So close.........

DUE TO ISSUES WITH PHOTOBUCKET ALL OF MY CONTENT, PICS OTHER BLOG POSTS HAVE BEEN MOVED TO journalofmicrotom.blogspot.com. PLEASE GO TO MY OTHER SITE TO SEE ALL PICS.

I almost couldn't bring myself to post an update from this past Wednesday but the club sent this out and it summarizes the night for me very well.


On Fri, Aug 20, 2010 at 9:24 AM, Lake Monroe Sailing Assocation wrote:

Another dry and windy evening on Lake Monroe on Wednesday.

Seven boats participated this week under good and challenging wind conditions. At the 6 p.m. starting time the winds were WSW at 7k as predicted.

It looked like a reach, reach simple Rum Race. By 6:15 we had east winds at 7k for a dead run to the first mark. At 6:30 we had a west wind at 12k. This was fine for the early starters who had rounded the mark before the 180 degree shift. Tom Dyll in his Sea Pearl 21 was first around the mark and in good form. For those who hadn't reached the mark the challenges began. Many tacks into a wind line gusting to 15k. By 7:30 it had returned to an easy WSW as it was when we started. Of the seven boats that started 4 turned in times due to various equipment and wind related issues. The Sea Pearl may have sailed to her first Rum reward but lost the time when Tom's I- Phone got waterlogged in the squall line.

Results;

Show Me Andy F. 38:09 39:31 net
Fisky Business Steve Heyden 33:27 41:18 net
Hobie 16 Byron/ DJ 34:50 46:49 net
Free Spirit Don H. 52:36 58:57 net
Sea Pearl Tom D. DNF Timer trouble
Miss P Mike P. DNF Wind Trouble
Dutchman Jeff H. DNS Furler trouble

Motor Sailing

DUE TO ISSUES WITH PHOTOBUCKET ALL OF MY CONTENT, PICS OTHER BLOG POSTS HAVE BEEN MOVED TO journalofmicrotom.blogspot.com. PLEASE GO TO MY OTHER SITE TO SEE ALL PICS.

One last hurrah for the summer before the kids go back to school on Monday. My wife wanted to do something as a family and the Sea Pearl 21 is our family boat. I looked at the weather for Titusville. Things were not that promising. I really didn't want to go to the Indian River or Mosquito Lagoon on a wind that was starting out of the NW and turning NE. I couldn't think of a boat ramp and sailing destination that would work with those winds.

Instead I took a look at the west coast. Tarpons Springs and Anclote Key looked promising. The weather service aka liars club was saying WNW 6 - 8 all day. That sounded pretty good. Its a 3 1/2 hour drive to Anclote Park boat ramp but it was an area that my wife liked so what the heck.

We left at 7:00 AM and on the way I started seeing several flags just lying there. No wind. I didn't worry about it too much because we were still inland and it was still early. I figured that a light sea breeze would eventually kick in.

Nope. We ended up motor sailing all the way out to Anclote Key. We had a great time out there. Tommy Jr enjoyed snorkeling which is going to lead to a Sea Pearl Keys trip one day soon. When it was time to leave we actually had wind for about 15 minutes which allowed us to sail from the middle of the island over to the southern tip. When it was time to turn around and head for the ramp it immediately dropped to 2 - 3 MPH. We were making no progress so I fired up the little 2 HP Honda again. At least the little motor did its job flawlessly. I would estimate that I used around 1/4 of a gallon to get out and back. Sure beats rowing. Especially in the inlet with the weekend big boat clowns running you over every 2 minutes.

Overall this was a great trip for the Sea Pearl 21. Sailing up to Anclote Key there was a big sand bar with about 2 feet of water. The center board kicked up a little indicating that we were shallow. It took a second to pull up the centerboard and sail into the beach. The first pic is in 6 " of water. The whole family could jump in and out of the boat with no problems. When returning to the ramp the tide was ripping from low to high. There was a good 3 - 4 knot current ripping past the ramp while several boats were trying to pull in at once. I let a couple of the big motor boats crash into the dock then motored into the current and eased into a spot with no trouble at all. Another nice feature of the Sea Pearl 21. Very stable and predictable while motoring. The shallow draft can make for a lively ride but when docking you are not overly affected by the current.

I have named my boat Endurance

DUE TO ISSUES WITH PHOTOBUCKET ALL OF MY CONTENT, PICS OTHER BLOG POSTS HAVE BEEN MOVED TO journalofmicrotom.blogspot.com. PLEASE GO TO MY OTHER SITE TO SEE ALL PICS.

I also ordered the graphics.



I did a little checking and I didn't find Endurance being used on a previous Sea Pearl. I like names with multiple references. Reasons for the name:

1. Simplicity in case of emergency communications on a marine radio
2. Clean and Positive
3. Past personal athletics
4. My interest in doing longer distances sailing
5. My adventures relative to the other people in my own life. I frequently do trips beyond what most want to attempt.
6. The boat is 25 years old and I keep getting comments that its in amazing shape. While I know there are some minor issues I have to agree. Sea Pearls are exceptionally well built boats.
7. Shackleton reference where they sailed out of Antartica and some came back on a lifeboat loosely similar to a sea pearl. There were 3 lifeboats on the Endurance. The paragraph below from Wikipedia is about the most famous one.


"Of the three boats, Shackleton selected the heaviest and strongest, the James Caird, The 22.5-foot (6.9 m) long James Caird had been built as a whaleboat in London to Worsley's orders, designed on the "double-ended" principle devised by Norwegian shipbuilder Colin Archer. Shackleton asked the expedition's carpenter, Harry McNish, if he could make the vessel more seaworthy. McNish, with improvised tools and materials, immediately set about adapting the boat, raising its sides and building a makeshift deck of wood and canvas, sealing the work with oil paints, lamp wick, and seal blood. The craft was further strengthened by having the mast of the Dudley Docker lashed inside, along the length of her keel. She was then fitted with a mainmast and a mizzenmast, rigged to carry lugsails and a jib. The weight of the boat was increased by the addition of approximately 1 long ton (1,016 kg) of ballast, to lessen the risk of capsizing in the high seas that Shackleton knew would be encountered."

What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing

DUE TO ISSUES WITH PHOTOBUCKET ALL OF MY CONTENT, PICS OTHER BLOG POSTS HAVE BEEN MOVED TO journalofmicrotom.blogspot.com. PLEASE GO TO MY OTHER SITE TO SEE ALL PICS.

Another night of club racing at LMSA. Everything was trying to stop me from making it on time. Work has been ultra busy. The family was out of town and I had to attend to the pets. The boat wasn't ready. I needed gas for the outboard. Still, I made it to the ramp and quickly set up before dipping it in the water and heading to the start/finish.

I arrived at about 6:30 and was the last boat over the line. No big deal because its a self timed course. The wind was ENE setting up an almost perfect down wind leg. I set my Sea Pearl 21 wing on wing and over took one boat about 1/2 way down the course. I came up next to a second at the mark. That was fun! The Sea Pearl definitely makes time down wind. I had maintained about a 5 - 6 MPH speed down the course and the breeze felt pretty light but that's normal sailing downwind.

As I rounded the mark I was in the 2nd boats bad air. It was a significantly bigger sailboat than mine and I felt like I was standing still. I made the decision to tack and set my own course. I tried to point as high as I could and maintain good speed then tack again when I had separation from the other boat. It was soon apparent that I could not hold the same course as the sloops that were out there. With their jibs and main sails sheeted in tight they were able to point much higher and were on their way back to the mark much more efficiently than I could with my main and mizzen.

The wind steadily picked up to around 12 -14 MPH (Just a guess). My centerboard Sea Pearl 21 has no ballast and I was sailing alone so it quickly became a handful. I was already sailing with the rail in the water. When the gusts came I had to ease out the main or even dump it to avoid going over. As the winds continued to blow easing out the main didn't achieve the desired results. The boat stayed healed over and the main boom would be in the water. So I elected to reef the mizzen two turns. This helped with being over powered but after talking to many of the members of the Sea Pearl Yahoo Group I now realize that I should have reefed the main in order to not further hurt my pointing ability. I didn't know it at the time and it was a frustrating leg back to the start/finish. The boat that I passed downwind easily over took me 1/2 way back.

I didn't buy my Sea Pearl 21 with the intention of racing it against sloops on courses that favor those types of boats but I have a desire to learn how to sail my boat to the best of its ability. The centerboard Sea Pearl 21 Portsmouth Number is 96.6. I sail against Precision 23 (96.0), a Sirius 21 (96.7) and a Mac Gregor 21 (100) among others so I have reasonably accurate handicap system that allows me to gauge my own results against others even though they are in different boats. If I am getting beat badly by a Mac Gregor 21 then I need to work on my sailing skills which is the case right now.

So it was another day on the water where I learned a little more. Some of the suggestions that I received were to quit trying to race a Sea Pearl 21 solo. Get at least one crew and train them to reef the main. Unfortunately, most of my friends and family are as busy as me so consistent crew is pipe dream. I will most likely be sailing alone or with non-sailing guest which a previous sailboat captain like to refer to as TMB or tactical movable ballast. Meaning that there main value is in movable ballast when tacking vs as trained sailors who can work the sails or drive the boat. More than likely I will have to figure out how to reef the main myself. Another suggestion was to reef it prior to crossing the start/finish. That would work for strong winds but would be hard to anticipate when the winds are varying through out the course.

There was more good advice too. Another recommendation was to ad some weight to the boat. Most newer Sea Pearl 21s have water ballast tanks. Mine is an older model and was built before that option existed. I have seen how much room the tanks take up and I have no interest in adding them to my boat. I am considering putting in a couple of sandbags towards the bow. The hope is that the boat will settle down while reaching in stronger winds. The additional weight will keep the boat steady as the waves and chop get bigger. Also it might be time to buy new sails. Mine are in serviceable condition but are not in good enough condition to try and sail the boat to its optimal level. As soon as I have the additional funds I will be buying new sails.

And the title. “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” Its a quote from Aristotle that seems appropriate.