Perfect Day Of Sailing...

[Joel73]

My friend and i took At Last out yesterday for about 7 hours around Oriental. It was a perfect day with a good amount of wind and temps in the 70's. We weren't breaking speed records but by the end of the day we were averaging between 5-6 knots. This was his first trip on a sailboat and by the end of the day he was ready for another trip. I told him as long as he wasn't on "rock star duty" next spring, that there would be plenty more opportunities.

a couple videos with the sails looking nice...

[teshannon]

Joel,
Great videos you lucky dog. Off to eat the turkey.

[phallo153]

Gah I'm so jealous. My P27 is still laid up at the yard, hope to have it back in a week or two and get a few sails in before it gets too nasty.

Averaging 5-6 knots over 7 hours is a nice day - no wonder your friend is ready for more!

[Joel73]

Originally Posted by phallo153

Gah I'm so jealous. My P27 is still laid up at the yard, hope to have it back in a week or two and get a few sails in before it gets too nasty.

Averaging 5-6 knots over 7 hours is a nice day - no wonder your friend is ready for more!

I wish that average was over the whole day but it was more towards the end of the day. The first hour or so the river was almost like glass!

I'm thinking about not winterizing at all and doing some winter sailing just for the hell of it. I would keep a 60watt bulb in the engine area to keep it warm... not sure this is a great idea though. We get hard freezes but it's been pretty mild around here the last few winters. I didn't have it in me to take the sails off when we left but i did winterize the waterlines and holding tank areas.

[Giulietta]

Joel....niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice....

Hey...I am not really sure but in your videos it looks like you're sailing with the cabin windows (don't know the name in English) open...don't do that.

[sailingdog]

Doesn't look or sound very windy... maybe 10-15 knots??

[Joel73]

Giu, They would be called port lights and they are actually closed. They only appear open because you are seeing the screens on the outside. It's fixed plexi on each side with the window opening from the inside. Is sea spray why you were saying keep them closed?

Dog, It wasn't very windy earlier and then in the last couple hours it picked up a lot. Yes, about 10-15 Kts.

[jackytdunaway]

Joel, i am in Charlotte and i didn't winterize my engine last year. I think it stays a little warmer where you are. With the engine sitting at or below water line it helps keep it from freezing.

[Joel73]

Originally Posted by jackytdunaway

Joel, i am in Charlotte and i didn't winterize my engine last year. I think it stays a little warmer where you are. With the engine sitting at or below water line it helps keep it from freezing.

Thanks Jacky! What do you think about the lightbulb idea? Seems like it would be fine as long as it was placed safely and plugged into a GFCI outlet. The only reason i'm reluctant to doing this is the 3 hour drive to the boat. I'm not sure how many in my area actually winterize... the lightbulb suggestion came from my sailing instructor who has 6 boats in the school fleet. I should give some of my neighbors a call to see what they do.

[jackytdunaway]

We always kept a light bulb in the small pump house at home when we had a well and it did the trick. you really don't see any cold weather out there so i don't even think that would be needed. Best to check with the locals though.