My daughter Erika and I took the Sea Pearl 21 to Lake Apopka for a shakedown cruise on Saturday. I choose that location because it was the closest big body of water to my home. We launched out of Magnolia Park. We were the only ones at around 10:30 in the morning. Its a nice park and boat ramp so I have to think that the fisherman are still avoiding it due to the past pollution problems.
The wind was around 3 - 5 MPH. Very light and only a slight ripple on the water. Perfect for a first cruise. There are some old trees that overhang the ramp so I couldn't rig the boat on the trailer. Instead I put the boat in the water and rigged it while it was tied to the dock. This was my first time stepping onto the boat. Its tippy and if you know me and my other boating experience then you will also know its a compliment. Still everything went together in about 15 minutes.
I attempted to row the boat away from the dock only to learn that the oars overlapped by about 18 inches. I was very happy to figure this out on a nice easy first sail. I rowed us out about 100 yards because the wind was blowing on shore. Then I dropped the centerboard, rudder and set the main sail. We were off and sailing. Sort of a big deal for me because this is the first time I have been sailing a boat of my own. Erika and I tacked around and went about a mile or two from the ramp. With the light winds it was an uneventful trip except for some fish near the surface getting spooked and a small gator going under the boat and hitting the rudder.
Our sailing was limited to about 1 1/2 hours as hunger set in. We put the wind at our backs and sailed into the ramp wing on wing. On our way back we ran into another small sailboat out for a test cruise. His little sunfish style boat was faster than us in very light winds. It was interesting to see the Sea Pearl 21 next to a small day sailer. It made the Sea Pearl feel very sea worthy.
Loading the boat on the trailer and putting all the gear away took a little longer. Not bad. Maybe 20 minutes.
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