The Don't Call it Breezy Point for Nothing!

Had a very educational sail this weekend. As the winds were gusting at around 25, we ran with the storm jib, and got an excellent lesson in leeway as we tried to pass a rock reef (eventually had to wear around and make another pass.) Practiced shifting the crew's weight around during strong gusts. By hiking over the edge of the boat, I was able to shift the weight enough to even it out and take a lot of the strain off the tiller.

With its island and rock reefs, Pelican Lake really is a great lake to learn sailing, and particularly to learn piloting (the art of navigating obstacles and shallows.) We would not be learning as much about piloting on a "blue water sailing" sort of lake like Mille Lacs, though we'd likely have to content with heavier winds and taller waves.

High Winds

Well, not really high. Likely around 8-11 mph steady with gusts of up to 20 Saturday. Reefed the main and gave the storm jib a try. Gave a very interesting look to the Springtide as it's not really a jib at all, but more of a small trysail with about 1/4 the regular jib's power. Made managing the boat through the gusts possible if not entirely comfortable. Returned to port with a rather sore tiller arm.

One of the Few Saturdays we've Gotten out this Year

Amazed at Amanda's sailing ability. Though nervous at first, she motored out, took the helm once I raised the sails, steered a close-hauled course around the Western edge of Gooseberry Island, and ran us back in with the wind on her quarter as the thunderheads rolled in. Docked for the first time with no problem.

Saw numerous seagulls, three or four loons, and several terns.

Beautiful day for a sail

Wind was mostly abeam (falling on the side of the ship; what they used to call a soldier's tack,) all the way to Gooseberry, falling slightly on the corner just as we rounded its rocky Eastern edge. Spotted two loons, countless seagulls, and a Bald Eagle being chased by what appeard to be a small flock of blackbirds.

Though there were magnificent storms almost all day Saturday, today the weather was mostly sunny with a few white cumulus ruminating across the sky like fat white heifers.

The Stopper Knot

A simple, attractive knot useful anywhere you don't want a rope to slip through a cleat or eyelet.

There are a variety of ways to tie it. Here's a good, illustrated one.

A bowline knot, secured with an overhand knot.

Winging It

Goosewinging it (please ignore the unflemished bowline on deck)

First time we've ever gotten the Springtide to run goosewinged for any period of time (5-10 minutes before the wind shifted and we got an accidental jibe). They call it 'goosewinged' because the jib hangs off one side of the vessel and the main over the other, makes the sails (in some historical sailor's opinion) look like the wings of a goose coming in for a landing.

Why would you want to goosewing? Well, compare your average fore-and-aft rigged vessel (your average sailboat) to your old-timey square-rigger (think Master and Commander or Pirates of the Carribean). The purpose of your standard square-rigger's rectangular sails was to harness the pushing power of the wind. The purpose of your fore-and-aft rigged triangular sail is to generate lift (like a wing), pulling you along the water. This gives fore-and-aft riggers the power to sail close to (into) the wind.

Think of it like a knife (meant to cut) compared to a ladel (meant to scoop.)

While the fore-and-aft rigger (most square-riggers carried at least some triangular sails), can sail into the wind, the moment you head downwind you abandon wind-generated lift for wind-generated push, something triangles don't harness quite as well as square sails do. This is especially difficult as the mainsail generally blocks at least some of the wind from the jib.

This is where goosewinging comes in. By pushing one sail off the starboard beam and another off the larboard, you maximize the available sail area, helping the boat run a bit more smoothly downwind. Best thing you can do downwind unless you have a spinnaker (large jib-like sail) on hand.

Hot and humid this weekend. Loads of threatening clouds, but not a drop of rain this morning. Flocks of Canadian Geese seen on the lake, along with a few Cormorants.

Got around two and a half decent hours of sailing between storms yesterday. Brought the storm jib, but didn't need it with the winds E-SE between 8-10 MPH. As reccomended in Seidman's The Complete Sailor, hauled the centerboard up about 1/3 when sailing at a beam reach, and making sure the jib channels air to the main when sailing close-haulled.

Saw two sea planes while out, as well as a flock of geese and a hawk nabbing what appeared to be a fish.

Heavy Weather

Weather like this makes a storm sail a solid investment.
Made two attempts to circle Gooseberry Island, both in gusty winds that swirled from the NW to W. The lower part of the circle was fine, even comfortable. Once we attempted to head back to the W we had to tack from NNW to almost straight S. Could bear SW by loosenign up the sheets and spilling wind, but the boat was overpressed with canvas when gusts hit, carrying the head to S or even SE despite the tiller being hard-over. Our only options were to run back around the island and shoot straight N through the channel between Gooseberry and Breezy Point, or complete a long series of NW to S legs.

This is what age-of-sail sailors called "over-presssed," and is why much larger vessels would only carry only staysails in heavy winds. These scraps of heavy canvas were more than enough to keep the ship going at top speed, but not enough to overload the boat, causing it to heel dangerously. A storm jib would be an excellent investment in this case, allowing us to travel much closer to a heavy wind.

Weather Helm

Though the skies were overcast and at times downright threatening, we met the SE gusts of up to 18mph with a stiffly reefed mainsail, pushing the Springtide up to 6 knots as we flew back from Gooseberry Island; a decent speed in a vessel her size. Had the family leaning over the weather gunwale to reduce heeling.

Spotted several mergansers and a loon.

Finally Out

Went to launch the boat when the docks opened May 1st. While there were spots of sun throughout the day, it rained torrents while we were launching, and I took shelter in the cabin while everyone else ran back to the truck. Good news is that there aren't any leaks this year.

Got the boat in the water, and it wouldn't come off the trailer. Drove the truck deeper in, still ntohing. Exhaust pipe now in the water, and the boat's still not budging. Pulled it up on to dry land, and on a hunch loosened the swinging keel up with a rubber mallet and tightened the pendant. Sure enough, we were able to pull it up a few more inches -- just enough to swing the boat off the trailer and into the lake.

Where it sat for a week due to extremely cold, damp, and windy (20-30mph) conditions.



Last Saturday around 4 PM, we took it out for its first three-hour tour around the lake. Gusty winds at around 11mph from the NNW made it easy to swing around the Western edge of Gooseberry Island. As we were nearly at a run, the wind seemed to fade, and as the sun peeked out from the clouds, it was almost tolerable.

I took the tiller as we rounded the Eastern edge of Gooseberry, and made a pretty easy close-reached course for the NE shore. It's when we turned back that things got dicey. Clouds rolled in, the wind (now set against us) stirred up whitecaps, and the advent of evening, the temperatures dipped down into the lower 40's. The wind kept swirling from NNW to something more like North, taking the Springtide firmly by the head whenever they did.

Tacking was nearly impossible with the jib up (in retrospect we should have dropped it and raised the centerboard six inches to shift the center of gravity), and whenever we settled on a nice, somewhat comfortable close-haulled course, a stray gust would grab the jib and swing the Springtide about by her head. As the rocky wall of Gooseberry to our lee didn't looked uninviting, we wore twice back to the NE; the opposite direction of the harbor. After taking a zigzag course for around an hour and making very little progress, we finally had to drop sails and run back in under motor power with our spanker between our legs.

Sunday was by far more pleasant. While temperatures hadn't improved much (it had just snowed Friday night), the wind was coming from the SE at about 5 mph and the sun was out, making for a far easier, more pleasant sail. As we were planning on heading back to the cities, we only made a run out to the middle of Gooseberry Island, and then back into the harbor.

Lessons learned:

• Swinging keels provide you the flexibility to traverse shallower waters, while minimizing leeway. That said, when going backwards, the keel has the tendency to jam into objects unless totally stowed, and the pendant has a penchant for jamming at the most innoportune times.
• When running close-hauled under gusty, variable winds, consider dropping the jib and refocusing the center of gravity either by drawing in the swinging keel or having crew shift to weather.
  

Wildlife spotted:

• Great Blue Heron
• Loon
• Sea Gull
• Tern