Finally! I got the weather and the fates to fall in my favor on Wednesday. It was the last day of school for the kids, so I seized the opportunity to get this baby in the water. When I went to work on Tuesday morning, I pulled the boat with me. That gave me a chance to make sure all the electronics were going to work - FM radio, VHF, lights and the 12V ports here and there. No problems at all, except the one 12V port next to the companionway. At this point, I've already put up and taken down the mast a handful of times, so I'm confident there. The one time, above, where I put up the sails had me satisfied that I can repeat it without any issues. MUCH easier to do that than to get the 23 ft mast vertical!
Wed morning I intended to be up and gone as soon as my relief arrived. Well, I spent too much time at work watching movies, and forgot to finish the one report from the one run I had two days prior, so I was delayed getting out the door. Not surprising, since I am usually not ready to leave promptly. My relief, however, has been to this lake several times with her boat, so I got some guidance on where I should go for launching. Breakfast, paperwork done, things packed in the car; I was out the door only about half an hour later than planned.
Delay, anyone? Part way on my journey I found a train, so I decided to stop and get a couple of drinks for the day at a gas station. One other necessary detour and I got to head on over to the lake. This BMW is so much fun to drive on twisty highways, but that fun was sucked dry pulling the trailer. Funny how safety does that to the fun meter sometimes. I drove to the launch point I was suggested to try out, but that was a no go. The water in the lake is about 4 feet shallower than normal. However, that combined with a low bridge between that ramp and the main lake meant I wasn't going to be able to put in there. Detour once again....Good news is the gate to the park was empty, so I didn't have to pay the cover charge! Pretty reasonable entry fee for both day rates and seasonal.
Upon getting to the ramp, I drove to the top and got out to scope where the end of the concrete might be. The last thing I wanted was to back the tires over the end, and be stuck with no one around to help me fix that. No worries, since the ramp when further in than I could see. I was glad to see the ramp has grooves cut all the way across length and width. I felt good about having enough traction to get up and down safely. I set up all the rigging on flat ground, trying to get some video recorded along with doing the work. Wouldn't you know, I had a snag. Then I found I'd put the mast bolt into the wrong spot. Then I had wires get tangled. Then I realized I didn't put the wind indicator on the top, so I had to bring it down and start over. Geez! This really wasn't going as smoothly as I'd imagined!
Once I got everything sorted, I was able to back down the ramp and get wet. I got a little giddy when she started to float
. Parking brake set, I got on board and started making sure I had everything set up to motor away from the trailer. Safety strap on the bow loosened, and a rope to provide a slippable line for the moment. The outboard started right up with little effort. Letting the safety line go, I returned to the cockpit to try and back out. I turned the throttle, and not much happened beyond increasing RPMs. Maybe it's still resting on the keel? Back to the tongue of the trailer for a push, and jump back on. I floated backwards, still having higher RPM on the motor. I wasn't sure if the prop was giving me enough movement, but I was going backwards. Then I got a little twisted, and had to push again to clear the goal posts on the rear of the trailer. Why isn't this moving?? I got around the trailer, and noticed I'm moving closer to the ramp because of the wind. Now I'm getting concerned. It's my first time in a powered boat (kayaks have been my thing), and I'm headed towards concrete in a fiberglass hull. This doesn't look good at all
.
Well, I ran aground a little. Any guesses what the problem was? 1 million bonus AH points if you get it.......
Turns out, if you don't put the engine into a GO gear, it doesn't GO!
Thank goodness there was no one around to see my folly
. Backing away from the ramp, and making good progress, I motored around to the dock. Here's another first: wind from astern, slight motor power, but I'm now prepared to revere the engine to slow my progress. I've got fenders up, and a plan for where I want to put this boat. The next problem, which I found a little later, was that I forgot to get the mooring lines out of the package to be prepared.
Not really having the kind of start I'd dreamed of. No damage was done, but I expect it would have been both comical AND among the most painful things to watch from the shoreline. I managed to fashion a stable attachment to the dock, and went to park the car. I started to walk back to the boat, but the excitement
got to me again and it turned into a jog
. I'm finally going to get out and sail!!
From the one and only time I've been sailing, I remembered I need to motor out to the deeper water before hoisting the sails. No problem, right? I may have gotten just a little overzealous, and did that too soon. Once more, I found myself in some shallow water with the depth finder screaming. Start the motor, fix the course and try again. I had to do this a couple of times. It took me far longer than I expected to get even part way across the lake. I determined it was due to slow winds. Closely watching both sails to the best of my obstructed viewing ability, I think I had them doing the right thing. Every once in a while I'd get a gust, but mostly not. I turned on the GPS tracking on my watch (which started at only 7% battery) to see how fast I could go. I don't know the conversion to knots, but between 1.8 and 3.5 mph. That seemed pretty good to me. After a while the watch died, so I tried to download a tracker app for the phone. Not enough signal out there to say I had one, so that also failed me.
Now, clearly none of you out there in the magical world of AH.com know me, but I absolutely LOVE music. I want it on more often than not. I have a bluetooth headset, and typically have music going while I walk about campus. There is a small speaker inside the cabin with an AUX jack, and it works. The AM/FM radio also works. I turned on some tunes a time or two, but being out on the water all alone was just so darn peaceful and relaxing I had to turn it off. I had zero interest in music all the time I was on the water. Despite the stumbling points, I was having a marvellous time!
Progress across the lake was rather slow. I figured out that I needed to tack often to keep going, but the perspective looking at the shore suggested I wasn't getting anywhere. Back and forth, back and forth. I was thinking I would really like to have more wind, but then I realized it's probably better that I didn't so I could get a grip on what made this boat move here and there. When I got closer to the halfway point I was now happily passing the marina. Speed seems to be increasing, even though I have no way to confirm that with gizmos.
With great joy at my success, I got all the way across the lake. I turned around and started back to the ramp, still having slow progress, but seemingly a little faster. Not a lot faster, but some. I was all set to start on getting off the water, until I was most of the way back and the wind really picked up. I could FEEL I was going faster now. I also noticed a buzzing sound from below. I assumed it was the cable that draws up the keel vibrating from water passing by. Every time I heard that, I knew I had good speed as it went away if I didn't do my part with the steering. I even felt confident enough to walk out to the bow for a moment, with the tiller secured in the generally straight orientation.
The second lap was far better than the first. I made huge gains in speed, crossing one end to the other quickly. I definitely enjoyed myself on this trip! I had a grin for hours that I just couldn't shake.
Returning to the dock was another fairly ugly affair. I did remember to get a mooring line or two ready. I didn't necessarily get the fender in place. I also didn't get put into the spot that I was hoping for. That's definitely going to need a lot of practice! I think, of all that went down on this trip, the docking is the only part that I'd much rather have another person present. Although, sharing this new joy with others will be far more fun than going alone.
The battery on the GoPro was dead before I could make the re-docking effort. Unfortunate, since I wanted to show how the whole thing went for a true beginner, but fortunate because it was a little embarrassing... Returning to the trailer was, once again, not so pretty. I needed a second attempt to get it right since I missed the angle by mere inches of the goal posts. And wouldn't you know, the phone was also dead from having searched for a cell tower for hours? I didn't get any photos of that either. When I had the boat secured to the trailer, I started the car and with zero hesitation from the might diesel we moved right back to the top of the ramp.
Someone had seen me from the marina, and decided to come over and have a chat with me as I was tearing down. He was even gracious enough to provide me some appreciated help. He suggested I come and participate in the open sailing races the club has, saying it is a great way to learn. I think I'll learn the easy way, before I try to mix in the risk of ramming other, expensive boats.
All in all, I had a tremendously great time. I look forward to doing much more practice, and taking out others to share in my excitement. I've had at least a handful of people make requests to go out. I have to get that video edited/created and put up on the YouTube, then I'll drop a link here for you all to see my candid first time out!
