This is Fun

We woke early at the Edgewater Yacht Club in Cleveland to make it to our next stop which was to be Ashtabula, OH.  The winds were forecast to be strong, but well within our limits coming from the SW at 14 – 18 knots gusting to 26.  Waves were forecast to be 2 – 4 and then increase to 4 – 6 feet.  We would be going downwind with the waves coming from behind us so I did not anticipate for the ride to be uncomfortable.  

Pam started at the helm where she typically is when we untie from the dock.  I untied the lines and pulled the boat back so that it was nearly half way out of the slip we had been in the last three days.  The slip was 14.5 feet wide and Grace although not fat is 12.5 at her midsection there was not much room on the sides when we have our fenders hanging out.  I made one last pull from the dock before pulling myself onto the boat using the shrouds as a handhold.  Pam put Grace into reverse and we easily slipped away from the marina.

Out the harbor entrance and into the lake we met expected conditions.  It was still early so the winds and waves had not built up to their full strength.  At this point the waves were 1 – 2+ feet and the winds steady at 12 knots.   After motoring out about a mile I pulled up a full main and brought the jib out to reef #1.  Reefing while sailing is not what some may have done while partying in college, but instead is a term for setting out only partial sail.  The #1 indicates this is our first setting from a full sail so you can think of this as the jib was slightly smaller than if we had rolled out all of it.

Our destination was located so we could not sail directly to it.  If you were to draw a line from where we were to our destination it would have shown the wind blowing the exact same direction.  Wind needs to fill the sails so we began to zig zag down wind.  The waves were coming in a slightly different direction so that when we sailed towards the shore on a starboard tack they were hitting us directly from behind.  When we gybed away from the shore on our port tack the waves would hit us on our port aft quarter.  Although not uncomfortable, it did make this tack a bit rolly.

When sailing downwind you must be very attentive so that the sail doesn’t accidentally gybe.  An accidental gybe is when the wind shifts, or due to inattentiveness the wind moves to the backside of the sails and can violently swing them to the side that the wind was just previously coming from.  It can be dangerous and is very hard on the boat’s gear.  Because of this Pam and I took one hour watches where one or the other of us would be responsible behind the wheel for that time period.  This gives us both a chance to rest when we are not behind the wheel.

The winds and waves increased though the morning.  The winds increased to the high teens / low twenties with gusts 26 – 28.  Waves increased to 3 – 4 feet and later 4 – 5+.  It was GREAT.  We reefed the jib to #2, which makes the sail smaller than what it was at #1 and reefed the main down as well. With the winds behind us we were making 7.5 knots the boat ridding relatively flat in the water.  At times we would surf down waves and we would see eight plus knots and we even saw 9.2 knots sliding down a particularly big wave.  The winds required that we pay extra attention so although this was a fun sail, it did require effort. 

I haven’t mentioned this yet, but also in the forecast was that a front was moving through and the skies would be partly to mostly cloudy with a possibility of waterspouts.  Waterspouts are like mini-tornados on the water.  Even though they do not have the high velocity of tornados they can pack a punch with high winds.  It is best to avoid them at all costs.

By early afternoon the winds and waves had built to their full strength for the day.  Clouds were low with some dark ones over the lake.  One cloud had a couple of dark thin ice cycle shapes hanging down that we kept a close eye on to make sure they did not have any rotation, or change in an ominous way.  There was also a slight wind shift so that when we were on our port tack away from shore the waves now hit more broad side, but still mostly from the rear.

At one point Pam had gone down below to listen to the weather broadcast on the radio while we were on one of our port tacks.  Waves do not always come in the same size and direction.  Unexpectedly, I had a big wave, must have been six foot plus, come up to the boat at and hit nearly broadside.  As it slid under the boat, Grace leaned over dramatically first on the front of the wave and then off the back of it as it continued on.  Pam had been sitting at the navigation station, but these quick and substantial sways first to starboard and then to port slid her out of the seat and onto the floor of the saloon.  She was OK but she did slightly sprain her thumb as she attempted to hold on before bouncing on the floor. 

After this big wave hit Pam was very quiet.  She seemed to be having less of a good time than I was having.  After a couple more gybes we were again sailing in the direction that the waves hit hardest.  As I’ve said, they struck mostly from the aft port quarter but some waves with a mind of their own would strike more to the side.  The waves now were very consistently 5 – 6 foot.  When bigger waves approached I would watch and turn to the right so they would push our stern rather than slap our sides. 

Pam was sitting on the high side of the cockpit, still very quiet, with the wind and waves at her back.  Then I saw it coming.  This was a big wave - bigger than 6 foot.  It could have been as much as 10 foot.  With white foam on top it was headed our way and wanted to hit broadside.  Too late I turned to starboard in an attempt to minimize it’s affect on us.  If it hit us broad side we would rock steeply from side to side. 

I got slightly turned when it hit.  When it hit the water came flying up over the sides into the cockpit and over the bimini.  Pam was soaked and my entire body now dripped from the cold water of the lake.  The bimini sits about ten feet above the water line and this wave had just gone over it.  My reaction was swift – I burst out laughing.  That sneaky bad boy wave had just doused both of us.  Grace is a big girl.  She was not having any trouble nor were we.  It was just that we were out sailing in big seas. 

Pam was now very very quiet.  Eventually she said she was going to go down and change into dry cloths.  Before doing down we gybed again to be on the more steady starboard tack.  While she was below I noted we were about an hour and 45 minutes from our planned destination.  But there on shore only fifteen minutes away was Geneva on The Lake harbor.  I headed towards the harbor entrance.  Pam had changed to dry cloths and called the harbor master asking for a slip for the night.  They instructed us to come on in which we did.  It was best to call it a day rather than going on.

Once inside the breakwater walls the water was calm and the trees on shore were blocking the wind.  We put out the fenders and tied up to a slip.

I had just had a great sail.  If you ask Pam, she may describe the day differently.

NOTE:  Pam was never scared during any of this sail.  She knows we have a sound boat and she is confident in both her and my abilities.  She was tired after six hours of this sail.  After hurting her thumb and getting soaked with cold water it was understandable at she was having less fun than usual.  That’s one of the great things about what we are doing.  At any time we can alter our plans to make it work to the best advantage.

Have fun, we are.

Jeff