the second on-the-water sailing lesson
Those of you in Seattle know how nice the weather was this weekend - and what better way to beat the heat than be out on the water?!?!? Except that's a crock - unless you're in the water then it's still super hot and there's not really any shade for relief from the sun. But I digress. What I meant was as of Sunday afternoon we've now completed our second on-the-water sailing lesson.
Are we now experts? Not even close :). We're both still much better at tacking than jibing. A lot more confident about the initial shove-off from the dock, including all of the work of getting the rigging and sails ready, etc. We can stop (just turn into the wind - it's that easy!), and a few other minor things.
There's still a lot that's pretty awkward though - primarily during jibing or other steps where you're trying to do three things at once. Let's see - turn tiller windward, haul in main sheet, let main sheet run free, step to other side of boat, stop turning, cleat sheet. And don't forget to look ahead because you're the only one steering the boat. Technically you should be doing a few things while on a normal course as well. It's amazing there aren't more collisions or boats that are just keeping crappy courses weaving all over the lake - beyond the normal tacking and jibing...
Looks like our next lesson isn't until the weekend which works out OK because the weather this week is supposed to be fairly crappy. Stay tuned for the continuing Adventures of Greg and Clodagh On The Water(c)...