So today after lunch we finally got some wind off the beam instead of straight behind us. I looked at the wind and the sails and said “don why dont we try the main”, “no problem” says don, “ill winch it up” says roger (famous last words)
so into the wind we head and i start winching, about half way up i am ready to pass out, given i am 20 or 30 years younger than don depending on how you do the math i refuse to give up. i finally get the damm thing up and ask don “how do you do this”. dons response is “i dont do it very often, my next boat will have in mast furling or be much smaller”
in any case the main is now up and we are motor sailing along now at a woping 5.5 vs 4.5 with about 8 kts of wind on the beam. it is an amazing day, prefect temp small swell shade in my corner of the cockpit!
i must say i am a bit disappointed in my first cat experience, not that i dont love the sailing but its not better or worse than sailing on a monohull just different. it is amazing i can set my drink down on a table and don has stuff strewn all over the cat that does not move at all. at the same time i can not walk around the damm thing without getting jerked back and forth by random motion. the jerks are never big enough to knock you over just to push you into something.
the best part is the hull slap, this happens at random times with random intensity and it sounds like a shotgun blast. with a good slap the salon sole flexes and lifts the cooler an inch off the floor and causes the salon table to bounce what ever is on it an inch off the table, a bit disconcerting but apparently “normal”
good news on the propane front, don was able to find a small blue gas bottle and hook that into the main gas system so we should have a bit more propane, will see how dinner goes, we are planning to double up hard boiling eggs and making mac and cheese
another day in paradise!
Cheers,
Roger
