Pierless Adventures - April 11 - Wind Vanes Are Great!

We spent the afternoon sailing.  So far, the roller furling is working like a charm.  We practiced reefing the mainsail, and that went well, though there are a couple of adjustments that should improve things.  Winds were 10 to 15.  The boat easily moved along between 5 and 7 knots.  We reefed the main and put up the smaller staysail and were able to maintain speed well with less effort.

The most exciting part of our sail today was experimenting with the wind vane.  We set it up yesterday and tried it out on the water today.  It was fairly easy to set up and it worked really well.  I thought we would have a bit of a learning curve, but it wasn't hard at all.  With our wind vane, we can set a course, trim the sails, then engage the wind vane to keep the boat on a consistent heading with respect to the wind direction.  You don't have to touch the helm at all.  This is like having an extra person onboard.  If you are on watch, you don't have to sit and stare at the horizon or at the compass.  You are free to check the rig, get a drink or snack, and check the heading every once in a while.  It will be great for our trip!

Dave has been having some allergy issues.  Scott and I both came down with mild cold symptoms a couple of days ago (mild sore throat, stuffed up, etc.).  We all became concerned about the possiblity that we might be having our own COVID outbreak.  Scott and Dave both took COVID tests to see if it could be COVID.  Both were negative, so I guess we just have mild colds...

Tony arrives tomorrow!  He is bringing a few things we need to wrap up projects.  He will be bunking in the v-berth (up in the bow).  This confers some limited privacy, but it is also the least comfortable bunk if it gets rough.  We will always have an empty bunk in the main cabin on the passage, so "hot bunking" will be an option if we need.

From Scott:

Today I was tasked with backing the boat out of the slip and taking it down the channel to the ocean. Brian sat facing me, telling me which way to turn the wheel and how much engine to give her.  The result was that I backed the wrong way and then had to back out of the marina.  The problem was that Brian, facing me, told me "turn the rudder to the right" which when I did was his right and my left and so the rudder was always pointed the wrong way.  I intend to offer him the same advice when he pilots his drone for the first time.

Somehow I have become in charge of nightly entertainment.  On the menu of late is The Umbrella Academy on Netflix.  All of us have become hooked, and I mean sit-on-the-edge-of-our-seats hooked.  We are on the last season and I have to find a suitable replacement or I'll have to walk the cutting board.   Please leave me a comment if you have any recommendations.

From Dave:

Worked on the outboard for the skiff with new gas lines.  But the problem seems to be in the carburetor. I will dive into that tomorrow.  Today was a good day for sailing.  The wind vane worked fabulously. I  held the helm for when we were under sail, tacking and playing with the auto pilot, aka wind vane.  The seas were around 1 to 2 feet with a favorable 10 to 18 knots wind. We got very comfortable with the wind vain and decided to have a snack to ease the hunger from no lunch. 

Dinner was yesterdays all meat pizza for me and Scott had his day old Pizza while Brian made a vegetarian burrito.  The breeze is light and will bring a much welcomed night sleep.