A Great Day Sailing

[Mike Routley]

:)I finally got to sail a real sailboat today   It may take several weeks to get the grin off my face.  Two of the nicest guys I know, Capt. Jake and Barry Pyatt took me sailing.  Capt. Jake graciously let me man handle his beautiful weekender.  Barry patiently showed me as much as he could about sailing and seamanship.  He had to start real simple. The pointy end is the bow and goes forward.  So much to learn, so little time.  To say I had a great day today, is a huge understatement.  As I am sitting here typing, it feels like the desk is rocking Does that mean I have been bitten by the sail bug? :

[move]John and Barry, Thank you so much for a really great day [/move]

[capt jake]

Yup, Mike had a grin that couldn't be pried off with a crowbar.   It was good to get out on the water once again.

I didn't get too many pictures, but here are a few.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Another fine day on the water.  Per my usual jinx on things, the water was pretty flat for the first part of the day.  But while the other boats out there were sitting, we were sailing along, not fast, but enjoying the company and being on the water after such a long time without seeing these two gentlemen firefighters.

Can't say enough about the wonderful way in which Capt. Jake's Fire Escape handles in varying conditions.  In light air, his sail plan has enough adjustment that you can be sailing with barely a flicker of wind on a match.  With it freshening up later in the outing, we could squeeze the last bit of speed out of this fine boat in the weather conditions we had.  Always enjoy being with him for the day.  His Weekender is a fine example of what this little boat can be with a little attention to what works and what doesn't. 

Mike is building a PC and is beginning to glass it.  This was his first real outing and he spent most of the day at he helm and handling the main sheet.  I think that the grin was generated from deep inside and will probably last for some time.  He did a great job of feeling out the wind and headings and pinching the last little bit of heading into the wind.  We did a lot of things that will eventually help him in his learning curve and we all had a blast. 

It was a wonderful day for me as it has been far too long without being on on the South Sound with Capt. Jake and to get to share the day with both of them was very relaxing and helped take away a lot of the mental loads that we have all been carrying for the last few months.  About as fine a day on the water as one could wish for.  ;D

[capt jake]

We had yet another great day yesterday.  This time, I took out Joel and his wife.  Mild winds that were constant at the start, that soon disappeared by 1300.  Sunny and in the 80's, that was a nice change from our recent poor weather patterns.   It was nice to be able to get together with Joel and Chai again.  A hoot as usual.

I got into a little shallow water at the launch and managed to crack a portion of my rudder.  It appears to be an easy fix with some epoxy and packing tape.  At least all of the pieces are still there.

That may very well be my last outing this year as my schedule is getting tight.  I hope to be able to get out in September, but I will have to wait and see.

[Joel]

We had a great time too Jake. I'm glad we got a chance to sail Fire Escape again. The winds were not great but that gave me some time to study your rigging and other details.  I'm always inspired to get back to work on our weekender after seeing your beautiful boat. I am still working toward launching this year. I hope you will be able to bring your boat and sail along on our maiden voyage. 

Which reminds me... speaking of launchings, what happened  to Barry  ???  When we saw his boat this spring it looked like it was very close to being ready