Tweaking Lines, Sailing and Off With the Heads

With a forecast for light winds, I left the part-time sailors at home.  much to my surprise, when I arrived at the cove, a fresh NE had the place pumping. it was all I could do to get 6'6" Lusty out to the motherhood in one piece.

having replaced all the running rigging (bar halyards), on Friday, I had a bit of tuning up to do; adjusting g lazy jacks and the like. Also this morning I consulted THE ARTS OF THE SAILOR on reefing, and I gave old Harry's system a go - very good it was too. After replacing the headsail sheets, the temptation to sail was too great. I hoisted sail and proceeded to beat off the mooring. As luck would have it, the end splice on the headsail sheets was not large enough to prevent them being lost, and as I set the main, and steered, I momentarily lost use of the headsail,as I was about to navigate upwind of my neighbour. After the adrenaline kicked in I grabbed the port  jib sheet and threw the helm over, holding the now windward sheet and using the backed jib to haul our bow around. Then as we hardened up on port backbone first gust had the lower wash board over the side, but we were doing too well for speed to achieve any rescue. I would get it from the shore later.

Those traveller hauling lines were a problem, making a 10mm. rope pass through 6mm. pulleys just hadn't worked. Der! Otherwise the only problem we had was dealing with twist in newly rove lines. The wind was strong, a cloudhead to the east was sending a gusty 15 knots our way and despite our foul bottom, we carved upwind purposefully. Once we rounded the only yacht moored on the NE side of the cove, we freed the sheets and hung on. what a Folkboat lacks to windward it makes up for off the wind. we were slipping past our neighbours within minutes of clearing IMAGINE over the other side. it would be a,fast approach, the wind on our port beam. I sailed well off to leeward, allowing 30 yards directly into the wind d to wash off speed. Even then we had to tie off quickly.

After  coffee the washboard was recovered by dinghy. Back onboard I stowed the sails,  replaced the traveller lines before removing the old seawater heads which are no longer legal in these oyster growing waters. I enjoyed a comical row ashore with a toilet like a figurehead in the bow.