Born-Again Virgin Maiden Voyage

[Urban Hermit]

Yesterday (4/18/25) I finally got my recently-purchased 16, Tilling Time, in the water, at the junction of Pensacola Bay and East Bay.  The sailing part was okay.  The rigging, launching, retrieving, de-rigging was not.  Black comedy of errors.  I hope to do better next time.  If not, somebody shoot me with a flare gun.   Estimated wind varied from 5 to 12-15.  Waves not much but once or twice the hull slammed on a close reach.  Full main, full 110 (?) jib.  During rigging I set the mast back as much as I could, not seeing "rake" but tightening the side stay turnbuckles ten rotations.  There was a marked tendency to fall off the wind.  Am I not correct that all else being equal rake reduces the tendency to fall off-wind by moving the CE closer to above the CLR? Neither heat stroke or sun stroke, but my condition after I pulled the boat back out of the water was reminiscent of the last time I "sailed" a 16 from the same launch:

Sloop du Jour, 1978 issue, 5 hp. Mariner.  No wind.  Launched with my then-current squeeze aboard, motored out of a short channel into Escambia Bay, pulled the motor up, and the wood pad on the bracket broke in two.  No more motor.  No wind, either.  Of course no paddles.  We had on board two largish bottles of Gator Aid and a bag of ice, no cooler.  July, in the 90s.  We drifted.  We drank Gator Aid.  We sucked on crushed ice until that was gone.  We drifted.  We baked.  Finally either an undiscernable tide or an indiscernable wind shift brought us back to the launch ramp.  Squeeze took off for the adjacent tourist welcome center for water and air conditioning.  I got the boat on the trailer and after fifteen or so minutes realized that I wasn't getting anywhere derigging.  Confused.  Muddled.  Went to the center also and on instinct stuck my head under a stream of cold water from a sink.  Squeeze had done the same thing.  We hung in the center for a half hour or so then went back to the boat.  I was able to complete derigging and securing it to the trailer.  After driving off I put my hand on her thigh--feverishly hot.  Forehead:  cold.  Wanted to take her to urgent care but she refused.  We'd both gotten heat stroke (heat sickness?).  Later my track star son told me we'd screwed up by overloading our systems with electrolytes from the Gator Aid while being dehydrated.  Took me five days to fully recover.

This time I knew we wouldn't be out long and the temperature wouldn't go over high 70s.  Took four bottles of chilled water and two of Gator Aid anyway.  Memories.

This time wasn't nearly so bad but I've never felt my 80 years as obviously:  slow thinking, pronounced fatigue (had to take a break midway and sit in the car), inability to get the ring through the clevis pin in the forestay shackle (some of that due to vision problems).  The future of Tilling Time is now uncertain. Or maybe I'm just over-reacting to being so clearly reminded I'm not a 47-year-old hunk any more.

Anyhoo, the seaworthiness I remembered of the little boat was apparent even without stress.