Sven
Seglare
Yesterday we took off for a couple of hours under sail with big swells.
We were impressed how our beauty didn't stomp through the big swells in the channel but rather plowed through them with only inches keeping green water from coming over the bow on the way out under power. The depth sounder gave me a start as it showed a depth of 3' where it was supposed to be ~20 but that must have been due to silt from the sand bar being suspended and returning an echo. That sand bar sure makes it exciting.
On the way back in under main only I looked forward to finding out how well she would behave under near-broaching conditions. I got a workout at the wheel but there was only one time when she got away from me and we ended up probably 45 degrees off course for 10-15 seconds.
A neighbor on the same dock told us the swells were from some south pacific storm and that when the swells are bad (guess this didn't count) you can't enter or leave Mission Bay.
All in all, we had a wonderful short sail with a high of 8.4 kts under reefed genoa and full main. There actually weren't that many whitecaps so I'd guess the gusts were just over 20 kts or so but with the confused swells and waves we still got pushed around. I really should have reefed the main too but bore off instead of pushing it. Now we know which drawers and cabinet doors come flying open when waves or wind want to have fun. Latches for all drawers, cabinet doors and sole as well as settee hatches has been on the to-do list for a while ... now I'm reminded why, but with no real damage done.
-Sven
We were impressed how our beauty didn't stomp through the big swells in the channel but rather plowed through them with only inches keeping green water from coming over the bow on the way out under power. The depth sounder gave me a start as it showed a depth of 3' where it was supposed to be ~20 but that must have been due to silt from the sand bar being suspended and returning an echo. That sand bar sure makes it exciting.
On the way back in under main only I looked forward to finding out how well she would behave under near-broaching conditions. I got a workout at the wheel but there was only one time when she got away from me and we ended up probably 45 degrees off course for 10-15 seconds.
A neighbor on the same dock told us the swells were from some south pacific storm and that when the swells are bad (guess this didn't count) you can't enter or leave Mission Bay.
All in all, we had a wonderful short sail with a high of 8.4 kts under reefed genoa and full main. There actually weren't that many whitecaps so I'd guess the gusts were just over 20 kts or so but with the confused swells and waves we still got pushed around. I really should have reefed the main too but bore off instead of pushing it. Now we know which drawers and cabinet doors come flying open when waves or wind want to have fun. Latches for all drawers, cabinet doors and sole as well as settee hatches has been on the to-do list for a while ... now I'm reminded why, but with no real damage done.
-Sven