Sailing Adventures

Sweet Adeline

June 22, 2011.  In our effort to get things organized before heading out on the road, we have a long list of issues that need to be taken care of before we leave. It’s been several years since a hurricane has come our way, so we don’t want to tempt fate.  Among other things, the water is turned off, the outdoor furniture is brought in, the refrigerator is emptied and unplugged and the boats are pulled out of the water. 

   Alan is organized about getting all this stuff done.  He has daily projects lined up until the day we pull out of the driveway and head north.   Last weekend, in preparation for Sweet Adeline (the catboat), coming out of the water, we decided to do one last sail.  Perfect 15-20 mph winds blew out of the ESE.  Our last outing had been a little less than ideal.  But this sail was going to make up for the multiple problems of the last trip. 

The newly repaired engine responded beautifully and we made it out to the Indian River Lagoon channel easily.  The sail that had previously not gone up all the way, creating strange wind pockets, was hoisted to the top of the mast with no problems.  We did not careen into any adjacent docks.  Traffic on the Lagoon was light, so no speedboats trying to run us over.  And most important, we had consistent winds that continued out of the ESE.  The billowing sails pushed us north and the boat tacked beautifully for our return run.

It was a perfect sail until the last 100 yards.  As we prepared to head toward the dock Alan cleated the sail and turned to start the engine.  The next thing we both knew, we were in the water.  Capsized!  Relieved to find that the water was only about 4 feet, we both scampered to grab the items starting to float away.  Alan’s cell phone was, luckily, in a Ziploc bag that had a little air pocket, so I was able to grab it before it sank.  

There was no way we could put the boat upright, so we started walking her into the shore.  After a few minutes, a small boat came up alongside.  A total stranger jumped into the water and starting helping us push and pull Sweet Adeline into about 2 feet of water where he and Alan were able to get her upright again.  We bid our savior a hardy thank you.   She was full to the gunnel with water but Alan was able to bail out enough to get the boat moved to the lift and then use a pump to finish it.  So no one was hurt, nothing was lost, no damage to the boat and we had yet another sailing adventure.   But, we will not be going sailing again this summer!

   

Sailing Into the Dock (I Mean the Sunset)

May 29, 2011----Last evening as a breeze blew over the Indian River Lagoon, we decided to take a sail in our catboat, Sweet Adeline, with our friend, Patience.  One tricky thing about sailing is the fine balance between too little wind and too much wind.   Another challenge, in the lagoon, is a lack of water depth—it’s around two feet (or less) near the shore.

As it turned out, the “perfect winds” were not so perfect after all.  Once we boarded the boat and motored out to get away into deeper waters, we hoisted the sails and Adeline spun around and flew into our neighbor's dock (which nearly severed one of the stays.)  After several minutes of maneuvering, without success, Alan hopped out of the boat.  Pushing, dragging, muscling the boat into deeper waters and tying it to the dock, he climbed back on board.

O Captain, My Captain

We headed north---flying across the top of the water, heeling (leaning sideways) for the distance, with the keel saving us from taking a swim. Being propelled across the water as your hair blows in the wind is one of the thrills of sailing.

Tacking (turning) Adeline created a new challenge for our captain.  Waiting for a stream of Memorial Weekend boaters to pass, he took advantage of a break in the traffic and turned the boat around.  A 30-foot fishing boat was bearing down on us with little indication that he was going to slow or veer around us—he didn’t but we shot out in front of him.

Deciding to thread the needle between one of the spoil islands, lining the lagoon, and the docks for some local businesses created a new challenge.  The lengthy sandbar and shallow water provided a narrow channel, but the winds had shifted from out of the east to out of the south. Now we are trying to sail directly into the wind and Sweet Adeline was suddenly bearing down on a docked boat with a man working on the deck.  At the last moment, Alan was able to bring her around and we headed back north.  A big sigh of relief.

Coaxing her into a southerly direction, we made it to the channel in front of our dock, cranked up the engine, dropped the sails and made it about 100 feet from shore when the engine quit—out of gas.  Alan jumped overboard once again, grabbed a line and towed us in as he trudged through the muddy bottom.  Not exactly the sail we had anticipated but in its own way, the mishaps created a fun evening on the water.