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A Sportier Sailing Today Today was my third sailing of the Norma T. I plan to sail each day this week and weekend; the weather looks consistent. This time I went to a lake about 8 miles north (a larger flowage on the Wisconsin River well suited for sailing... there is even a sailing club on the lake.) Winds were more lively today than my first two sailings. I’ll attempt to exploit this nice fall weather... after all, I already purchased my season passes for alpine skiing so the seasons will be changing soon. Today, for the first time, my wife joined me, along with three neighbors. (They happened to be there when I pulled my minivan into my driveway in April, returning from the B&B shop with the CS15 kit... they also kept up with my building progress.) Wow, five people in the boat today and more wind than earlier this week. How will things go? How often will I make blunders in the whole process? I was still befuddled putting the sails onto the masts before launching. Now, which side of the sails do the sprits go to? I did it right the first time, then second-guessed myself and made a change, realized I had it right the first time and changed again. When finally on the water and raising the mainsail the sail stuck at about six feet up. Oh no!! ? I thought it was a lug sticking in the track until I realized the snotter line ended up over the top of the sail (from all my “fixes”) and stopped the sail. Aaurgh... I’ve gotta get this straightened out in my brain... ? (I think that now I can get it right the first time tomorrow.) For the Mizzen, the sail went up, but got stuck at a low position and wouldn’t go higher... what the...?? Oh yeah, the down-haul line is cleated. Aaurgh... ?. But, the centerboard at least was lowered. Learning through mistakes continues to happen. Maybe having guests was distracting for me... sure... I’ll take that excuse. ? OK, it all came together in not too long and we were sailing... very nice and quite fun. Plenty of wind and wave action to give some excitement and splashing. The boat seemed to handle the five of us just fine. Gusts that came along were quickly adjusted to and nobody was nervous. It was a great introduction for them. Two of my guests had never been on a sailboat (the mom and son): I had the two kids do most of the tiller work... they both seemed to think that was cool. Keeping everything flowing and “supervising” in the more brisk wind kept me from taking pictures, but I did make a quick video... until a couple gusts gave us some heeling ?. We had some good laughs. I added a B&B sticker to each side of the boat when I got home. I feel very good about my kit purchase and the boat I was able to build. I’ve had it out only three times, and by golly, I’ve received notice and inquiry each time, even several times an outing... and there was hardly anyone around. People stopped or walked up to me for a bit of conversation about the boat. Amazing. I’m having fun.

First Day Sailing the Norma T I did a few more things this morning to ready the boat for the road... don’t want to lose a mast or something else. I decided to use my little Toyota Yaris as tow vehicle. It pulls the boat just fine, even out of the water at the landing, and probably gives other drivers a chuckle to see such a silly car doing this. The Wisconsin River flows through our town and the flowage should be big enough for some sailing. I rarely see sailboats here, but hey, it’s available and convenient. There is another good sized flowage that many use for sailing just north about 8 miles (behind the next dam up the river.) I spent some time at the landing area deliberately (slowly) rigging the masts and sails. Yesterday’s practice helped but I still needed to refer to a picture from yesterday to remember which side of the mainsail the sprit ends up. Even at a deliberate pace it really didn’t take very long for me to assemble everything for launching. Success. And I didn’t even get my feet wet. It fairly easily rolled off the trailer. I know many do not like immersing the trailer axels but this might be as much as this trailer will do without replacing the wood bunks with roller bunks. I know the wider waterline stripe is a little high but it has the aesthetic I wanted. I motored out a ways before raising the sails. I don’t think I’m ready to “sail off the dock.” So, I guess I’m sailing. I like this. The wind is gentle today, 5-6 mph, occasionally being a bit stronger. A good place for me to start. At first, it didn’t seem that the boat was tracking very well and wouldn’t turn into the wind for a tack. As I was beginning to be blown near the shore I used the motor to get back into the middle area to try things again. Then it occurred to me... I hadn’t lowered the centerboard. Oh yeah, there’s that. Great maneuvering improvement happened. ? Just another of my many dumb moves in this whole boat process. At least I do learn... sometimes. I tacked back and forth down the river (upwind) to the bridge, learning how to do this a little more smoothly. Then I turned to a run, letting the wind push me back. Gee, I was feeling a little hungry; maybe it’s about lunchtime. Nope, it’s after 2:00. I must be having fun. I lowered the sails when I approached the landing area and motored up to the dock. Nope, I’m not ready to sail in either. The boat nicely came onto the trailer and, again, I didn’t need to get my feet wet. The winch was only needed for the last foot or so. I really like the sailbags. I can lay them opened on the seat under the sails as I remove the lugs from the track and flake them right into the bags. Then, the bags are zipped up and cinched into a tube shape with the straps. Neat. All ready for a return trip home. Again, even being deliberate in my takedown process (trying to avoid dumb errors) it only took a few minutes. ?Happy Birthday to Me ? Yes, it is my 67th birthday today. When I turned 50 I decided to work full time in my profession until at least 70... because I like my work and because I thought I would need extra working time for retirement to be possible. Last December provided a chance to reconsider that plan and I decided to retire as 2020 began. Could I have had a better 67th birthday gift today than to be at this place in my life and to have my first sailing day in my new boat? I’m a happy guy today. The weather this week looks like nice September sun and breeze. Tomorrow’s forecast includes 15 mph winds. Hmmm... a bit more sporty? Maybe I will learn about reefing. Here’s a short little video of the sailing of the Norma T.

@lenm the teak floor and covering boards look great. Hope you plan on keeping them this honey color for years to come.