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Step 35Reefed and Running
I rested the push tiller on a rubber lashing to keep it still. At these speeds steering got pretty twitchy. No idea how fast we were going, but the transom was dry. That's jargon for "the boat had a rooster tail". The weather radio said the wave period was 7 seconds at one buoy and 14 seconds at the other. The wave speed formula will tell you how fast those waves were moving. That's how fast we went.
I started explaining to K about apparent wind and the danger of an accidental gybe while surfng. Just then the sail hit some of that virtual dead air that can exist even in a gale. It comes from going downwind at windspeed. The boom climbed over our heads. I grabbed it and tried to throw it back where it belonged while steering away from it, but it just kept going. Accidental gybe.
We lunged onto the outrigger and waited to get thrown (K admits the memory is a blur). The sail swung out against the starboard stay, bellied out, and we sped up. But nothing bad happened. Yay! Low center of effort! Rudder authority! I turned toward the sail, sheeted it back in, and pushed it back to the port side.
But we were trying to get somewhere, not set records. So we had a little talk and decided to brail (furl) the sail up on the mast and run with that. Here's some video of what that's like. Please excuse the wind noise. There was a lot of wind, which prevents you from hearing me talk about wave formation, fetch, terminal wave height, and that other stuff you'll read about in "waves and beaches".
On the way to Prisoner's Harbor where we knew ferries docked, we caught sight of 8 boats moored in an anchorage seeking protection from the wind and waves.
I started explaining to K about apparent wind and the danger of an accidental gybe while surfng. Just then the sail hit some of that virtual dead air that can exist even in a gale. It comes from going downwind at windspeed. The boom climbed over our heads. I grabbed it and tried to throw it back where it belonged while steering away from it, but it just kept going. Accidental gybe.
We lunged onto the outrigger and waited to get thrown (K admits the memory is a blur). The sail swung out against the starboard stay, bellied out, and we sped up. But nothing bad happened. Yay! Low center of effort! Rudder authority! I turned toward the sail, sheeted it back in, and pushed it back to the port side.
But we were trying to get somewhere, not set records. So we had a little talk and decided to brail (furl) the sail up on the mast and run with that. Here's some video of what that's like. Please excuse the wind noise. There was a lot of wind, which prevents you from hearing me talk about wave formation, fetch, terminal wave height, and that other stuff you'll read about in "waves and beaches".
On the way to Prisoner's Harbor where we knew ferries docked, we caught sight of 8 boats moored in an anchorage seeking protection from the wind and waves.
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