Headed out to Woody Point/Redcliffe today, which has become my usual haunt for last minute sailing trips.
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=Humpyb ... u&t=h&z=17
(Zoom RIIIIGHT out to get a better idea of the bay area)
Just myself and the girlfriend.
Got there late, at about 11am, just in time to rig the boat and watch the wind die down to about 5 knots. That didn't worry me; I was gonna get the boat in and wet, no matter what. There were a handful of others launching at the same time so I thought at least I won't be the only one looking silly, sitting still 20 ft off shore with no wind.
We put in and slowly made our way out in to the bay. We were bout 10 minutes in and the wind picked up to about 12-14 knots. Not crazy and minimal chop, so for having the girl on board, it was PERFECT!!
As we headed out further, we saw a bunch of cruisers from the local cruising yacht club that were having a bit of a social race in Moreton Bay. I gave them their space but thought, "Shag it! I want to see how we rate against these bigger boys". So, we pulled up parallel to a couple of them and headed up-wind, close-hauled until they began their tacks. If I'm not mistaken, I'd swear we out-ran a couple of them on shorter legs. I'm talking 30+ft. Cats and Monos. It was great! They could see what we were doing and gave us the wave and the thumbs (yeah, I'm pretty sure they were thumbs
). Only thing was, once they headed downwind, out came the spinnakers and away they went, but not a quickly as you'd expect. They had maybe 1-2 knots of extra speed on us, but I'd dare say not much more. The ones without spinnakers, we managed to creep up on a little until we decided we'd gone far enough and tacked back for home.As is usually the way, the temperature dropped down and the wind came up even more. Well over 15 knots and creeping toward 20 at times, all for our approach to the shore.
Spent about 3.5 hours out there and we both loved every second of it.
20 years ago as an apprentice mechanic I swore I'd never own a 4WD due to the maintenance and weight involved in working on them. I've had one for 4 years now and it has changed my life.
This boat is doing the same thing to me again! It really is fantastic fun!!!
Best thing is, "she" loves it almost as much as I do!!!