Captain Megan

We had a very good sail on Sunday evening with Megan, our oldest daughter. We headed out around 4:30, and the wind picked up a bit at about 5:30 p.m.

Megan wanted to sail, so I have her the helm.



Principessa came along, looking like Jackie O.



Matthew bounced around the boat, alternatively telling Megan how to sail, then squealing at each tack or jibe.



We left the genoa up until the first bend in Bayou Castine, just to show off a bit.

We spent a lot of this trip doing maintenance, including installation of two blocks on the cabin top to route the main halyard aft to the cockpit. Made a couple of bids on used winches on ebay, so hopefully I'll have another winch to install next time. I also had a lot of cleaning to do for our guests this time.

Left Monday morning to return to Shreveport. Until returning to Mandeville, my hobbies are limited to growing heirloom tomatoes and home brewing beer. We hope to be sailing again in a couple of weeks, though.

Fond Memories

On Saturday, we were privileged to host Dr. Burford’s family aboard Bliss. In accord with his wishes, we took him sailing aboard his beloved Bliss one last time. Words are inadequate to describe the experience, made possible by events both magic and tragic. Suffice it to say that the events of June 25, 2011, are burned into my memory for as long as memory can last.

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Graduation Day

Well, Matthew finished his Polliwogs class at the Shreveport Yacht Club. I cannot say enough good things about the club and its programs. Matthew learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed himself. Through Polliwogs, we felt richly welcomed by Shreveport's sailing community.

Principessa and I really enjoy the company of sailing enthusiasts. They are an interesting, helpful, and friendly group of folks. Unlike the stereotypes that "yacht club" conjures, sailors and yacht club members are mostly unassuming people whose company we greatly enjoy. If things change and our sojourn in Shreveport continues, I will be pestering them to make me a member of the Shreveport Yacht Club. What a great bunch of folks!

At the graduation get-together, Matthew's teacher told a story on him. On Matthew's first solo sail, winds began gusting to 15 knots or so. Matthew screamed (continually), pointed his Optimist dinghy toward the dock, trimmed the sail, and went back in. As I sailed out in another Optimist (for an adult, it's sort of like trying to sail your bathtub), he made a beeline past me in the opposite direction.

John, Matthew's teacher, told how Matthew, despite his fear, knew exactly what to do to get right back to the dock. John took pride in that, and he well should have. John, a middle school teacher during the school year, is an excellent sailing instructor and a great guy.

It was good for Matthew to get some experience in a more appropriately sized vessel. He likes to steer Bliss on Bayou Castine, but it will be a long time before he can sail her.

Matthew's First Solo Sail

Polliwogs

Matthew is taking sailing lessons this week on Cross Lake. The Shreveport Yacht Club has a really top notch sailing school, and Matthew is having a lot of fun.

Lesson No. 3 Learned the Hard Way

Lesson: In rough water, don't take down your sails until you get inside the jetties.

Price of the Lesson: a shortened main halyard, delay, and frustration

How I Learned It: On the way back from New Orleans Mardi Gras last year, the winds were high and the waters were rough, at least for me on my first solo sail. The waves on Lake Pontchartrain were at about 2-3 feet.

I had been pinching the NW wind but still had ended up a bit to the East (downwind) of the mouth of Bayou Castine. So I dropped the sails and cranked the motor. Bad idea.

Unfortunately, the pitching and rolling pulled the motor out of the water, making it difficult to make any headway or to navigate. The sound of the outboard's cavitation was distressing.

Also, I had not properly cleated the main halyard to the mast. It came loose, swung around the back of the boat, and promptly got fouled in my outboard's propeller. The motor was dead as a doornail, and I was drifting to the shallow waters off Goose Point. Not a good feeling.

It is not much fun to hang off the back of your boat and cut the halyard line while your boat is pitching and rolling, but I now know that it can be done.

Eventually, I made it into the Bayou and back to Indian Landing. Had I simply tacked once more, worked upwind a bit, and kept the sails up until I was inside the jetties, I would have saved about 1 hour, 4 feet of halyard, and much anxiety.