Finally sailing again

[Greene]

We finally got Wrinkles on the water this weekend.  We loaded (by "we" I mean Brenda) all the stuff back on our 23 and headed to our local lake with a forecast that showed nothing but sunshine and fair winds.  We got to the ramp Saturday morning in beautiful sunshine and 55 degree temps.  Things were really looking up.

We knew it would take us a little extra time to rig Wrinkles up since it was the first time out and we also had a new headsail to install.  Everything went along smoothly except for the missing mast bolt.  Fortunately we had spare in the parts box.  The mast raising system worked great - all three times we raised it!  Yes, we raised and lowered that mast three times.  First time we had a line shackle attached to the bridle which of course shouldn't have been.  Raised it up perfectly the second time and prepared to install the new headsail in the CDI FF2 furler.  Hmmmm, that halyard is about  20 feet up in the air.  No problem.  Lower the mast again and tie on a couple extenders to the halyard.  Raise her up for the third time.  Did we mention we really appreciate the mast raising system?

The rest of the assembly went smoothly and we attached the new tongue extender to the trailer to see how it worked.  Other than messing around with the headsail and talking to several onlookers about our Com-Pac the whole process was quickly done.  We backed Wrinkles in and with the extra 5 feet of tongue extender she came off nicely.

The sun suddenly disappeared, but the wind was perfect.  We got to that wonderful moment when you raise the sails and turn off the kicker.  Ahhhhhh.  That's the sound and feeling we have missed so much.  As we sailed we kept adding clothes to match the thickness of the cloud cover and the falling temps. 



We enjoyed a few hours of great sailing until we started to think about supper.  We decided to park Wrinkles against the empty staging pier at Marshall Park and walk the 1/4 mile to a great Chinese restaurant.  Good food and a bottle of wine were enough to thaw us out.  We wandered back to Wrinkles and since the winds had died we decided to motor over to Picnic Point to spend the night



Brenda backed us out and and motored us across the lake.  She ran the outboard during anchoring for the first time and did a perfect job.  We lit the oil lantern and piled the blankets deep in the v-berth in anticipation of a cool night.  We slept like rocks as the water was completely calm.



We awoke to the prospect of sunshine as the clouds were definitely thinning out.  We cooked up some oatmeal and coffee/tea to start the day out right.  The sun did arrive, but it didn't bring any wind with it at all.  So we occupied ourselves (Brenda reading a book and Mike pretending to fish.) for a couple hours. 



The wind just wouldn't come out to play, so we motored for a bit to enjoy the scenery.  After a simple lunch we felt a hint of wind in the air and quickly raised the sails.  A gentle breeze was just enough to push us along at 2 to 3 knots.  Quiet music playing on the radio, sunshine, the sound of water slowly gurgling along our hull and a lake all to ourselves made for a memorable couple of hours. 



As the wind died and the sun was approaching the tree line it was time to motor home.  We docked smoothly and the boat loaded very nicely.  A quick tear down and the first wonderful sail of the season is in the books.

Happy sailing season everyone.

Mike and Brenda

[brackish]

Wow, great report of a great first sail for 2013.  Glad you enjoyed it. 

Some perspective.  I notice from the pics not a leaf on a tree.  My back yard has about fifty deciduous trees and they are fully leafed out.  It happened almost overnight, after a heavy warm rainstorm about a week ago. 

I actually sailed some in January and again in February, but since then the weather has been terrible, either cold and windless, or warm and stormy, or a normal Spring for this area.  I did go up to the boat last Friday to do the major cleanup, evict the spiders, de-winterize which means pump the antifreeze out of the plumbing system, flush and fill with fresh water.  All that in anticipation of the first overnight which may be as soon as tomorrow night.  Temps predicted to be 81 with mid fifties overnight.  Kind of perfect for an overnight if the wind comes up during the day.

Bay Springs Lake is an undeveloped lake controlled by the Corp of Engineers.  That is both good and bad.  On the one hand, there are hundreds of natural private coves to anchor in, fish and watch the wildlife.  On the other hand I'm jealous of your ability to tie up and walk to a restaurant.  That problem will be solved by a move to the coast.

[Greene]

Thanks Brackish.  I'm not usually so wordy, but I was writing it up for our little blog and thought I would share it.  While we were rigging Wrinkles up we even had a car stop and say they recognized our boat from our blog and thought we'd like to know they enjoy it each week.

Note to everyone going out for their first sail.   Throw away that year old sunscreen on board and use some new stuff.  Just sayin'. Ouch!

Mike

[lochinvar]

Ahhhh. I am so happy for you. It gives me an itch that only one thing will satisfy it: a good sail like you did. Gotta gotta gotta get my boat done.

Fair winds,
-Shawn F

[Bob23]

   And just when we thought the high seas might be safe...along comes Pirate Greene with Admiral Brenda. Hide your coffee, mates! That's a french press I see there and there's no telling what lengths this renegade sailor might go to in order to swipe one's java from one's galley!
   Truthfully, he is the only guy I know of who can operate a french press with his bare feet!!! Amazing!
Bob23

[kickingbug1]

   yesterday i tried to talk sarah into a sail. the lake is flooded and brown like chocolate milk but the highwater ramp at west access was open. she kept saying that it was too much hassle so instead we went for a bike ride which ended up being darned near half way arround the lake. doesnt she know im an old man. anyway we only saw one boat (power) on the lake all day. gotta say it would have been great with 10 to 20 out of the southeast. i told her brown water or not we are going the next nice day period.   glad to see your boat on the water-----beats seeing it covered in snow

[Salty19]

Glad you two made it out after such a long, miserable winter!
Just watched the CLR2012 video again this evening...Wrinkles sure is a beautiful boat!

[Greene]

   And just when we thought the high seas might be safe...along comes Pirate Greene with Admiral Brenda. Hide your coffee, mates! That's a french press I see there and there's no telling what lengths this renegade sailor might go to in order to swipe one's java from one's galley!
   Truthfully, he is the only guy I know of who can operate a french press with his bare feet!!! Amazing!
Bob23

Yup!  Foot coffee is my specialty.  Fondling the coffee beans with the footies adds that rich, earthy tone to their flavor.  Kinda like the grape stomp for good wine.

I'll brew you your own special cup when you show up at CLR 2013 Bob.

Mike

[Bob23]

Maybe a deal. Don't we have a grudge match race in our dingys? Something about Drambuie? Is it ok if I race you in this?
http://www.adirondack-guide-boat.com/product/adirondack-guideboat-15-ft
Where did you learn the lost art of coffee foot-brewing? I thought that knowledge was lost long ago. I'm always amazed at the wisdom to be found here at the forum!
   On a rare serious note: So glad you had a great time on the water. Nothing like a great sail aboard a classic yacht to cleanse one's soul. Sure beats TV!!!!!
Bob23

[kickingbug1]

    well i coaxed her into sailing yesterday and im glad i did. we had to use the highwater ramp at west access (clr sailors especially carl will remember that). the wind was only supposed to be 5 to 10 out of the south east. no boats on the lake when we launched and no wind either. i figured it was a good time to try the 135 jib. i removed the 110jib from the furler (it worked great) and put on the 135 striped one and ran the jib sheets to the camcleats just forward of the stern cleats (thats where they needed to be). with very little wind the 16 was moving pretty good. a short time later the wind picked up especially by the damn and we were topping 4 knots. our top speed of the day was a little over 5. felt good to have the little 16 heeled to 15 degrees and in the groove. about 4 hours later we put the boat on the trailer and headed home for supper.  to mike, brenda, rich and carl----it was like that monday after the 2011 clr----just great----fairwinds my good friends