End of this season

[Skippa]

As I prepare to haul my DS II in another week and a half, I begin to reflect on what a sweet little boat I have found. I purchased this boat in June of this year, It is the 5th sailboat I have owned. My first was an O'Day mariner over 30 years ago, then a 22 foot westerly followed by a Cal 2-29. After 10 years away from sailing I found an Omega 14 to get me back on the water. While the Omega was a fun and sporty boat I never felt the attachment to it that I felt with my other boats. Then I found the Daysailor. Comfortable with the reputation of O'Day I had no idea how fond I would grow of this little 17 footer. Thanks to this website and the people on it, my learning curve on the history, maintenace and possibilities of this boat have made me love her more every time I take her out.
I will have a few more chances at fall sailing before I have to take her off her mooring on a small city lake near home, Maybe a few trailer trips to other nearby lakes before the snow starts to fall and the lakes go from liquid to solids. I have plans for a few modifications over the winter and I am already looking forward to a mid April launch.
Thank you to all who responded to my rookie questions this season and for all who posted questions and subjects that helped my understand and enjoy my latest love.
Fair breeze and following seas to all !
Kevin

[algonquin]

It’s not the end of season until the ice comes in.


I always try to squeeze in a few more sails before winter sets in to stay. The biggest problem isn’t the cold but the shorter day light hours that impacts the most . Brad

[GreenLake]

We've had better "summer" days this week than we had most of the summer this year. Sunny, not too hot, and the lake water is still warm. Apparently, I was not the only one who had to have "one last go".

The lake was crammed with all sorts of watercraft - paddle boards, pedal paddle boats (catamaran style with "awning"), rowing shells (1,2,4,8), a sprinkling of kayaks, a windsurfer and hordes of dinghies doing tacking drills. The only thing missing were the "big boats" - they had probably "dismissed" their crew for the season and couldn't get on the water on short notice.

For once the wind was perfect, too. Everything else was perfect, in its own way.

On launching, my spreader broke at the pin in the mast bracket. A bit of rigging tape held it securely in place (I backed it up with a "hook" from a bungee, wrapped on with electrical tape - almost better than the original).

Our plan was to sail across to the restaurant on the other side of the lake. When we got to the dock, there was a gap between two motor boats, just long enough for the DS, but the wind was blowing briskly at 90° onto the dock. I tried heaving to and drifting into the spot. That nearly worked, but I didn't estimate the drifting track correctly - but am now convinced that this is a workable technique.

In the end, instead of setting this up again, I ended up just doing a 360 off the dock, killing all speed, and with all sails luffing half drifted, half sailed at 45 degrees into the spot. Perfect, but not something for all conditions: if the wind had been stronger, it wouldn't have worked - it depended on not picking up too much speed.

On our return, we did a perfect docking maneuver, even picked up a stray kayak that had gotten away from someone at the dock, and then my crew decides to take a bath between dock and boat.

That's the way I like the "end of season" sail.