IXOYE girl

Unwanted reader

2010-02-02T09:28:00.000-05:00

Due to an unwanted reader I will be deleting this blog.

Captain's log: Voyage 10

2007-10-21T20:27:00.000-04:00

Finally, a little bit of wind and a coinciding day off to sail. Armed with a new boom vang we were off to the wild waters of Melton Lake. (Okay, not wo wild waters!)

Twas windless the first 1.5 hours, then across the water my crew aptly noticed the wind. He said it was probably 10 mph. I doubt it based upon my last outing when all hands went over. May have been 10 but it felt like a lot less. Maybe that's because I wasn't alone.

Either way, had a good hour of sailing once the wind rose.

No capsize.

No losses.

Didn't even get our feet wet. We were able to launch the boat, sail and then re-trailer her without ever putting ourselves in the water. Not that it was cold today. Temp was in the 80's according to my live-in weather man.

All in all it was a good sail.

And here's a photo of me at the helm, eating Cheezits.

Captain's log Voyage 9: Humberto's revenge

2007-09-15T20:35:00.000-04:00

So Humberto comes to town. He left great wind for the sailing class I've been taking all week. (I'll post on that later.) Probably about 10-12 knots of wind today. After my class I whipped home, loaded up my boat and went to the water.

I took my time setting up and made sure I covered every detail. Got it on the water in pretty strong winds. Because the lake is really a river, there are bends and curves and hills all around. These hills cause the winds to be multi-directional. I didn't notice it as much in sailing class because the boat was bigger. But in my boat it was really noticeable.

I'd get a puff then a gust then it would slow down. Over and over and over. I'd been on the water for nearly an hour. Looked at my watch and decided to get off the water in another 5 minutes. That was 5 minutes too late!

That gusty wind was too much and over I went! Dang it!!! And right by an old tree laying on its side sticking out of the water.

I had my PFD on! Whew. I had stored stuff in the waterproof bag. Whew! My phone was in the pocket of my windbreaker which was stowed in the forward hatch. Whew!

That tree ended up being my salvation. It held the boat in place against the wind. I got the waterproof bag as it was floating away and tied it to the boat. Then I found my trusty cushion and put it on the masthead to keep it from going under. Then I got the ugly orange PFD and put it under the masthead as well.

Meanwhile, I'm kinda panicking on the inside!

Swam up to the centerboard and tried to heave myself up onto it. I have GOT to get some upper body strength. These skinny arms wouldn't pull me up no matter how much I tried. I then threw my legs around it and tried hanging from it. No luck.

Okay, maybe I'll try to climb aboard. I swim to the other side and climb up the inside of the boat, sling my legs over the starboard side and hoist myself up, shimmy up to the centerboard and walk out on it.

It works! The mast starts to raise up and the boat rights herself! I try to grab something in the middle to keep myself in the boat, but wasn't able to make it.

Now I've got to get myself into the boat. Tied a knot in a line and was able to get up in the boat!
Only thing that didn't get thrown into the boat was an oar. I determine that I am NOT leaving the water without it. The wind is still gusty and I'm being backed into a cove where the oar is floating, but my determination continues.

Sometimes determination is foolish. I decide to give up on that stupid oar and sail toward the dock. There's someone there about to put his little "Sea Witch" in the water. I call to him... "Don't do it!"

He doesn't heed my advice.

He's a sailor. Just like me.

Oh, and my cell phone got wet AGAIN! That hatch isn't waterproof. Nor is the waterproof bag.

Captain's log: Voyage 8

2007-09-07T22:18:00.000-04:00

My buzzing little sailing partner

Finally got a day off to coincide with a bit of wind! No one was available to go on a last minute sail, so I hit the water alone. Quick and uneventful launch. There was even another sailboat on the water. Not sure what it was, but it had a witch in a pointed hat on the sail. Two guys were sailing her, staying in the immediate vicinity of the launch.

They soon capsized, but from my spot I could see that they weren't in any trouble and were able to right the boat within a few minutes. As I sailed nearer I could see that they were trying to bail their boat with paddles. I hollared across the water, but they didn't need any help. Not sure how much I could have done, anyway.

I continued on my merry way up river along my usual course. Had some good wind off and on. It was during this leg of my cruise that I realized I did have a sailing partner. A buzzing little yellow jacket. Unfortunately, I noticed my companion just as he was stinging my leg.

He's no longer with us.

I have a bee sting.

Not much I could do about the sting while on the water, so I just sailed on.

Dang it all if the wind didn't die before I was ready to get off of the water. Oh, and it is early September. The sun is setting earlier. Those two ingredients made for a beautiful sunset on the water, but left me "up a creek without a paddle."

Actually, I did have two paddles. So, I stuck one in the water, managed my tiller with my knee and started rowing toward sunset. It really was gorgeous. I was wishing that I had a waterproof camera. Instead I started singing. I pulled the paddle in and just enjoyed the sunset for a few minutes.

As I sat out there singing my little heart out I heard a boat approaching from behind me. Whoohooo... three guys agreed to tow me to the launch.

Not a bad day sailing.

Captain's Log: Voyage 7

2007-08-21T21:50:00.000-04:00

Finally...

It's been over a month since there's been enough wind to sail. We've had some wind the past two days but I worked. Today there was still a breeze with threatening of thundershowers. I took a chance and went out anyway.

Tooling along pretty well, feeling comfortable at the helm, in a nice starboard tack and suddenly there was a pop. Or a snap. I could tell that some sort of line broke. Took me a few seconds to see what it was. The jib was flapping just a bit in the breeze. My forestay had snapped out of it's shackle.

I abandoned my nice tack, moved forward and put it back together. Thoughts: Guess I didn't get the pin pushed all the way through to where the little thingys that expand could expand and keep the pin in place.

Next thought: Dang... I'm lucky I was going downwind. Had I been sailing upwind my mast would have crashed down on me. No wonder the jib didn't look all that strange!

Recovered my tack and continued up-river, downwind and nearing the bend in the river that seems to mess me up. Not more than 10 minutes later it snapped again! I wasted no time moving fore and grabbing the forestay. I coasted right to the shore, if you could call it that, snagged the mainsail in trees and came to a stop.

Oh... I was thrilled that I had taken a precautionary measure. I put my little rigging kit in the foreward hatch. In there were more pins and ring-dings. (I'm sure they have a more official name but it escapes me at the moment.)

With the forestay in my right hand, the hatch propped open with my left leg, I managed to lean below deck and grab my watertight bag and get out the rigging kit. Got what I needed, put the kit back in the bag and the bag in the hatch.

Time to repair. Dang! The pin was too large. Repeat previous paragraph.

Got the right size pin made the change and presto-changeo I was set again. With my new (to me) paddle I was able to get ungrounded and back to sailing.

Boring sail after that. The wind died. I turned around after another hour of trying to tack back and forth. There is one thing I like about the wind dying. I really like putting my boat back on the trailer when there is no wind, especially when I'm alone.

Have a few things I need to work on get for the boat:
1. Still need to replace the rub rail
2. Gotta find a comfortable seat or two. Need one for each side of the helm. My back hurts when I sail this boat, and is worse when there is little or no wind.
3. Bungee cord for the centerboard.
4. New painter
5. Winch line.
6. Fix the tiller extension. One of the screws that holds it to the tiller has stripped out. The condition of the tiller is pretty bad. The extension holding bracket is bent and rusty and I keep scratching my legs on it. My tetanus is up to date, but I really just need a whole new tiller
7. There's a screw missing on the top of the tiller that holds it in the bracket. Isn't essential but would take some play out of the tiller
8. Still need a ladder of some sort
9. Sails are dirty and need to be washed
10. A new cupholder with those suction things would be very helpful.

Captain's Log: Voyage 6

2007-07-21T21:40:00.000-04:00

I'm NOT a squad dog.

Now that we have that settled....

Sailed today on the Clinch River, putting in at a new spot for us. Put in at Melton Lake Park. We were THEE only sailboat out there. Not sure there's ever been a sailboat out there since the beginning of time.

Decided to sail up river for a bit.

As we were lazily tacking across the river, we heard a crash on the shore. Dave knew there was a wreck of some sort, figured it was a car off the road. We were very near the shore so I sailed, ambled up the shoreline and ran across the road.

An elderly couple went off the side of the road (thank God not into the river) into the ditch and up the other side a bit into a tree.

When I got there the engine was still running with a gentleman in the passenger seat saying he couldn't feel his legs and his arms were tingling. I identified myself and my credentials and stated that someone needed to be holding C-spine.

The woman observer said we didn't need to do anything, that EMS would be here soon.

Well, here's a man in pain, head slumping to the left and they're not doing anything. OH... and she put her hand up (as in talk to the hand) and stated, "Well, I'm a nurse and he's a doctor. And we just need to wait until EMS gets here."

Ohhh... the things I wish I'd said...
... "So why aren't either of you holding c-spine"
... "and obviously neither of you are trained in emergency medicine or you'd be holding his neck in light of his chief complaint!"
... "umm... i AM EMS!"
... "where'd you get your PhD?"

Anyway... I started holding his head midline and instructed the security officer that was also on scene to get into the back seat and hold the man's head. He stepped into the back seat and did just that.

The dear doctor and nurse wandered away... Medic 15 arrived on scene... I gave report to my colleagues and it progressed just as it should... they continued to hold C-spine until the gentleman was in a collar and boarded and both of the victims were taken to the appropriate hospital.

I'm kinda proud of myself.

I didn't let the attitude of two people cause me to back off from doing what I knew was right.

Sure, they left and probably said ugly things about the girl that came out of the water soaking wet looking like a dog and bossing people around.

I'd do it again!

Then I scrambled down the bank back to the boat where DJ was standing holding her. I was only gone about 15 minutes, and was able to walk away when they had everything under control.

See... I'm not a squad dog. And if you don't know what that is, well, maybe you'd have been on the Doctor's side!

Oh, and we had GREAT wind. Probably 10 knots or more. Good gusts.

Did see that I've got to replace the rubrail on the starboard side of the boat. As we got gusts and I was hiking over the side I could see the deck separating from the hull from the pressure of the wind in the sails. Made the repair we did with foam and caulk along that side split. I didn't realize the rub rail would actually hold the boat together.

Voyage 5: Some wind, no rain,

2007-07-09T21:39:00.000-04:00

great sunshine and a perfect day for casual sailing.

Where: Norris Lake

Launch point: Hickory Star Marina

Winds: 3-5 knots

Captain: Me

Crew: Dave

An uneventful trip. Like the wide ramp. Had to scull to get away from the marina. Didn't like that so much. Lots of boat waves. Didn't like that so much either.

Water was perfect temp, so we went to the shoreline a couple of times to get out and swim around to cool off.

I did well and Dave even took the helm for a bit. His comment was, "It's a lot more work back here." But I did get to boss him around and tell him how to do it. Ohhh... that was fun! (grin)

A totally relaxing Sunday on the water.

Voyage 4: Sailing with the Painter

2007-06-27T22:00:00.000-04:00

If you know some boat lingo, you may think I mean the line on the front of the boat.

But, no... I don't mean that painter. I mean Bridgette, the girl that's been painting for our house remodel. She was free and I was up for sailing, so out we went.

Had pretty good wind earlier on. Some to 5 knots. Sailed on Melton Lake. Went north-ish around the point of Haw Ridge. Passed the site of my previous capsize.

Sailing back caught some wilder winds around the point. Kept getting caught near the shore and it felt like the centerboard repair came loose. Trying to get loose when we ran aground I'd be going backwards or in a circle. Not sure what that was about... need to learn a bit more about that.

I'm getting pretty good at sailing close hauled, but need more practice on other points of sail.

Winds died around sunset so we skulled the boat in.

It was a great sail overall.

Voyage 3, Captain's Log: Fair Winds

2007-06-22T22:00:00.000-04:00

Really not 'fair,' more like 'none!' But I did try to sail today. It was a bit breezy in the afternoon so I thought there might be a chance to sail.

After the last outing on Easy we I had a tangle of lines, shrouds and stays. Eventually I, along with my neighbor, was able to get that done and hoist the sails.

We spent the next two hours skulling on Melton Lake. Every once in awhile we'd feel a "slight cooling effect," as she aptly named them. Other than that, no wind in our sails.

Off the water and home by 2100.

In light of my previous voyage, I'd call this one a flying success!

And my neighbor has agreed to go back on the water with me again. One slightly satisfied customer.

Successful Sail

2007-06-12T22:17:00.000-04:00

Sailed this afternoon with the instructor of my Adult Sail Class and another class member. Winds were 5-10 knots. We were on his J24 (see photo at left for an example.)

After my prior trips on Easy I was a bit apprehensive to take the helm. But with some good instruction and better winds I learned a few more things and will hopefully be able to avoid capsizing anytime soon.

Received my Red Book from the class, as well!

Voyage 2, Captain's log

2007-06-05T22:23:00.000-04:00

And so I took another sail. A pretty Tuesday in June and there's wind in the tree tops. I decide to take Easy for a sail all by myself. (That was my first mistake!)

Getting her to the launch was a piece of cake. Of course, who couldn't pull a 350 lb boat for 3 miles behind an Expedition! In the parking lot I tell myself to take my time and I'll get her rigged. I recall reading on the Capri 14 Forum that someone was able to step the mast on his own by using the winch on the trailer to steady the mast. I did get it up, but it took some working to get the forestay to clip to the bow. Picture the painter pulled around the mast, my right leg stuck through a bowline loop in that painter, me twisting backward trying to hold the mast up while concurrently fumbling to buckle the forestay. But... it did eventually happen!

Now to get the sails up!

Did I mention that it was windy? Well, it was. And getting the sails up was a mess. So I dropped them and started to move the boat to the water. I'm still not great at backing up a trailer. Took several tries but I just took my time and got her lined up by the dock. Got the boat off of the trailer and the trailer out of the water. Got my body back onto the boat.

After some struggle I get the sails hoisted. Now somehow I've got to get the boat turned and able to sail away from the dock. Oh. It is still windy. The guy sitting nearby in his bass boat completely avoided making eye contact with me. I can just imagine what was going through his mind as I struggled to turn my little boat into the wind around the corner of the dock.

That task took about 10 minutes, but finally pulled away from the dock. As I sailed up river, up wind, it felt GREAT! Much more wind than our maiden voyage. Wow... much, much more wind. Oh, wait.... too much wind.

"Oh, Lord, please don't let me tip, please don't let me tip, please don't let me tip" was my mantra for the day. I believe I said it more than three thousand times! That is NOT an exaggeration.

Lost control of the main sail at one point. Watched in awe as the main sheet started trailing the boat in the water. "What," you say, "how did that happen?" Lesson learned: always tie a stopper knot.

Got the sheet in and rigged. Oh, but I was in a hurry and put it through the blocks in the wrong order. Took me about thirty minutes of unsmooth sailing to figure out why I was tangled in the sheet everytime I tacked.

Felt a bit better about sailing. Then I'd get a gust of wind and lose control. Oh, dang! What was the safety position again? (Do I sound like a rookie?)

"Please don't let me tip!"

Dave called me around 1815 and was going across the bridge toward home. As I was holding the sheets in one hand, the tiller in the other and my cell phone on my shoulder I told him that he probably ought to come sail back with me. (Yes, I was still heading up wind and away from the dock.)

He met me on a bank, I sailed in close and he came aboard.

WHOO HOOO!!! I've got help and can make it home!

In my dreams!

We are sailing sort of downwind now, chatting, I'm sharing the latest news about our children. And another puff comes along. Maybe not a puff. Maybe a gust. Maybe a localized hurricane! WhatEVER it was it tipped us over! Out we go. Dave doesn't have on his PFD. No problem. The forward hatch opens up and delivers it to him. It also delivers my car keys, the Expedition keys, my lime green wallet, cell phone, solar radio and every other item we have on board. They all now reside at the bottom of the lake.

But hey, no problem. I'm thinking, "I've done this in sailing class. I read about it on the C14 forum. I know to support the mast to keep the boat from turtling." I send Dave to the mast head and I swim around to climb up on the centerboard.

The mast starts sinking. The boat isn't righting with my weight on it. Dave and I trade spots. The mast starts raising some, but we can't get her righted. We try everything for over an hour. A man on shore asks if we need help. We say, "No," the first time he asks.

Thirty minutes (maybe) later he asks again. This time we say "yes" and he calls TWRA for us.

We keep trying to right the boat but are still unsuccessful.

I start noticing that the boat seems to be sinking sideways. Not good. Especially since Dave has been standing on the centerboard most of this time. We see a pontoon boat coming our way. I use the mini oar to flag them down.

Our new best friends start trying to retrieve some of the floating trash we've left behind. The boat continues to sink. I let our new friends know that I no longer care about the lunch box or the radio, but please come help us with the boat.

Oh, gosh, this took forever. We dragged her to shore and tried to bail out the water. It just keeps rushing in around the centerboard. We try to set up the stern on a log so we can get the water to stay out. Doesn't work. She's leaning to starboard no matter what we try.

We're about 2 hours plus into the fiasco, 2 hours plus in the cold water and decide that our best bet is to have the friends drag Easy back to the dock. After securing a pretty, orange life vest around the mast we climb aboard their boat and hope for the best. For the first five to ten minutes she just drags, sails and all, in the water.

Then, hope against hope, the mast pops up! YESSSSS! The captain increases the speed and we all motor down stream at about 5 knots. Up to the shore we go. I stand in the water with the boat while Dave gets a ride home from a neighbor who has come to rescue us so he can retrieve a key to the Expedition.

We get her onto the trailer with MUCH fanfare and try to pull her out of the water. "What is that NOISE?" Dave wants to know. Umm... it's the tires. There's too much water in the boat and it is weighing down the frame of the trailer. The fenders are sitting ON the tires. Pull the boat off, try to recenter, and try again.

I holler, "Just pull her out!" and we do. About 50 feet. The fenders are still sitting on the tires. And then lightning strikes! Well, not literal lightning. I pull the stern plug.... Whooooooosh! Out starts pouring the lake water.

<-----See that photo? See how there's a break between the hull and the deck? See how water might seep into there? Remember that I said the boat was in the water on her starboard side?

Uh, huh! You've got it! She took on gallons of water during our little sideways time! Oh, and there's another section of compromised hull just to the right of this one.

Now we know why she wouldn't right or float. Grrrrrrr!

After draining for about 30 minutes there's a bit of space between the tires and the fenders. We decide we can actually drive home safely... and we do.

First order of business... a warm, no, make that a HOT shower!

Easy sits in the driveway overnight and just drains her little hull out! We'll assess the damage another day. Tonight I just want to sleep somewhere that isn't rocking and isn't wet and isn't cold.

Captain's log, star date May 28th, 2007

2007-05-28T22:53:00.000-04:00

Ok, I have NO idea what a star date is, but I did watch a lot of Star Trek in my former years.

But this isn't about Star Trek, it's about Sailing!!!

I bought my first sailboat... on eBay. (Another of my addictions!) She's a pretty little Capri 14.2 Omega. Dark blue hull, white deck. Already named "Easy come, Easy go." Picked her up yesterday in Northeast Georgia. Today, Memorial Day, we went on our maiden voyage.

The winds were, barely there. We were really hot most of the time. We got a few puffs of wind every once in awhile. Ran aground several times in the very shallow water.

As we were sailing back to the dock I decided I was just too hot and needed a dip. After donning my PFD I jumped overboard and cooled off. It felt delicious! Made my crew, my husband, the non-sailor, man the helm (aka the tiller and sheets!) After swimming to my heart's content I determined that it was time to climb aboard.

As the saying goes, easier said than done! My lack of upper body strength combined with the bulk of my PFD kept me from hoisting myself up over the side. Ditto for the transom. The waves from the nearby SeaDoos didn't help matters!

In a moment of foresight I had tied a painter to the bow... and decided that I could use it to hoist myself aboard. Great in planning, not so much in execution. I was very grateful for the bowline (knot) I'd just learned in my sailing class. After tying it too high, then too low, I got it just right!

I put my foot in the loop and worked on swinging my body onto the bow. The physics of it didn't work. I kept losing my center of gravity and flopping back into the water. I'd see my husband sitting at the helm everytime I'd be able to pop my head up... only to fall back into the water.

Attempting to move the line to another location on the boat resulted in the same problem. And my husband continues to hold the tiller in one hand, the sheets in the other and encourage me to get back on board as soon as possible! (I think he was scared. He even suggested that I put the painter in my teeth and swim the boat to the dock! Isn't he smart!)(It might have worked!)

After thirty-five minutes in the water, twenty-five of them spent trying to get out I tried the graceful method. I got on the port side, swung my right leg up and held on with my right arm. My husband then grabbed my arm and pulled as hard as he could.

Maybe it was the waves (still from the SeaDoos). Maybe it was his terror. But finally my body gave in and slid aboard! WHOOOO HOOOOO!!!

From there we uneventfully sailed the last 100 yards to the dock.

Oh, but that is NOT the end!

While pulling Easy onto her trailer I noticed that she was not resting on the trailer. No. That would be too easy. Looked underneath and saw that the weight of the boat was resting on the centerboard. No, we hadn't neglected to put it up. It had split in two. Remember that 'running aground a couple of times' part? Well, that did it.

So, we backed the trailer back into the water, floated her off, and with some pulling and some kicking I was able to dislodge the broken centerboard and get Easy back on the trailer.

Out of the water.

Derig the boat.

Drive home.

Call Mom to tell her of our adventure.

Oops... Dave had put my cell phone in my PFD to keep it safe!!!!!

And that's the first day!