Sunday, October 25, 2015

Gaia's Shakedown Cruise

First, here's a shot of the sail cover I was able to buy through Charlie Huie (Captain Charlie).  Contact him to talk about purchasing one if you are interested.
It's very nice and a reasonable price.

I finally was able to get the boat under sail today, with help from Penny Ferleman and John Griffin.  Here are some of the pictures from the voyage:

Here I am backing the trailer into the water.

I had to push it back a bit so I could re-connect the bobstay over the bow roller.
Penny

John
Raising the mast.

Raising the jib.
Trying to look like the wise old sailor--not succeeding.

John and me at the helm and jib sheet.
Nice shot of the Armed Forces Memorial.

Penny relaxing in the cabin.  As you can see I still have some sanding and painting to do.

Returning to the dock.
Tying up.

Replacing the sail cover.
After a job well done.
This turned out to be a perfect day for a sail, especially my first sail in a new boat.  The temperature was in the upper 60s with variable winds averaging about 10 knots.

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5 comments:

  1. RonWinstonOctober 26, 2015 at 6:16 AM

    Dana, Thanks for the pictures and again you did a great job! Would love to hear more detail about how she handles and maybe some video!

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    1. UnknownOctober 26, 2015 at 6:59 AM

      Thanks Ron. She handles like a dream I forgot to drop the centerboard for about the first 15 minutes and hardly noticed--she pointed very well. After the centerboard was down, even better! I plan to shoot some video, but don't know whether I'll be able to get to it this year.

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  2. CraigOctober 26, 2015 at 10:16 AM

    Nice! I'm really excited you got beautiful Gaia launched. I wish I could have been there. It's been fun watching your journey on this site and the Pocketship forum, and of course you contributed a lot to my build as well through our correspondence. Your mission this winter: take it out in 20kt winds and FLY! (in my experience, lake winds in our part of the country are faster in the winter).

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    1. UnknownOctober 26, 2015 at 11:14 AM

      Thanks a lot Craig. Do you have a blog site about your build? Would love to see it.
      As to flying this winter, I don't think I have enough experience yet for that--I might end up flying for real--into the water! :-) BTW, winter winds seem faster because the colder air is denser, packs a lot more power.

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  3. john brattonFebruary 22, 2016 at 5:56 PM

    I remember (I think It was your post) of a problem of not being able to raise the mast without standing on your companionway stool. I have always used the jib halyard to raise my mast from the anchor well. I may try it your way. I don't feel real safe my method.

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