So I was finally able to get out to the lake to check on the boat and get some sail time in. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been out there on my boat. I was out about three or four weeks ago when I crewed on a J/105 racing sailboat. I’ve been invited back to crew it on recurring Sunday afternoon races, so I’ll certainly gain some more sailing experience as well as racing experience.
First thing I did when I opened the boat today was check the bilge. Not bad with only about 2 inches of water considering we’ve had some pretty good rain over the past several weeks. I did notice, however, that my ever-elusive v-berth leak is not completely gone. It’s certainly much less pronounced, but I did find evidence of minor leaking. That leak has been the major deterrent to finishing my interior refit. I’ve got to figure out how to get the interior dry before I start adding things inside. More on that later….
So I was thankfully able to get some sail time in! Started up the outboard motor which, by the way, continues to run like a champ! Pulled the starter handle once and she fired right up! While the motor was warming up, I checked the rigging, took the sail cover off, prepared the furling jib and released the front dock lines. Karma patiently waited while I did all this, of course. Wait! What am I thinking? Lol. She wasn’t patiently waiting, she was following me every step along the way…from bow to stern, port to starboard, she was right there with me! 🙂
Here’s a photo she wanted to take after we were well underway.
Finally got underway and was relieved to have 9-13 mph winds and no one else on the lake within sight. I actually achieved the fastest speed this Hunter has made so far [with me]. According to my GPS I achieved 6.83 mph which equates to 5.94 knots. The hull speed on the Hunter 25 is around 6.25 knots, so I got pretty close to max speed. Some of that higher speed comes from a pretty good heel angle. I maintained about a 20 degree heel angle for quite a while on my initial tack.
I did notice my headsail has a tear in it that I’ll need to repair soon before it gets worse.
About an hour and a half into my sail Karma and I started to get hungry. In the past I usually just wait until I get back to the dock to eat, but today I decided to try something I’ve never done…. the heave-to maneuver. I remember talking about it in my sailing class, but we never got around to doing it, so I was hoping I remembered all the steps involved.
I was on a port tack, so I let the bow fall off through the wind and let the boom swing to a starboard tack orientation. I didn’t release the starboard jib, rather just let it stay in place and backwind it. I put the tiller all the way over to the port side and almost all forward movement stopped. Everything became very calm and I was only drifting slightly in the wind. I checked my GPS and I was drifting off the wind at only half a knot speed.
Karma and I ate a fairly quick lunch, probably about 7 or 8 minutes, then I recovered from the heave-to very easily. I simply released the starboard jibsheet, hauled in the port jibsheet, loosed the tiller and we were off on a starboard tack. See photo below.
We sailed for another hour and half before docking again. Logged just over 9 nautical miles in just over 3 hours. All in all it was great sailing day! Here’s a little video documenting today’s sail. Enjoy!
you have a dog? ?
Yep!
Jack Russell Terrier mix.
Karma didn’t seem too thrilled in the video 🙂
Mark and Cindy
s/v Cream Puff
Haha… she actually does really well. She handles everything just fine. She might have been hungry; that was right before I heaved-to and we had lunch.
There is something special about sailing on your own (well apart from Karma) and heaving too is one of the best and underused manoeuvres in sailing. It can be used so many times it was good to hear you describe it. Love the website.
Thanks Mark! I appreciate the comments!
Mike