D-Baggery

Progress on the ditty bag is hampered by my apparent inability to sew a straight line. It has been suggested I use a sewing machine; a suggestion that I have refuted with an argument I find myself using commonly in the line of sailing: 'that's practical and faster and likely better and all, but not the point.'

Am re-pinning and adding a sew-to line.

Progress on the Nutshell Pram

A Mast in Progress

Rudder and tiller cheeks completed

Fid-ling about

The first step in learning to sew a sail is learnign to sew a ditty bag. What do you need to sew a ditty bag? Well, a needle, some marline and a yard of canvas (all commercially available,) some beeswax (got plenty of that,) and a fid (think of it like a rounded, blunt wooden stake.) As you can't find proper fids on Amazon these days, this is my first attempt at carving one out of 3/4" oak. I'm fairly okay with the whittling portion. Still need to sand it down quite a bit.

Points of Sail, Ever Continued

After a few lengthy trips, I think we've got the Springtide in good form. Learned that she zips along a lot better with the wind on her quarter than she does at a dead run, though I think that's a lot to do with the marconi rig. It will be interesting to see if the gaff rig on the pram we're building sails better at a run.

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.