Winds were forecasted for 8-13 knots from the SW and gusts to 23 later in the night.
Spent some time at the dock re-terminating the electrical connection for the autohelm. Got the unit hooked up and the battery was dead, as I had left the interior light on in the boat.
Hoisted the main at the dock, because it is almost impossible to hoist it when underway without an autohelm. Even with the main way out, I could not back the boat up. I spent almost 25 minutes getting the boat off the dock.. The boom kept getting caught in the rigging and bimini on the CS34 beside me. The 2HP Honda has a problem in that it is not locking in reverse and pops out of the water. John Berry came by and pushed/fended me off big Still Time.
Going out the channel with the winds coming from the SSW, the motor ran out of gas. Without an autohelm I retrieved two cans of gas, one of which had maybe a cup of gas in it, and was able to put it in and the motor ran for another minute before running out again. Hoisted the jib and sailed out the channel
I should do this more often! What a shit show!
Full main and #3 jib, got the boat going between 4 and 5 knots pounding into the waves. Could have used more headsail, but I was singlehanded.
We were supposed to start the race at 6pm, but the guys waited for me to sail out to the course and we started at 6:40pm with a course of 4 short.
Went to harden up at the start and a puff rounded me up. Oh well, the other guys on the Sharks were having the same issues. I found that I had to foot the jib and drive more with the main for power in the waves.
On the downwind leg, the #3 jib hurt me as I didn't have the sail area, but was still doing close to 6 knots, however, the Sharks were surfing the waves and pulling ahead.
Finished within 4 minutes of the three Sharks, don't know if I caught them in corrected time.
I found this sail combination worked really well. the main was driving more. When you have the #1 or #2 up, you get a bubble in the main, and it really doesn't do much, and you usually just rag it. With the #3, drop the traveller and sail to the leech of the main.
On the way back in I found another gas can with some fuel and was able to drop my sails in the channel.
Had the boys on the 34 for a beer and some stories.
What a fun sail!
Trip Odometer: 8.96 miles
Avg Speed: 4.2 knots
Max Speed 8.1 knots
Moving Time: 02:08:56
Google Earth Track
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