Sailing the boat, as much as possible, and in as many weather situations as we can get ourselves into, before we leave for Scotland is the only way to insure our comfort and safety on the long passages to come.
The weather has been so spectacular as of late, with sunny cool days and lots of fresh wind, making our day sails as adventurous as any we anticipate in the spring.
This last Saturday we cast-off on glass water at about 0930 and by the time we made it under the Key Bridge (about 3 nautical miles from our moorings) we had two reefs in the main and a shortened foresail, it was incredible sailing and the boat performed flawlessly!
We sailed most of the day with winds ranging from 15 knots all the way up to 30 knots of sustained gusts and only put the lee-boards in the water once.
We are both getting a real-feel for the way this boat sails and communicates with us. She (S/V Itinerant) can get extremely squirrely quick if we’re not anticipating the trim in heavy winds but like I said, she communicates well with us and we’re learning to respond in kind.
After an absolutely perfect sail like this last weekend I’d be inclined to quote Lin and Larry with a, “Go Now, Go Cheap!”
…But we both are very much aware of how much winter there is left in these latitudes.
So, we’ll wait, after all, “The prudent sailor survives.”
