A 'Yachtswoman's Pocket Book' Indeed...

Look how cute -- a nice little book from the 1960s that provides advice to the little ladies on how to function aboard a yacht.

I do not consider myself a feminist by any means (and political discussions are definitely off-topic for this blog!), but I'm grateful to live and sail during the 21st Century. While it is important to me that my crew and guests (all both of them, during a typical sail on my sweet little boat) experience 'gracious entertaining'... I'm even more concerned that they have a heckuva ride and that we execute our tactics well when racing. (Hee hee - listen to me acting like I know from 'tactics'.)

Well... on second thought, perhaps I *am* a bit of a yachtswoman in the 1960s sense of the word. For example, in the heat of a race situation, I'd prefer that we try not to get any blood stains on the upholstery, if at all possible.

Fish on Friday -- Vintage Style

Exiting & Entering the Dock, Learning to Singlehand

I reached another milestone this week! I left the dock on my own, without any crew assistance (well, aside from being ready with the boat-hook in case something went wrong.)

Typically, I've had my crew stand on the dock as I remove the bow lines and then walk her halfway out of the dock before hopping on. That worked quite well. The only time I had previously attempted to leave the dock on my own, Twinkletoes removed the bowlines from the dock and then hopped on the boat, majorly pushing her out from the dock in the process. Not good.

This time, though, I removed the bow lines while standing on the bow (go figure), and then gracefully (matter of opinion) made my way back to the cockpit where I removed the stern line, put the ob into reverse, and then glided very nicely out of the dock. There was no flailing involved whatsoever. ((breaking own arm patting own self on back.))

Victory!

And I have already managed to pull back into the dock without crew assistance several times now. Much fun! I am quite comfy with this now, if I may be so bold to say so.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess that there hasn't been a super-significant amount of wind in play during these attempts. Envisioning what the process might look like with more wind brings to mind 'me, with boat hook in one hand and tiller in the other, perhaps in tears.'

Regardless, it is so encouraging to see progress! At the beginning of the season, I was pretty nervous about docking and undocking under any conditions -- with or without crew.

This weekend will bring a new learning experience. I believe that I will learn to pretty much singlehand this weekend. My Mom is coming to visit me so that she can enjoy her first-ever sail. I'm so excited to finally have her aboard! I imagine that I will do much (or all?) of the 'stuff' associated with sailing the boat on my own because I'd like Mom to be able to enjoy the day without worrying that she will do the wrong thing or something. (Yeah, wonder where I picked up that characteristic, eh?) I adore my Mom and I want her first sail with me to be special -- magical, even.

Here's a snap of Mom last May, doing the ole Vanna White on Central Air 1 (a CL-14) when I put her up for sale. I'll soon have a lovely photo of Mom on Central Air 2 to post, too -- and surely a story to accompany it!

Follow-Up to Open Letter to the Gentlemen of my Club

L to R: Christy, chocolatey goodness (credit: Tom W.),

and Jim (skipper of a sweet O'Day 222 that we both would have loved to see

tipped at a good 10-20 or so degrees on Saturday!).

An Open Letter to the Gentlemen of my Club

Anyone still care to compete in this Sunday's xx/xy regatta? Call me spontaneous, but I'm looking for a partner. Could we be right for one another?

Me - a sail-trimming *machine* (especially if you have tell-tales.. . and a sense of humor).

You - a fast boat, an even (or preferably no) temper... and a sense of humor.

I have in my possession the two *fabulous * $15 gifts, a crisp $5 bill required for registration... and a lust for victory. Let me know if you'd like me to show up at your dock with all of the above on Sunday morning.

Yours in chocolatey sailing goodness,
Christy

Fish on Friday

I can't say that I actually know the vacationing "Joe", but I am pleased to help carry the torch in his temporary absence from the blogosphere:

See also EVK4 and Tillerman for more fish.

Pimp my Ride!

I have a few more ride-pimping projects that I'd like to complete before the-day-that-we-won't-reference-directly arrives. Here are the projects and the status of each:

1.) speakers mounted to a second (short-ish) version of my hatchboard, for hearing tunes in the cockpit. (all materials purchased, oak board cut and sanded, needs 2 coats of scary-smelly polyurethane, speakers mounted [hole-drilling - yay!], and speakers wired to existing stereo wiring.)

2.) install treads on swim leadder (need to summon up the financial resources -- and the nerve -- to purchase handy little $85 [!!!] kit from Catalina Direct , then borrow Dad's rivet gun again.)

3.) install depth finder (currently researching which make/model to buy)... which brings me to my request for assistance from the internet people (that's you!):

Does anyone have a favorite brand, model, and/or retail source (online or offline) for a depth finder that is not outlandishly priced (low-mid $100s, maybe?)? From what I can tell so far, I think that I'm interested in installing one with a transducer that works through the hull (mounted with mineral oil and epoxy, or something to that effect?), and that has a smallish display screen with an alarm feature.

Any suggestions?

Labor Day -- Destination Reached!

My 'goal' on most daysails is to reach the Cheshire Road bridge, which marks the northern boundary of the sail-able territory at Alum Creek. The breeze is usually from the north, so there is a lot of tacking involved in making progress toward the bridge. Usually due to darkness approaching or other things to attend to at home, I've always given up well before reaching the bridge and turned around to sail downwind back to the docks.

Well, today - sailing with my friend Michelle - the wind was from the NW, which allowed for a fairly direct route to the bridge. YESSSSS!!! We took a few tacks to keep from getting too close to the eastern edge of the lake, and we arrived at the bridge after around 1.5 hours of delightful sailing! We turned around before we got to the 'no wake' buoys, but it was still VERY cool to finally achieve the goal!

The wind died down very quickly on our way back down the lake, but fortunately we had a pretty sunset to occupy our attention. I also discovered a very comfortable lounging position -- leaned back against a throwable PFD cushion with my head resting on my tilted outboard!! I could have fallen asleep!

Sigh - I guess it doesn't take much to make me happy, does it?