What an adventure. Against all advice I grew impatient of my inability to utilize my new toy. After spending 10 days and one transmission getting it home, it was high time the thing got wet. SO...
A friend and I set it up on Saturday, looks good too. All the pieces were there and it seemed like we actually had a functioning boat. So Sunday the my wife, son and I set off to enjoy the fore casted light winds. We get to the lake - winds whipping at 15-20mph - white caps and all. We can hack it. My wife and I manage to set the boat up just fine by ourselves, quit proud we were. We decided to run only the mainsail (60% power) on account of the high-for beginner winds. We can hack it.
Another problem was the wind blowing straight into the beach, making it dang hard for a novice to launch the boat, but we can hack it. So off we go into the wild brown yonder of a local lake (checking carefully for power lines)... only to learn that our rudders do not lock properly in place. The force of the water was causing them to push up, losing steering. They seemed to lock find when I tested them on land, but no longer apparently.
So, at the mercy of the wind and with much swearing and freaking out between us I go over board to fix the problem. To no avail. Into the woods we go (the lake is flooded, as they all are around here). We get the boat situated and kind of stagger around on board for a while. Realizing we are screwed we secured the boat and abandon ship (second time I abandoned this boat! First was on account of a failed transmission in Albuquerque. The shame, the shame.).
Luckily the calvary arrived in the form of a friend on a jetski (770cc!) and another friend in a 6 cylinder inboard ski boat. We used the jet ski to tow the boat into the wind and back to the beach with no real problems (held the tow line, braced self on front crossbar). So while the fam enjoyed the ski boat and jet ski a friend and I sojourned on. We secured the rudders in place by alternate means and prepared to launch - by god desperate times. Ignoring my explicit and repeated instructions my friend decided it wasn't that important to keep the boat pointed directly into the wind and off it sails. I grab a line, hop on board and all 150 lbs of me is sailing on a broad reach with 20 mph winds. I turn into the wind before dumping the boat and head back for my buddy. We sailed around for an hour or so. According to the speedometer on the boat we got up to 20 mph (not bad with one sail!). Even got the hull out of the water for a few seconds (before turning upwind in a panic... I dont want this to be an even longer story).
We finish up and head to shore. Where we start taking the boat down. Again proclaiming himself an expert my friend decided to twist the mast too far while setting it down and broke the mast hinge (ummm, thanks for the help). So I'm shopping for a new mast hinge (the female - attached to the mast, part broke)... we headed for home. Rudders need fixing, mast hinge needs fixing, left side hull takes on a bit of water (5 hours in the lake, 2" of water. Need to figure that out).
Swap the truck for the car, head to BK for some supper. Wait in the 3 car line at BK for 15 minutes (really). Shut car off... tired of idling. Line moves after 5 minutes - car wont start! I apparently found a dead spot on my started or , or something! So I had to push my Taurus past the windows at BK. Oh the humanity. A pair of jumper cables started it back up (not the starter, whew).
BUT! Through it all I actually got the boat to sail really well. It floats, it turns (really hard though, another issue I want to look into. Probably because the rudders were not down properly), and I have some degree of competence in sailing. *SOME* being an extremely relative term.
Things I learned:
- Without a rudder, a sailboat will go downwind and you can not stop it
- Wives do not respond well to "do something damn it!"
- I have yet to acquire that magical 6th sense that tells me where the wind is
- A mast hinge assembly costs about $30 - I'm buying 2
- My trailer is a strange monstrosity. Neither particularly practical nor even the least bit pretty. The registration reads "Manufacturer: HOME." But it is built at least twice as sturdy as need be and it works
- Booms can move very fast - 'nuff said
How hard should it be to lock a set of EPO rudders in place and then unlock them. I'm confident mine are either broken, or adjusted wrong somehow.'
Anyway, good times were had in the end. A few minor issues to work out before fleet 25's fun sail in 2 weeks, but we should be ready to show off. I better get some prettier bungees for the trailer.
ps. Best place to get a new mast hinge, thingy. And at the rudder lock mechanism. And a part number/actual name would help too. (told you the day I needed advice would come!)
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