I fought the sail (and the sail won)
2002-06-18

Well, the plan was to check out the new racing sail last night. It didn't quite fit and the sailmaker had to make some adjustments. We needed to see if they were going to be OK and to find out where the lines that control the sail needed to be set. The new sail is a monster of a thing. It is black and shiny and make of Kevlar, the same stuff bullet proof vests are make of. It is 54 feet tall by 24 feel long. It is BIG, too big to fit on the roller that we use for the other sails that makes puting them in and out as simple as pulling on a line. Then they roll up like a big sideways window shade. I sent out shouts for help yesterday, but the crew and associated friends were all busy on a Mondy night, so.... M.E. and I set out to tame the beast by ourselves.

We set everything up on the mooring, cast off the line and motored out just a little after 5:30. the wind was fairly light and the forecast was for 10 to 15 and dying. I guess the approaching thunderstorms did not factor into this forecast. It was a chore hoisting this sail. 54 feet is a lot of sail to hoist, but we managed to get it done.

The sail looked great and as soon as we trimed it in, we started to accelerate. Nice shape, great boat speed, I make a mental note to thank the sailmaker as soon as I have the rest of the money to pay him. The boat speed kept climbing, 6 1/2, 7, 7 1/2. some of this is the sail, some because the wind is picking up too. By the time we hit the lighthouse it is blowing 20 plus and we are doing a steady 8+ knots. We have the wind off the side which is an easy direction to sail to, but on the way back it will be from the front. Way too much work for the two of us and really too much wind for the new sail. I make an executive decision, we'll sail to the north end of Prudence Island, stuff the boat into the wind in a protected spot and drop there. Then we will motor back. Good plan, execution was well, interesting. The wind was now up to 25. M.E. went up to the bow and I steered, controlled the line that drops the sail and eventually grabbed the back end. It was like trying to drop a bucking horse.

M.E. somehow hyper-extended her thumb. I managed to cut my hand and get blood all over the place. The wind kept trying to blow the sail into the water. By the time we got it tied up, we were both pretty battered. M.E was in real pain so I went below and chopped off a piece of ice, wrapped it in a towel and she wrapped her thumb. When she was feeling better (or at least numb), she found me bandages. We motored back thought the racers with the big black plastic monster strapped the the deck, like a badge of combat. We won't use this sail for cruising ever again. A: becase it is just too big, B: because it is too much work and C: because it is too expensive to use for anything but important races. Hopefully Wednesday night will be it's debut. We'll see....

On the way home we ran into several friends including a couple we hadn't seen in forever. They are racing on a boat like thier old one in the Monday series. Since they sold thiers to buy a house, we don't see them nearly as much.

Evil 42 was out watching another of our rivals do spinnaker sets. It was actually a pretty nice night when you got away from the wind. We could see thunderstorms to the north and the sky was beautiful. It looked like mountains with the sun just peeking over the tops.

We returned to the moorning and started putting things away. I tried to close the first aid kit and one of the bungee cords snapped and I got hit in the side of the head with the metal end piece. I have a lump this morning.

Then we had to fold the sail. Imagine folding a light grade of sheet metal in a closet. It was about that bad. We finally got it done and back in the bag. Not a perfect job but adaquate. We relaxed in the cockpit for a few minutes watching the busy scene around us, called the launch, had one beer in the bar and went home, tired, sore, but happy.

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