Monday, July 12, 2010

required sailing equipment: tiller tamer, putty knife, bug zapper

I launched Central Air, my Catalina 22, in mid-June, and I've been having a blast with her ever since.  My first sail was singlehanded (yup, and I didn't hit a thing,) and I enjoyed it that evening sail so much that I stayed out until way after dark. 

Being an ardent multi-tasker, I spent a good part of the evening with the Tiller Tamer locked down while I worked on prying off the existing coaming box trim.  I'm going to replace the busted wood trim with the replacement plastic trim from Catalina Direct.  I'm not a big fan of plastic trim on boats, but I'm making an exception here.  (Oh my gosh - This is my first boat with coaming boxes in the cockpit, and I love them!  They really appeal to my sense of a place for everything and everything in its place.)

The Tiller Tamer also came in handy while sailing in the dark, when I made a few spider patrols to shine my flashlight over the transom and then dispatch each newly-discovered creepy-crawly with my tennis-racket-bug-zapper.  UGH - where do they all come from, and why are they so freaking huge?  I know that you all don't like it when I wantonly kill innocent spiders, but I'm feeling a teeny bit pleased with myself for being a big girl and going sailing by myself at night.  The only reason I haven't done so before is my spider-related sense of complete dread.

Oh... also... my boat?  She is fast.

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