Finally, were back on the water!!!!! It was a long winter and a busy spring getting the boat all ready to launch. With our up coming honey moon sailing trip to the North Channel there was a lot we wanted to do to the boat and it seemed like it took me forever to get it done. But finally, we hooked up to her and returned her to her summer home.
Of course no boating trip would be complete without a long list of things that went wrong. It just seems to go hand in hand with boating. This trip was no different although I am proud to say we survived, no one got hurt, and we had a great time.
Well to start with I had to work, imagine that. So right from the start I was behind. I finally got home about noon and picked up the tow vehicle. As I was heading up the driveway in the 4Runner the second little issue arose, or should I say fell?
This large limb fell out of a large oak tree literally right behind me as I drove up the drive. Had I been just a few seconds later the 4 Runner would have been hit for sure. I wasn't so upset that the limb fell as much as I was that I did not have time for this. Back in the house to change clothes and then get the chainsaw so I could cut it up. It was about 12" round at the base so there was no dragging this one off to the side. Luckily I have been down this road before so I keep a chainsaw ready at all times.
Cindy pulled up the drive just as I was finishing up and was curious why I had the chainsaw out when I was originally getting the boat ready to go. Once she looked at her phone and saw the pic her questions were answered.
We finished loading things up and no sooner than we had the last of the gear on board the rain started. Of course it would rain. This is Indiana and it is May, or Maysoon season as I like to refer to it. Rain or no rain, we were going to the lake.
The drive over was trouble free other than more rain. We stopped to get gas at 446 and 50. The chicken sandwiches are still as tasty as they were last year. As we headed north on 446 the sky was looking pretty ominous. It cut loose about 5 miles south of the lake. For the next hour we had a steady to hard rain but no real wind so it was tolerable. Luckily Cindy found me a Frog Togg's rain suit so I broke it out as soon as we got there. I started rigging the boat in the rain and had the mast ready to step as it tapered off. Cindy ran to the restroom just as I was ready for her help. With the new mast raising pole I made I was able to step the mast all by myself. I was just putting the front pin in the mast base when Cindy came walking back up. What took me so long to make that pole???
We finished rigging the boat and installed our new sails. It wasn't long before we were ready to splash her in. The launch went smoothly and I picked Cindy up at the dock. As we motored out of the ramp area into the main lake Sailing Season 2016 had begun.
Then the next issue arose. Really it wasn't so much an issue but just more of how it is when you sail in Indiana. The wind died! I did all this flipping work, 1500 bucks in new sails, rigging her in the rain, and the flipping wind just dies.... Such is life. It was good just to be back on the water so we just motored out to the southwest as we tidied things up and got used to the new motor.
We were down in the narrows when Mike and Kathy texted us. We decided to head back to Moores Creek to see them but got detoured when the wind started to pick up. It didn't last long but it was awesome as the new sails fill with air and the boat accelerated under sail. We played as long as the wind allowed before meeting up with Analogue in the middle of the lake. Mike had already dropped sails as the wind died and storms were coming. We followed them into anchor and prepared for the rain.
Once tied up to the Analogue's starboard side I raised the pop top and installed the pop top tent I spent more hours sewing on that than I ever imagined it would take me. In less than five minutes the tent top was all set and we settled into the cockpit to catch up with Mike and Kathy. I still don't know how it got to be 11 pm so quickly but we were tired and we could hear the next storm coming so we said our good byes before heading off to the next cove to anchor for the night.
It was dark but there was a lot of ambient light so seeing was not too difficult. Once in the cove I went forward to drop the anchor. But this year I did not have to drag the anchor, chain, and rode with me as I finally built our own anchor locker in the bow and man is it sweet!
It was just a simple matter of getting it out and throwing it over the rail. No more accident waiting to happen scampers to the bow just waiting on the anchor to crash down on the deck or my foot, or worrying about falling in the lake because I had my hands full. It was so much nicer and safer.
Once the anchor was deployed I had Cindy put the new motor in reverse with a simple flip of the lever and back us off the anchor to get the rode out. Once we had enough rode out I asked her to put it in neutral, and I went to tie it off to the bow cleat. Funny thing, as I was tying off the line I noticed the boat was moving forward again. So I had Cindy back us off again. Back to neutral, tie off the line, and again the boat is moving forward. Repeat. Again the boat is moving forward. After a brief discussion of how neutral is in the middle and how reverse is "Up??" when the lever moves forward and back I gave up and went to the cockpit to show Cindy that she was going to far forward with the lever and putting it back in gear. Back to the bow, back it down one more time and then into neutral. This time we set there as I went aft to set the stern anchor. All was good and no one was hurt or swimming.
By now the storm is almost on top of us as we got ready to go to sleep. We had planned on watching movies on the Fire in the new mount I made for it on the back of the new anchor locker,
but due to miscommunication, or just plan lack of, it was still sitting on the coffee table at home. Oh well, Mother nature provided us with a great light show! The rain came and came, and it was still raining when I finally succumbed to sleep.
I awoke to a familiar sound about 6 am, thunder. It was not long before the rain started again and after looking at the radar on my phone I could see it was there to stay for several hours I curled back up with my lady and went back to sleep. To say that we sleep well on the boat is probably a understatement as it was 10:30 when we finally came to life! It was still raining but not near as hard as it had been. The pop top tent got a good first test and we loved it. I did need to respray the top of it with water proofing spray as it finally started to bleed through a bit but it was not bad. I had concentrated most of the can on the seams and barely misted the top of it. I am sure there were a few puddles on top that finally soaked through.
It was 45 degrees with a breeze out of the north east so it was a bit chilly on the boat. We stayed warm in the night but now that we were up we were both wishing we had a heater. I fired up the cook stove to make some coffee and tea and it took the chill off pretty quick. Here is the slick little collapsible tea pot I got for the boat
It worked great and collapses down to about a 1 inch tall. Pure genius to the person who come up with this one. I made us a quick breakfast of eggs and sausage as the cabin continued to warm up from the stove. Were currently looking at our options for some sort of heat as Cindy doesn't like to be cold. Who does? I doubt we are out in weather much colder than this but it would be much cozier if it was a tad warmer in the boat.
We did not have long to enjoy the morning as it was Mother's day and they were having a get together for Cindy's mom that we needed to get to. It was misting and drizzling so I put the rain suit back on and went topside to motor us to our slip. Mike texted and said there was a surprise waiting on us when we got there as it seems the geese liked hanging out on the slips when there were no boat there. Great, goose poop.
On the way back I snapped a pic of a simple solution for where to tie the topping lift off while sailing. I wanted it close at hand so I could reach it quickly and decided tied off to the aft stay was the best place. So I wrapped a small Gear Tie around the aft stay and made a loop in the end.
I also snapped a pic of the tent top that we left on hoping it would dry out a bit. Cindy was down below staying warm in the cabin as I braved the cold
It did not turn out too bad considering I had no clue what I was doing. I wish I would have sewed the outside of the zipper first as it puckered a bit when I sewed the outside but it still works fine. I rolled up the screen so Cindy and I could chat. Our new compass is just left of the screen in the bulkhead. Our gps/chartplotter is hiding behind the tent top. Normally the top won't be on when were moving but since it was still wet I was hoping it would dry off a bit on the way to the slip.
We made it to our slip and Mike was wrong, there wasn't a present, there were lots of presents waiting on us!!! I had to really watch my step when I stepped off the bow onto the slip to tie the boat up. We added a boat hook to the boat but it was on top of the cabin under the tent top so I could not try it out. No issues though as we tied and up and then I washed the presents off into the lake with bucket I use to wash the boat. Much nicer after that was done.
All in all it was a great first night on the water. All the upgrades we made worked great. The furler is so nice and I do not miss going forward to deal with the head sail. The new sails look so much nicer and I am sure once we get to try them in the wind we like them even more. The anchor locker, well, I love it! The tent top give us so much more volume and Cindy can stand up in the cabin now. It is just so much nicer having the extra space. We even get a little extra storage space on top of the cabin right behind the mast that came in handy. The windex lights up nicely from the anchor light so we can see it in the dark very easily. I still need to epoxy the transducer to the inside of the hull but the chart plotter is going to see a lot of use.
As far as the rain and storms, that is all part of it. You have to take the good with the bad or just stay at home. I am just so lucky that my incredible lil best friend/fiancé loves storms too. Cindy was actually excited that it stormed. Not many women would be excited that it was lightening and raining cats and dogs outside while on a boat but my lil lady was!
We are hoping to over night again this Friday and they are forecasting more storms. We can't wait!!!!
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