wind, wind, and more wind

[rtbates]

Sat we had a front come through central Texas bring before it 25-30 mph sustained with gusts to 45...

My wife and I took Seraph out and it was quite the ride. Started out with the 130 genoa roller furled to maybe 110. Set out on a beam reach running 6.5 kts pretty consistant with the rail dipping under every few seconds. Did I mention we were NOT beating, but on a beam reach. Next thing I know the rail is a good foot. foot and a half under. Maybe we should reduce sail a tad. A little more headsail rolled up to maybe 80-90% and we're off and running. I sure was glad we didn't have to beat into this wind! It would have been a very long day. As it was we could pretty much close reach back and forth while not falling off too much. And the ride was wet like the front seat of the log ride at 6Flags..Thank goodness, or more correctly, John Bartlett, the sail maker who made our dodger. The dodger saved us from 99% of the spray and there was lots, going clean over the cockpit ever time we would head up and take the wind and waves forward.. And they were square little buggers. 3-4' and every 5-10 secs we'd slam into one. It was the first time that I had to increase throttle because I didn't have enough power(2k rpm) to power the bow through the wind. 2.4k did it fine..

After an hour or so my wife Bev asks," Is this what the ocean is like?" Not usually!
Three sailboats out and lots of wind surfers.

[Wayne Brown]

One of my best remembered sailing days was on Lake Pontchartrain. My daughter and I were going sailing after a frontal passage, winds 35-45 kts. When we left the protected slip we didn't realize how bad the conditions were. We arrived at the end of the tchfuncta river and decided the conditions were too bad so anchored for the night. Next morning showed no improvment, but my daughter remarked that this was a sailboat and whats a little wind, so I took in two reefs in the main and one in the staysail( the only time for this) and off we went. It was a beautiful sail, pretty soon other boats followed and we tore around the lake like a bunch of mad vikings.