Crew (Left to Right)

• Will - Main Trimming

• Amber - Foredeck

• Jeff - Pit

• John - Headsail Trimmer

• Taylor - Trimmer

• Adam - Mast

Great job guys!!!

Thanks for the picture, Dick!

Here's Dick's boat
'Candyman':

GPS Track for Race
Boat Track is Blue
Race Course is Red

GPS Track
For Entire Day

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Since most everyone was fairly new to sailing we got an early start to the day, and practiced a tack and talked through the basics of the spinnaker.  Unfortunately despite our early outing, we were late for the start since we had headed a bit North of the marina and the fleet headed South for the starting line just North of Richmond Beach.  Once I noticed the error we powered full speed for the line reaching the committee boat about 90 seconds after the gun and in one seamless motion killed the engine, unfurled the jib and headed north with the fleet towards the windward mark just off the dog park pier in Edmonds.

Was fun to see the reaction for the new sailors to the closer (2-3 boat lengths) crosses going upwind - wonder how much bigger their eyes will get when we have a truly close crossing where trading paint is much more likely.  Found myself having a few moments of excitement when find the water to get shallow real quickly as you sail into the beach in Edmonds - I seem to recall tacking in about 9 feet of water saying to everyone 'if you look over the side you can see the bottom' - someone replied: 'the bottom of what? .... followed by a quick 'Oh! That bottom!'.

Made up a good deal of distance on first leg then turned downwind and did a good job with the hoist and launch of the spinnaker.  The boat handled really well under the chute and after a good gybe and some more wind we saw speeds over 8 knots!  The new crew did an amazing job with handling the spinnaker and despite our slower rounding of the leeward mark we continued to make up good distance on the fleet.

The final upwind leg found us with too much wind for the light number 1 jib, but just a bit too much.  So we toughed it out and fought to catch the Laser 28.  We made up a bunch more distance, but were beat after I misjudged the final tack and needed to tack again to make the line.

After the race, Will won the random number pick and had the helm for the sail back to the marina where we all enjoyed lunch.  We returned to the slip and dropped off Adam, Jeff, Taylor and John.  Will, Amber and I headed back out for another couple hours of great sailing in the evening breeze.

In all, it was a great race.  We did well and showed a great deal of potential for future improvement.  It'll be fun to see how we improve in the coming weeks and months.

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Things started on the left foot when the crew bailed on Saturday evening and it was too late to find replacements.  But would l let that stop me... of course not.  I come from a stubborn breed and I am a prime example.  Even when Sarah woke to a migraine, I was undeterred leaving with a kiss on the cheek and a whisper to join me at 1030 if she felt better.

So I woke up early and was at the boat by 720, and headed out of the marina less than 10 minutes later headed north for Everett under autopilot while I prepped the boat and enjoyed my new boots and gear that Sarah and I purchase the day before.  The ride to Everett was great.  The engine worked flawlessly (a first).

I arrived in Everett on schedule and after a couple tries in adverse current and winds I was able to successfully dock the boat and head into the skipper's meeting on time.  I signed up for the race and met a few new faces at Milltown.  Its amazing how many new people there are at the club.

As the skipper's meeting wrapped up and I headed back for the boat, I looked at my phone and finally came to the understanding that I'd be going solo for the race.  Interesting.

The race was great with 10-15 knots of wind from the SE.  I did my best to use tactics that kept me away from most of the fleet and close encounters with others since I wasn't going to be able to maneuver as well as everyone else with crew.  Really didn't want to mess up anyone else's race or make contact.

These conservative tactics didn't stop me from pulling off an awesome rounding of the first mark that found me on starboard tack heading into the mark heading at a couple boats that would have to tack away since they didn't have right of way.  Instead I spun tightly around the mark slightly ahead of them and not forcing them to tack.  Had to triage a bit and let the jib backwind, but I rounded with the compliments of a couple boats crews and the suggestion that I buy better beer to ensure that I wouldn't have to sail solo again. 

Was quite a workout trying to handle the main, jib, helm and everything else but it was fun.  Like sailing an oversized dinghy.  The boat did really well upwind and on the reach legs.  I gained back a great deal of distance I lost on the downwind leg when I couldn't fly my spinnaker.  Looking forward to a crewed race with the newer jib to see how the boat really goes to weather.

After the race, I returned to the clubhouse for a drink and lunch, and general sailing talk and finally the results that showed that I hadn't finished last in corrected time - hooray.  A decent start to the series on new boat.

Soon enough I was back on the boat headed south for Edmonds.  Once again the engine did well as I headed into a southerly wind and waves.  Just wasn't enough wind to sail quickly back.  Was back home by 630pm and was ready for a rest.

Really liking the trip log feature of the GPS.  Also check out the day's track chart from the onboard GPS + Nav Software.

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With still a faint breeze, I turned around towards Edmonds and decided to try to fly the 0.6 oz spinnaker tacked off the bow (since I was sailing solo).  After taking time to prep, I hoisted it without incident and it filled and helped get boat speed back up.  It looked great and handled well despite being tacked at the bow.  Tried a gybe and completed it, only to find that the sheets are a bit too short for the outside gybe of an assym.

Soon after the gybe the wind died, and I took the chute down.  Decided to motor over to Port Madison the little harbor I'd heard so much about.  Its a great place and looks like it will be fund place to take quick weekend cruises.  Protected harbor, though I wonder where we'd be able to put ashore for the dogs.

To my disappointment, the engine quit as I just after I turned around to head out of the harbor.  Sounded like once again it was starved of fuel.  I figured it could be the filter, since I put these in before the new tank and the old tank had quiet a lot of dirt and such.  After pulling the filter, I did notice lots of dirt.  So I replaced it and the engine ran fine once the air bled through.

Boat did well sailing under autopilot while I worked on the engine.  It was 'fun' to work in 2-3 minute shifts - working then watching for traffic, etc.

Had a great sail home as the wind filled in from the SE... yep SE.  Was kind of odd direction but made for a great close reach to Edmonds.

Really enjoyed another great day on the water.

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Rewarded myself with a solo sunset and night sail.  What a gorgeous night.  Nearless cloudless with a mild cool breeze.  Sailed by jib alone listening to the 5 star mix on the iPod and working on the log on the notebook in the cockpit.  Oh what serenity for a nerd!!

Sometimes its hard to believe that I get to do this anytime I want!  Its a really good motivator to get up in the morning and work hard.

Looking forward to getting the light number 1 back from North after the adjustment to get ready for the furler.

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We rounded the upwind mark in second to last, but did well on the initial downwind leg picking the right spots and finding wind which allowed us to pass a couple boats (Laser 28, J37).  Soon enough the wind died and we gave it all back.  I was yearning for a spinnaker, or at least a lighter headsail... but it will come with time.

We finished second to last just behind the Laser and instead of waiting in the lack of wind for a second race we took off to spend the rest of the day looking for wind.

We powered toward Point No Point (already a habit by now) looking for wind while chatting. seal spotting and snacking on the remnants of lunch we started just before finishing the race.  Sarah and I are blessed with great friends.  Its always so fun to share this part of our lives with them and they are always seem to bring joy to our lives when sailing with us.

Soon enough we were starting to find wind and I was desperate to scratch my spinnaker itch.  I started pulling out the gear and Steve and Will helped me rig it.  In no time at all I was enlisting Lisa and Amber as foredeck crew talking them through the basics of the pole and a jibe, while Steve and Will were busy attending to the pit and guy.  After a quick how to about the hoist we had the spinnaker up a pulling.  It looked huge and beautiful - and powerful.  Despite light air, we soon saw the log picking up steadily.

Sarah started off at the helm, but soon Steve took over and did a great job learning the basics of steering by reading the sail cues.  Steve had a marathon helm session that saw us sail from Point No Point to Richmond Beach in a building breeze.  We threw in a few jibes just for practice.  As we approached Richmond Beach, I was getting bit nervous as the breeze had built and chances of spin out were a bit higher.  So we took the spinnaker down and readied the boat for a nice beat home.

Lisa took the helm to start and did another wonderful job - must run in the family.  She was excited to the see the boat so powered up in the breeze and wanted to get the rail in the water - which we did.  After awhile, Lisa handed off the helm to Amber to take us home.  The is was a second time for Amber and it was evident she remembered much of the first time on the boat.

Amber drove the heck out the boat as the breeze built a bit more.  After a few tack in which I acted as Will's drill sergeant of grinding, we were back in Edmonds.

We swiftly put up the boat and headed off for pizza at Pagliacci's.

A totally awesome day!!!.

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Adam Chillin

The Girls

Up Visor Pics, A New Fetish!

We left the dock with plenty of libations and great food again for a wonderful day of sailing -but of course no wind.  But we made best of it - cracked open drinks and headed north toward Admiralty Inlet in hope of finding some wind.  Ashley and Taylor were eager to help so we gave them some lessons on terminology relating to sails and lines, and they helped us get the main hoisted.  With the main up, everyone settled and pulled out the rigging for the spinnaker we had aboard and got it ready to fly tacked from the bow.  Got real interested in the chute after having seeing it out of the bag for the first time when John Wolfe, the Edmonds PHRF handicapper measured it in the morning to provide us with our rating for racing the rest of this year.

After getting things rigged, Ashley, Taylor and Adam teamed up to help get spinnaker hoisted and flying.  With Sarah helming we worked together to get this huge chute flying the very little wind we had.  It looked great, but was huge.  I'm excited to get it flying in more wind and with a pole.  After awhile we doused the spinnaker as a team and got ready to head north again under power.  However, we got a bit ahead of ourselves leaving a spinnaker sheet over the side.  No sooner than Sarah put the engine into gear, I was yelling stop as the spinnaker sheet in my hand began to quick get pulled out as it wrapped around the prop.  Hooray for drama!

So we tried to pull the line a bit to see if it would free, but of course it wouldn't we wouldn't be that lucky.  What's next?  Well this was totally new territory but I'd heard that the best way to do this was a dive.  Lucky enough I found an old snorkeling mask in the back of the boat that the previous owner, perhaps even the owner before him, had left on the boat.  In just a few minutes, I was prepping to go on my first dive in Puget Sound since I was about 7 years old and apologizing to everyone about getting to see way too much of me on this sail (I did leave the boxers on).  A quick fit of the mask, and nice jump off the stern later I was in the water - nothing like the chilly waters of the Sound.

I swam around to the fouled line, refit my mask, asked Adam to hold the fouled line firmly so I could use it as a guide to the prop.  A few dives down and back later, I had unwrapped the spinnaker line from the prop without having to cut it - at least got to save a few bucks.  Wasn't a fun process, but it was effective and interesting.  Haven't seen that perspective on the boat in the water.  My only real words after emerging from the water were 'Ah shrinkage' as I looked forward to testing the shower which still should be warm from the engine running earlier.

Engine started fine, ran a bit rough at first but soon it settle and was running like normal.  The shower was great and we were soon back to normal headed north for Admiralty.  In just a little while were in some wind, and Taylor took the helm after we unfurled the jib and got us sailing well.

We all enjoyed lunch and snacks, traded stories and enjoyed the sun and wind.  Watched a few ships go out to sea and many, many cruisers returning from their weekend.  Among the various bits of fun were a boogie down show in the cockpit, an unscheduled full moon on the bow, a lesson on how to properly relieve one's self on a sailing vessel, some story telling and much sailing with and without wind.  We even saw a few dolphins hunting for their lunch.

After drifting through some tidal ebbs, we found wind south of Possession Point and sailed swiftly home.

It was a great day once again capped off with a crew picture taken after I asked them to 'assume the position'... here's the pics.  Oh... we have a great group of friends!!

Perhaps a more proper position?

Cheryl - Movie Star!

Taylor At The Helm

A Reading By Adam

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So we set out for a day of sailing with our latest crew, tasty sandwiches and snacks and no wind.  The water was like glass and with the warm sunny weather we weren't really expecting any real wind soon.  With no wind we motored our way down toward Seattle and Elliott Bay to see some of the sights from the water.

After about a hour of powering South, we passed Shilshole Marina then West Point and entered Elliott Bay to get a great view of Seattle from the water.  On the way down, we all enjoyed many great conversations about life in Seattle, favorite restaurants and our mutual love of our dogs.  To my great disappointment, soon after entering Elliott Bay I heard the motor hiccup for a moment and few moments later the engine actually died.  Once again the engine died conveniently - this just in time for us to sail in the wind we found just south of West Point.  So we unfurled the jib and handed the helm over to Joel, gave him a few pointers and he was off and sailing us back toward Edmonds.

After troubleshooting the fuel system and trying to bleed the system, which didn't solve the issue.  I did one thing I should have done early on, especially when I replaced all the fuel lines - I pulled the fuel pickup.  When I blew on the pickup to clear it out several little chunks of gunk just big enough to be one big chunk came out.  Perhaps building a small damn in the fuel pickup with crud isn't the best plan for supplying a consistent amount of fuel to the engine.  When I reinstalled the pickup, I chanted a good wish for happy engine performance and hoped for the best.  Turns out that the engine worked well for the rest of the day.  Okay... enough boat drama for the day back to the good stuff.

On the sail back from Elliott Bay, we played musical helm.  Joel handed off to Will who handed off to Amber.  They all did wonderful jobs with sailing in the widely varying and shifty winds.  It was fun to see everyone get accustomed to warm-cold-warm-cold cycle as the wind builds and dies.  Trish was bundled up for most of the sail home looking like a fashionable pink Eskimo dressed for California weather.  Wish I would have taken a picture.

We all enjoyed great lunches sharing chips, snacks and even some wonderful fancy chocolate caramels topped with sea salt which were great.

Sarah did a great job matching up our couple friends - they both got along so well and seemed to enjoy each other and sailing.  We're looking forward to having them out again real soon.

Finished off the day with what I hope is a Andiamo tradition - a crew picture!