Raising Sails Archives - Sailing Away Someday

September 1, 2017September 1, 2017

Just A Few Reasons to Turn Back

Yep, there were just a few problems…

The day was finally here, we were taking our boat out all by ourselves and going sailing! We felt ready, we felt excited, we were totally scared to death! We pulled up at the lunch ramp and at that point we should have turned around and gone home. The parking lot was completely full of trucks with empty boat trailers. It turned out it was some sort of fishing season opener and EVERYONE was out with their boats. But we were determined to do it! We were ready!

The second reason we should have aborted our mission…it was really windy. Now remember the only other time when we had our boat in this bay there was NO wind at all and we had to motor about. Well not today. It was blowing, but we still felt we could handle it.

Light Winds Never Made a Skillful Sailor

We got to work on raising our mast and disconnecting the boat from the trailer. All seemed fine, just some random bickering due to extreme tension. The boat came off the trailer easily and I parked the rig. At this point I was still thinking this is going to be a piece of cake, just jump on, start the motor, point the boat into the wind, raise the sails, and off we go…no problem. But alas, no.

Once I got on the boat and we pushed off from the dock the boat started moving in the wrong direction and not just a little bit. The tide was coming in and it was a big tidal swing so the water was really moving. Here was our next HUGE mistake. We checked the tides, of course, but we didn’t take into consideration the amount of swing between the high and low. In our bay it makes a big difference and with our lack of experience we should only be sailing on a neap tide day (a tide just after the first or third quarters of the moon when there is the least difference between high and low water). So now the boat is moving in the wrong direction and I’m yelling at Landon to use the motor to get us going correctly, but nothing was happening. We are heading towards the boats in the anchorage and the motor wasn’t strong enough to fight the tide. Don’t forget the wind is also blowing and it’s not helping matters, it’s working completely against us at the moment. I’m sure we are going to hit another boat and parish at sea. Goodbye.

At some point, after several minutes of screaming at each other, we hoisted the mainsail and started heading in the right direction, with the motor running still. I was thrilled, we were doing it, we were really sailing! Sort of. Landon had the opposite reaction and wanted to take the sail down and go in. So our next argument ensued. We finally agreed, and with the wind at our backs (which makes it seem so much lighter than it really is) we sailed away from the dock and launch ramp, not knowing if we would ever see them again…

March 4, 2017March 11, 2017

What do we do with it?

Now we have a boat, but don’t have any idea what to do with it.

No really, we had no idea. So we started reading, a lot, and we found a local skipper to give us a lesson on his boat. We really wanted to figure this sailing thing out. Well, of course, sailing isn’t something you figure out, it’s a lifelong learning process, and one lesson probably won’t be enough. Especially if you plan to show up at the marina with your 25 foot sail boat without making a fool of yourself, but more on that later.

Our lesson with Captain Mark was a blast and while we felt like we learned so much we really only scratched the surface. I think I might have left knowing the difference between port and starboard and possibly the difference between the main sail and the jib, but I can’t confirm. I still thought sheets referred to the sails themselves (they do seem like big sheets) and not the lines. O.M.G. this is hard stuff. Anyway, we get home feeling good about our lesson and ready to go. But… a few days go by, our confidence wains, and we are calling Captain Mark again. No way can we take our boat out for the first time alone! I should tell you that where we live is probably not the best place to learn to sail, in fact it’s down right hard. We have two marinas to choose from, one is narrow, crowded, shallow, full of people on kayaks and SUPS, and the tides race in and out making it really hard for new sailors to navigate, even with a motor. Leaving this harbor/bay to the open ocean is only done by EXPERIENCED sailors. There is another harbor an hour away, where we sailed with Captain Mark, but no launch ramp, so your boat needs to be hoisted into the water. That means you need to raise your mast on a moving boat. Not gonna happen, it’s treacherous on dry land. The other option we have are the lakes in the area, but of course, after we (I) bought the boat, California was hit by a massive drought and the lakes dried up! Seriously too low to even launch a boat. So we are left with trying to learn in the scary bay.

Raising the mast with the help of Captain Mark and my dad.

So Captain Mark agrees to meet us and help us on our first voyage. Yay! All goes well, we raise the mast and get the boat off the trailer and into the water, we are pumped up and ready to go. There is no wind, not a spec! Which is crazy because it’s ALWAYS windy, always. Usually too windy. But not today. So we motor around…and get stuck. Seriously that’s how hard it is, even with a professional on board we got stuck. That was about it for the adventure that day and not much happened in the way of learning how to sail, but we did learn some tricks for getting our boat unstuck (not the technical term, but you get the point) and we had a blast! We couldn’t wait for our next sail…just the two of us, no help, no Captain Mark, no problem.

Well there were a few problems…

March 1, 2017March 1, 2017

First Boats Are Hard To Forget Too

I did it…

I bought the boat, and it was the first boat I looked at. Mostly because I knew nothing about boats and the seller was so nice (he really was and he’s still helpful today, I got lucky there). The boat was actually in really good shape and ready to go, we could have literally hooked up the trailer at the sellers house and headed straight to the water. Except learning to sail was probably something that would need to happen first. Especially since I bought a 25 footer! I know, that was not the best choice, but it was so pretty and I was so excited. At the time I thought it was a small boat, until we actually took it out on the water! Not. Small. At. All!

Don’t forget this boat was a surprise for my boyfriend (now husband, which was a guarantee after I purchased him such an awesome gift, well maybe not actually). What a surprise it was! My parents were in on it and they gladly hooked up the trailer and brought it over for the big reveal. I brought him out of the house at the exact moment my folks turned onto our street, boat in tow. It took a few shouts of “surprise” for him to register what was happening and boy was he surprised or should I say shocked. Yes, shocked is a much better description.

All joking aside, it really was the best birthday present ever and giving him that gift will always be one of the craziest things I have ever done. It started us on a journey that will forever change the path of our future.