First Sail on Aevitas!

Lisa and Andy (Kinetic Sailing), expert sailing instructors and really nice people, came to Rock Hall today and gave us sailing lessons on Aevitas. We took our boat out into the Chesapeake! Because our forestay isn't back yet, we didn't fully raise the mainsail. We did get the jib up and moved under wind power. We healed a wee bit, got up to nine knots, and practiced tacks, jibes and anchoring. We were able to get out of the slip and to get back in stern first. We learned a lot and my mind entered "full mode" long before we were back on our slip.

One thing that has become evident since we started our sailing adventure is that very sailor has their unique way of doing things. The basic principle of the "what" (i.e. tacking, anchoring, etc.), but the "how" is idiosyncratic. I am finding this reassuring. There is a lot of room for innovation. I have a hard time with things that only have one "right" way as I tend to be a bit of a contrarian. I like that sailing is about figuring out the best way for you (and your boat) to accomplish what you are intending to do. From each person, we learn little tricks to make our movements more efficient and boat easier to handle.

While there are lots of variations on the right way to do some things, there are also some things that are definitely wrong. We have in boom furling for our mainsail. Basically, our sail is rolled around a mandrel in the boom when it is not up. The previous owner of our boat helped us put our sails on. On our little voyage we found that our mainsail was furled on the boom in the wrong direction. It went up ok, but when it came time to lower the sail, we ended up having to hand crank the furling line. The line ran across an edge and nearly busted! I'm very glad we had experienced sailors with us so the could help us problem-solve through this little challenge. We gained more experience the next day - unwrapping and rewrapping the main in the right direction. We also had to replace the furling line. As long as we had the sail down, we tried to scrub off the footprint that was on our sail. Only some of it came off. Our mainsail is now turning the correct direction and has a slightly less obvious footprint.

Along with the mainsail issue, we had a few other complications: we practiced anchoring in a cable area (thankfully, we did not snag a cable). Our headsets that we got to make communication easier when we are on opposite ends of the boat didn't work. Our chart plotter didn't work at the helm and the chart plotter on the iPad stopped tracking us. We were able to get through these glitches without too much angst and I count that as a win. We now have the gadget we needed for the plotter to work, we know what we need to do to update the GPS for the iPad and we figured out the problem with the headsets. We are good to go for the next voyage!

I'm very clear on the things I need to work on: the primary one is being on the helm. I have to figure out how to look between the compass, the cart, the wind, the water and a landmark while keeping the wheel centered and holding the same course. Plus there is all the other stuff - like docking (!). I'm now dedicating time each day to studying how to do things. You Tube will become my friend. I think the biggest help will be experience. So much of sailing is about muscle memory and feeling how all the different elements (boat, weather, water, etc.) interact and impact how you are moving through the water.

I'm glad we are having this adventure. I spend a fair amount of time outside of my comfort zone and I think that is a good thing. Nothing like living a lifestyle that forces you to learn and try new things. That has to be good for you, right? Also, sailing is great for a relationship. Sailing requires a lot of very direct communication. We have to be very specific about what needs, concerns, strategies, etc. It isn't possible to sail as a couple without being trusting each other and being very honest about how you feel and what you think. Living in a very small space also requires compromise and adaptability. Live aboard life, as a couple, requires equal measures of vulnerability and assertiveness and a healthy dose of humor.

We've met a few other seasonal sailors (no other live aboard folks yet) and they are all amazed that we have such a big boat for our first boat. We tell them that since this is also our last boat, we decided to start with what we'd eventually want instead of working our way up. There are two advantages, first, this is a better move financially. We can live on it so we don't have the expense of house as well as a boat. Second, if we worked our way up in boat sizes, we'd have a series of purchases and sales. There are costs involved in purchasing a boat and, since boats depreciate, you lose money when you go to sell. If we worked our way up, we'd be out of money by the time we got to the boat we wanted. As long as we are doing this crazy thing, we may as well go for the nice boat straight away.

Sailing and docking our big boat is doable and we need a lot of practice. Which, since we are on the boat full time, we will certainly get! There is nothing like the thrill of sailing and we are just doing baby sailing; when we are good enough to do real sailing it will be even more amazing.

UPDATE: the forestay went back on yesterday and today we put on the Genoa (it is a really big sail)!