First Singlehanded Ocean Sail

A few weeks ago I ventured out of the harbor singlehanded looking for wind. I didn’t find any so I motored about the coast for about an hour. I have been out again a few times since then but it was never solo. The other day I went out and it was about 15-20 knots in the harbor…I dared not go out but had an amazing sail in the harbor. So today I prepped the boat and went for a sail. I didn’t know what the wind would be like or the waves either so I opened up the sails and realized that I wasn’t going anywhere fast in the harbor with the light wind I had. Motored to the ocean and just as i shut the motor down, I caught a nice breeze. Maybe 8-10 knots. Waves were minimal. Maybe a foot. I was able to get in a few tacks and a few jibes in and it was the most exhilarating and terrifying thing all at the same time! I loved the freedom, the peace and quiet, and the calm water but in the back of my mind I was prepared for the rogue wave or the 40 knot gust out of nowhere. Neither ever came. The only drama was when a 60 foot yacht punched it out of the harbor and made a 10 foot high wake that kept the ocean choppy for what seemed like 10 minutes. It made the 30 foot Cuajota seem like a dinghy in a storm. Boy do I dislike powerboats. After about an hour sailing about, just doing different things, close hauled, beam reach, running, tacking, jibing, up the coast and back down again, I decided to head back into the harbor. I heard a strange noise. I heard it earlier in the sail and I thought it was a whale but didn’t see any spray in the air as you do with whales. I then wondered, “Do you hear anything when a thru-hull goes bad, or you spring a leak?” I looked and saw a dorsal fin 5 feet from the boat. It then submerged. I looked again and saw a pair of dolphins swimming next to the boat and they escorted me all the way into the harbor before disappearing. Excellent sail! Here is a short video of the sail.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/32554291 w=800&h=450]