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Introduction to sailing

PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 4:16 pm
by Skippa
This past weekend I had a great experience. A friend and I arranged a picnic and sailing date for a group of her friends at our local park.
I moor my boat on Lake Nokomis, A 200 acre lake that is one of four in the Minneapolis "City Of Lakes" park system.
The weather did what it does around here in the summer, 85 degrees, intermittent rain all day long with wind in the 5-10 MPH range. I feared it would be non-event or worse, a wash out.
13 people showed up, Each brought an item for the grill and a side dish.
I rigged "Nauti-Cal" my beloved DSII for the onslaught of landlubbers and asked if anybody would like to go for a sail. To make a long story shorter, I took three groups out that afternoon for a total of 9 crew members, There were no passengers, everybody was given a task to perform. Of the nine, six had never been on a small sailboat before.
Three days later and I still have hard time hiding the smile I have. I love seeing the wonder and curiosity on some of the crew as they question me about how this and that works. Some are happy to just go for a ride, Others want to know how everything works.
We all got fed, We all got wet, I never got anywhere near hull speed. But it ranks right up there with one of my best sails of the summer..........So far !
At the end of the day, I put her away, Wet sails, Footprints all over her. I returned the next day to clean up. Clear skies, wind 10-15 MPH. Five minutes of deck cleaning and a two hour singlehanded cruise around my playground. It's no wonder to me why I love this game.

Re: Introduction to sailing

PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 11:25 pm
by TIM WEBB
Skippa, you just summed up tidily why we all love these boats, and pretty much all sailboats in general - well written!

Re: Introduction to sailing

PostPosted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 8:02 pm
by GreenLake
Sounds like you had well-deserved fun!

The 5-10 range is really newbie friendly. Enough wind to move the boat, but not so much that things get scary.