Awesome day on the Bay

Last Sat was probably one of the best days we have had on the water for many many weeks. The day  started off with a long, slow row in my tender Little Eddy into a stiff Nor'wester and sharp chop....ok, a couple of rows for Daz. By the time we reached RW, the old arms were feeling like little chicken wings!

During the day the 25 knot breeze slowly abated to a pleasant 20, 15 and finally 10-15 SE by late arvo. Daz, Dani and Liz were all keen to get amongst the racing fleet, unfortunately racing was cancelled due to the forecast wind earlier in the day.......more so I suspect the PSYC were extremely tired, as they had been hosting and competing in the PACRIM Regatta.

I certainly appreciate having Daz onboard now he is becoming more familiar with RW, as we can be set up and underway in very quick time. As a bonus, his video 'enhancement' skills also make me look slimmer and 10 years younger!! Thanks buddy!
We setup with a #1 reef and a metre furled off the Genoa. Scooting along at around 6 knots we had some beautiful sailing. A few tacks to get the crew warmed up before we shook the reef out and increased the speed up to 7.5 knots and the crew were starting to gel together. Its always fun watching the crew do the cockpit shuffle at tack or gybe time and it doesn't take long to figure out who needs to do what when or move where and when.

Later in the day the wind veered and dropped so we christened the Assy Spin. I have only had this sail out of its Turtle a couple of times to set it up and haven't bothered with it when shorthanded on the Bay. It doesn't take long to setup, crew and trim the Assy when there is four crew. In hindsight, I should have given Dani on helm a bit more of a heads up on what to expect after the sail fills, as she did grip that wheel a little tighter and quickly followed up with a request for her beer ration!! More excitement was to come at the drop. With the tack run and the clew gathered and stuffed down the hole, the halyard was run just a tad bit early. Sort of like a stretch and blow style spinnaker takedown, but without the stretch!  A good recovery and quick hands saw a dry spinnaker without any tears (or skippers tears) down below in short time. Practice makes perfect. 

So well done guys n girls, thanks for a very enjoyable day and I hope you can join me this weekend for the offshore gig.