards the tree line to our east and could just barely see the glow of the moon rising up over the trees. As we motored further west more of the moon came into view. Then I remembered that this is the super moon! It sure looked huge as it rose up over the hills!
I know, the pic sucks, but all we had with us were our phones. We really needed our SLR camera with adjustable shutter speed and a tripod to get a really good pic but take our word, it was beautiful!
We gently motored across the lake in the dark, still the only boat on the water. I used the time to install the main sail cover and to raise the keel. I could tell Cindy was a bit concerned about making her way through the buoy field and the boats on their buoys in the dark. I reassured her several times that we would be fine and that we would be able to see them once we got there. I went below and found our led headlight I had left on board for occasions just like this one and helped the Captain put it on her head. As we got closer to the buoy field there was a beam of light shining out onto the lake from one of the security lights at the sailing association. It was leading us right to the dock. All Cindy had to do was just stay right on that beam and we were good to go as you could plainly see there was nothing in the light's path between us and the retaining wall by the dock. It was about then that I asked Cindy if she remembered me saying we needed to get a spot light to keep on board. She replied yes. I then said this is why I said we needed one. So we added it to the shopping list. Cindy did great and sure enough as we got closer to the boats we could see them in the darkness. It really wasn't total darkness as we had the security lights on shore and huge security light rising up in the sky off our stern!
Cindy dropped me off at the dock and I hurried over to the boat ramp to retrieve my lady and the Memory Maker. I backed down and had the trailer all ready as I awaited their arrival, and waited, and waited. It sure seemed like it was taking a long time for them to get into the trailer. Plus it was really quite. I shouted out if the motor had died? Cindy replied back she had shut it off! Cindy is always afraid she is going to come in too fast and shoot up over the trailer and pin me between the boat and the car. I have to laugh at that thought as we have a 3 1/2 horse power motor. I am pretty sure we won't be jumping any trailers with it!!!! They finally drifted close enough that I was able to reach out and grab them but the boat had slowed so much Cindy lost steerage and I had to man handle them around to get it lined up with the trailer. The Memory Make is not a large boat nor that heavy, but she is far from easy to get back on the trailer. There is a narrow 4" wide slot between the two center bunk boards that the keel has to go between and then the keel slides up onto a flat board. So once you get the keel lined up you can only pull her on so far before you have to use the winch. I am thinking there might be further modifications to the trailer, like installing keel rollers in place of the keel board so the keel rolls up onto the trailer instead of having to be drug up onto it. Soon we were headed back to put our girl back to bed before we too headed home to bed.
As we tucked our girl in I talked with Cindy about the importance of not shutting the motor off that far out. Always before she had relied on the wind and the waves to get her to the trailer and it had worked fine. In fact I had not even noticed she had been shutting the motor off that far out. But tonight there was no wind or waves and it was very apparent what had happened. When she shuts the motor off that far out she becomes a boat adrift and without control. If for any reason she would have to turn away, stop, or back up, she would not be able to without restarting the motor. Instead of killing the motor I asked her to please just leave it run in neutral till she is on the trailer just incase she would ever need to maneuver around other boats or turn away from the dock and clear the area in the event someone had a major issue or accident loading. Anything can happen, especially at the boat ramp and we don't want some man in a bass boat calling her names for drifting into him!!!!
It is still our goal to get Cindy to where she can bring friends over and sail during the day while I am working. We are hopeful to get a buoy next season and that will remove the whole launching and retrieving aspect from the sail and that will really help get her closer to that goal. But like tonight with the fouled anchor line, there will always be things that come up that she will have to be able to deal with that cannot be planned for. Hopefully between now and then everything that can happen will happen, very unlikely, but at the rate we are going she will have had experience in dealing with all sorts of emergencies LOL!
Even with all our goofs and blunders and two good hits to the nose we had a great time! Cindy had some good laughs, at her first mates expense, and I too had a few chuckles(after the pain went away). We continue to learn. Cindy made the comment on the way home that all the BS about putting your hand at the 6 o'clock position on the steering wheel and moving your hand in the direction you want the boat to go is just that, BS! She is starting to figure out the whole trailer backing thing and like I told her in the beginning you just have to get to were you can see where the trailer needs to go and respond to it instead of trying to think about which way to move your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel. I reminded her that she only gets to back the trailer a very short distance each time so all tolled she has only spent maybe 3-5 minutes all summer actually backing a trailer. Like teaching someone to land a plane, it is hard to learn because you get such a short time to actually back the trailer each time. I promised her she would get it and by golly she is! I told her how I use the lines in the concrete on the boat ramp to help keep the boat lined up and straight to the ramp so maybe next time she will be able to not only watch the trailer in her mirrors but also watch the lines on the ramp so she can stay lined up better. I really need to take a few minutes at home and rig up two mirrors on my tractor and let her spend a afternoon backing up our kayak trailer in the driveway. I know Cindy would master backing a trailer it if I could just find time to do that.
Looking back on our progress we have made over the summer I still think we are doing really good. We have gone from knowing nothing to the point that we can actually sail our boat. Yes we took a step or two back thanks to a month of no wind, but what we had learned came back to us pretty quickly. While we make mistakes, we at least know what the mistakes are and how to correct them. Plus, like with Cindy figuring out how to back the trailer, we continue to learn! The best thing is that while we learn, we are MAKING MEMORIES TOGETHER!!!!!
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