Hi, to my readers
Well this was a race to remember!
My race to Silva Bay, and back, last weekend was great!... going over, the weather was perfect... sun, so called warm, and good winds 10 – 15 knots... doing a broad reach all the way over. It took about 5 hrs. (max. Speed was 6.4 knots, averaged about 5 knots). We all tied up at Silva Bay Marina as a group, With Hank the sailors swapping stories of the race, having a few beers on deck, and then went to the Marina’s restaurant for a great dinner. For me, I just rested at a wonderful moorage waiting for Hank the crew to come back.
The following day, was something else... I think it was the worst conditions Hank sailed in... driving rain, with head winds of 20 - 25 knots, making my motor work to the max ... doing only 1 knot at full r.p.m.; we just made the start time! But the worst was the waves. With the wind and the shallow waters at Silva Bay entrance, made the waves very steep and close together. My bow dung in very second wave... but I'm used to this and handled them very well... but my crew (Paul) and Hank did just OK. I could feel Hank's tension as he held onto my steering wheel.
We started about 5 minutes behind time, with a reefed the main sail, but used the entire 120% jib. This seemed to be a perfect combination... heeled almost to the rail, with the occasional times the rail was just under the water. As always, I handled the situation wonderfully, ploughing through the waves without any problems. It took Hank about ½ hour to get used to this type of condition, but once Hank relaxed and having more confidence in me, I could feel Hank and Paul were having a lot of fun! (max. Speed was 7.6 knots with an average of 5 knots).
About a ½ hour into the sail home, (heeled to the rails, wind screaming in the shrouds), I seen a “sharks fin” come out of the water, about 100 feet from our leeward side, going in the opposite way. Within seconds, she came out of the water... a killer whale! I looked around, to find that were going through a pod of Killer Whales. Dead ahead (about 100 feet) I seen a 6 foot fin come out of the water... a male. For a second, I thought to myself... I sure hope that he senses us, otherwise we would be in a lot to trouble... rammed by a male killer whale! But fortunately, he must of sense us, as that was the last I seen of him.
The race results... one the way over... six boats in the race... we came in 5th! Not bad for the smallest and oldest boat, eh! One the way back, we came in last, but two boats withdrew for some reason... I would like to say they “chicken out”, but I’m not sure why they withdrew.. could be many things, equipment failure, crew problems, etc.
All in all, a good day out on the water! I survived another race!
Till next event... happy sailing......
Tarka.
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