Alex MacCaull

Nice low and steady wind. Got the Genoa out for a few minutes, but it was tricky to manage everything and I rolled it back up. Need to figure out why my loaded line keeps wrapping itself on the big winch just when I want to furl up - I’ve only got two turns around, which shouldn’t be too many, but maybe I’ll drop to 1.

Saw a coast guard hovercraft There was a distress call made by two people adrift on a dinghy passing under the bridge, coast guard (not the hovercraft) picked them up and brought them in to the club launch.

Light winds, but played it safe and went with 1 reef + motor idling for safety on the first time out. No surprises. Next time will be a bit bolder

A few things I noticed about my set up while I was working. 1) I used to get annoyed at how easily the sail slugs came out of the mast track, but they’re supposed to be easy to put in and out. Track stops are what you need to decide which slugs you want in, and which you don’t. The right choice makes a big difference when tensioning the sail after setting a reef. Leave too many slugs in, the angle of tension from the halyard will be wrong, and the foot of the sail will tension against one of the slugs instead of at the ring/horn connection like it should. This will cause the slugs to pop out under sail, or break. 2) it’s actually nice to have two track stops, so you can keep unused sail slugs in the mast, but below the working area.

Checked topping lift runs freely through high and low positions. Verified engine belt adjustor is not moving now that washers have been installed in the bolts. Performed anchor recovery drill using winches from cockpit (useful for single handing). Verified the cockpit traveller moves and holds properly - I never use this, I just leave it locked in the center position because it’s a very short 2 foot traveller mounted on the steering binnacle, but I probably should be using it to get the most out of the main sail. Hardware looks good, including the two new traveller end caps I installed last season. Set reef 2 (red). Got spooked by what looked like white moths on my sails, but they are just harmless caddisflies from the water

Took us a few attempts to catch the wind but when we did, it was enough to get up and around the cardinal north buoy.

Water level very low. Rudder had some mud on it but was able to get out OK. Coming back in to the key went nose in first in order to keep the rudder and keel in deeper water.

Two times clockwise around the bifurcation buoy, cardinal north buoy, and channel marker.