Today is the day! STAG RACE DAY! Winds predicted to be perfect for me... 15 knot winds! :) and perfect it was!
Hank is off to the skipper's meeting... this is where they
- decide which route to take to go to Elliott Bay; one of the club's out station.
- Sail under what rules (motoring time if needed, what sails to can be used).
- Who takes the club food.
- Starting times.
- confirm the listening channel. (73)
- etc.
Now fully loaded with sailing gear, food, drinks, etc.... we are off to the races!
Motoring out to the start line... Passage Island and Atkins Point.
We arrived a bit early, allowing Dave and Hank to practice their starts. As predicted the winds were good... about 10 knots so far.
The race was going around Bowen Island... clockwise... going out into the Strait of Georgia and then up Collingwood Channel toward Elliott Bay.......
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| We sailed through a flow of seabirds (Coot's I think). There must of been thousands of them. |
11:07 am... we're off! with "Rosa Maria" with Aaron just seconds ahead of us. Unfortunately, "First Edition" sailed by Alan Rothenbush, fell behind.
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| pictures taken by Alan's friend |
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| A picture of "First Edition", sailed by Alan Rothenbush. |
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| "First Edition" on the left, with Vancouver city on the right. |
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| Looking good eh! Hank's attempts in raising my asymmetrical spinnaker! |
The picture above shows how NOT to raise a sail. Lesson learned... if you put away your sails incorrectly, it will come up incorrectly! It took Hank at least 10 minutes to untangle the mess, not be mention that he ruined my new deck paint job that he just finished two days ago, plus lots of major undue stress.
Once the sail was set, it worked great! powered me up to 7 plus knots.
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| now leaving the competition in the background. |
We dosed the flying sail, just before we passed through Howe Sound, as the winds were ready picking up there. Good thing we did, as the winds were gusting up to 25knots.
We arrived in third place (out of 9) at Elliott Bay... not bad for an old lady eh! With good winds I do perform, but at low winds... I'm just to fat to kept up with the new light weights.
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| Now resting at the dock... |
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| one of the other club member's went crabbing for our meal... great stuff eh! |
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| another photo of me... third placer!! |
"First Edition", sailed by Alan arrive very late at Elliott Bay, they had major problems due to the marine growth underneath First Addition. Hank was very concern due to late arrival, but once Alan arrived... things were a lot more relaxed.
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| Note the new ramp... looking good. |
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| The rain forest walk to the look-out |
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| The view from the trail bench... the cellphone works from this spot! |
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| Zoomed in view... |
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| great trail through the rain forests |
Dinner time... Hank was greatly disappointed with the Club's meal... it was way over priced for what you got. Next time, Hank will bring his own.
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| Alan up in so called golf course. |
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| picture of Rosa Maria ... Aaron at the Helm, with crewman Murray standing by. |
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| Dave at the helm |
On the return trip, the winds really picked-up. 15 knots gushing to 20. The sail back was a lot of fun... had to reef the main, and reduce the jib to 50%.
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| Another learning experience. |
The photo above is another learning experience... remove the sheet bag, BEFORE you attempt to use the winch... While reefing the main, the bag got caught in the winch and reefing sheet.
We made it home mostly under sail... motored the last 15 minutes or so... Aaron and Murray greeted us at the dock... helping Hank bring me in.
Now resting....
Hank to do...
- Reinstall my lazy jacks
- repaint my deck
- Re-flake my main sail
- dry out my spinnaker and re-stuff it PROPERLY into the turtle bag.
- Reposition my electrical plug-in to the side of the cockpit.
- get me ready for my next sail. :)
Well that is it for now...
Tarka out!
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