First Single Handed Sail

 

Ayala's bowsprit - the pole sticking out the front

Finally! Things are in sufficiently good condition to go sailing again. "All" that was left was to clean up all the loose items on the boat that would shift about or fall overboard if the boat were to heel under way. All told, that took about three hours and a lot of stuff got stuffed (if you know what I mean.) I have a couple of containers of items that are related only in that they happened to be lying around when I wanted to go sailing. They will get more appropriately sorted - someday.

I backed out of my slip a little after 2 PM. My plan for departing just didn't quite come together as expected. When Ayala backs up, her stern "walks" to port (left). That means that her bow swings to starboard (right). I have this long appendage known as a bowsprit on the front of the boat (see picture.) It seemed intent on dragging itself along the side of my neighbor's cabin. Prompt intervention with a boat hook prevented any damage but Ayala seemed to have a mind of her own about which way to turn once clear of the slip. I spent about five minutes going backward and forward in short burst doing my best to get Ayala headed the right direction. It finally all came together and we escaped the marina without damage.

Sail plan for a cutter rig

Once out on the water, the conditions were nearly ideal for a first trip out as a single hander. The wind was about five knots (six mph) with minor excursions above and below that velocity. Ayala is stable enough that keeping her on course and getting the sails up was a piece of cake.

Ayala is a cutter rigged sailboat. As you can see in the diagram to the left, there are two sails in front of the mast. The one farthest to the right is the jib. The next one back is the staysail (pronounced stays'l). Getting the two sails deployed is especially easy on Ayala since the jib and staysail are roller furling sails, i.e. they wind up around their respective stays rather like a window blind turned on its end.

Even with the light breezes, Ayala moved along quite nicely - a pleasant surprise since she is almost 5000 lbs. heavier than Laelia. I started tacking my way out the Alameda Estuary toward San Francisco Bay. There was another boat about the same size, crewed by a man and woman, headed the same direction. Naturally, I was doing my best to stay ahead of her. We seemed to be on opposite tacks most of the time. After the second occasion of crossing paths with less than 20 feet between us, the woman shouted across "What a beautiful boat!" Always nice to hear!

Finally, it was time to turn around and head back. I was not wanting to stay out into the sunset - it gets chilly very quickly as the sun gets down to the horizon.

Lazing along downwind

Down wind, Ayala continued to move along very nicely on very little wind and against the last of an outgoing tide. Sailing downwind, it feels almost like there is no wind. This being a bright, sunny day, it was comfortably warm in the cockpit leaving me enough time to take a picture of the rat's nest of lines (ropes) lying around. I have to do something to get all those lines organized! It is too easy to get them tangled or to trip on them.

I turned on the autopilot to steer Ayala while I started dropping the main. The autopilot very obligingly steered the boat for most of the time until the main was nearly down. Then it quit. There appears to be a loose connection somewhere and it wasn't getting data from the compass to tell it if it was on the right course. Another project!

Getting back into the slip turned out to be fairly easy although not quite as graceful as I would wish. No damage. No scars. I call that a successful outing!

After getting the sail cover back on, I pulled all of the stashed items out of their temporary living quarters. Even after they were all recovered, the interior looked the neatest it has looked since I moved aboard. I hereby resolve to keep it this way. No more scattering things about willy-nilly! Neat is nice.

I am going to try to come up with a schedule that has me doing one inside project (something below decks) and one outside project and then I go sailing. It lifts my spirits immensely!