A real gem
Saturday shaped up to be a great day for a sail. Sunny not to hot and the wind just right for some spinnaker practice.
The crew assembled for what supposed to be a training day. Starts, mark roundings blah blah. What we had was a great kite run from Manly to deep in Rose Bay.
The breeze was from the north maybe 12 knots and building slowly, the sky was blue a decent swell breaked across South Head. The sight of that swell and the feel of it marching through the heads had Liam and David wondering if a surf might of been a better choice than a sail.
There was a bit of trouble getting sorted for the hoist, the port spinnaker halyard seemed to be jammed at the top of the headsail foil. A bit of poo and buggering about and we settled for the starboard halyard . Tracey capably sorted it and up she went with Liam testing his dragon boat biceps. Made! was the call, the pole came back a bit and Ben was put to work as spinnaker trimmer under Chris's guidance.
Basically this is, if your not easing or trimming all the time you are not doing your job.
Panacea lifted her skirts and away we went. Kate on the pole, Ben on the sheet with Chris grinding and over 10 knots of boat speed. Decide that the Eastern Channel is the way to go. Keep out of the way of the ferries and the building number of racing fleets in the Western Channel.
We are flying it doesn't get much better, early Autumn sunny day, breeze from the right direction and at the perfect strength, Sydney Harbour in all its glory. The Eastern Channel was looking good and then the ferry came. Once in every 10 years a ferry will use the Eastern Channel and today was the day. The poor ferry skipper probably thought we'll use the Eastern Channel and keep out of the way of those bloody racing fleets. He then saw a big colourful spinnaker no where near the racing fleets and went "bugger" a beginner practicing spinnaker!
Panacea made a decisive move to let the ferry know we understood and honest we aren't pathetic beginners. Got through that without a sweat only to be confronted by an Etchel fleet. We headed into Rose Bay, the wind bent around and we had a good practice of spinnaker and pole trim.
We managed to drop the kite without it getting wet or wrapped around the rubber.
A couple of practice roundings between Rose Bay and Clark Island, with everyone having a go on the wheel to finish the day off. Decided to abandon the last Rose Bay mark rounding just to avoid running over any of the kids in the Optimists. Quickly decide on another mark there was choice of three and everyone agreed that the mark they identified was the one we were rounding. Trimmers adjusted sail for the mark they thought we were aiming for, Ben aimed for the one he thought we aiming for.
Good for a laugh and we headed for home.
A beer and smiles all round. Sydney Harbour how could you not love it.
The crew assembled for what supposed to be a training day. Starts, mark roundings blah blah. What we had was a great kite run from Manly to deep in Rose Bay.
The breeze was from the north maybe 12 knots and building slowly, the sky was blue a decent swell breaked across South Head. The sight of that swell and the feel of it marching through the heads had Liam and David wondering if a surf might of been a better choice than a sail.
There was a bit of trouble getting sorted for the hoist, the port spinnaker halyard seemed to be jammed at the top of the headsail foil. A bit of poo and buggering about and we settled for the starboard halyard . Tracey capably sorted it and up she went with Liam testing his dragon boat biceps. Made! was the call, the pole came back a bit and Ben was put to work as spinnaker trimmer under Chris's guidance.
Basically this is, if your not easing or trimming all the time you are not doing your job.
Panacea lifted her skirts and away we went. Kate on the pole, Ben on the sheet with Chris grinding and over 10 knots of boat speed. Decide that the Eastern Channel is the way to go. Keep out of the way of the ferries and the building number of racing fleets in the Western Channel.
We are flying it doesn't get much better, early Autumn sunny day, breeze from the right direction and at the perfect strength, Sydney Harbour in all its glory. The Eastern Channel was looking good and then the ferry came. Once in every 10 years a ferry will use the Eastern Channel and today was the day. The poor ferry skipper probably thought we'll use the Eastern Channel and keep out of the way of those bloody racing fleets. He then saw a big colourful spinnaker no where near the racing fleets and went "bugger" a beginner practicing spinnaker!
Panacea made a decisive move to let the ferry know we understood and honest we aren't pathetic beginners. Got through that without a sweat only to be confronted by an Etchel fleet. We headed into Rose Bay, the wind bent around and we had a good practice of spinnaker and pole trim.
We managed to drop the kite without it getting wet or wrapped around the rubber.
A couple of practice roundings between Rose Bay and Clark Island, with everyone having a go on the wheel to finish the day off. Decided to abandon the last Rose Bay mark rounding just to avoid running over any of the kids in the Optimists. Quickly decide on another mark there was choice of three and everyone agreed that the mark they identified was the one we were rounding. Trimmers adjusted sail for the mark they thought we were aiming for, Ben aimed for the one he thought we aiming for.
Good for a laugh and we headed for home.
A beer and smiles all round. Sydney Harbour how could you not love it.
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