Just got back from my 2nd solo sail…This was NICE! The first one was a bit un-nerving….I was nervous and super cautious. Today was much better. I was more calm, didn’t do a few of the bonehead things I did and when I got into some trouble, I figured it out! Wind wasn’t quite as strong as yesterday, so it was pretty easy and calm…although there were more boats…mostly powerboats and electrics so I had more to avoid. About half way through my sail I decided to play with the traveler…WOW. Made a huge difference! Move it towards the wind and the boat just powered up! I also got used to my tell tales and my windex and just how the boat generally responds to certain things! I was tacking and a guy in an electric duffy with his family was to my port side. I tacked near him, not close just nearby…he says, “wow look at that guy he is tacking all by himself!”. I also ran into my private sailing instructor while he was giving a Harbor 20 lesson…lol…great day! The only thing that puzzled me and I THINK I have figured it out was the boat was getting pushed sideways by the wind and the steering was gone…I was trying to go from jibing downwind and turn around and start tacking upwind. I did a 270 and the jib filled, but started pushing the boat sideways…The tiller was unresponsive….I eased the jib and it was fine…I was puzzled so I did the same thing again and got the same result…then I did it a 3rd time and no issues the boat responded as I expected…I think I was 90 degrees to the wind and thats why? Instead of more like 45? I’ll read up and figure it out….
Here is the GPS track of the sail:
