First sail on my junk Mikesboat LLAMA

Sailing LLAMA—a junk-rigged Mikesboat—to Capers Island with five friends aboard was the kind of outing that tells you immediately what a boat is made of. I’d always been curious about Mikesboat on paper, but loading her up with a small crowd and pointing her toward open water was my first real test of what the design could handle. She sat down a bit with all that weight, but in a good way, taking on a steadiness you don’t get when she’s empty. From the first reach out of the creek, it was clear this hull actually likes being loaded.

With six bodies aboard, the junk rig required some thoughtful trimming, but once dialed in, LLAMA moved better than I expected. She’s never going to point like a modern sloop, and tacking with that many people takes coordination, but as long as we built momentum and picked our moments, she behaved. When she hesitated in irons, the mizzen trick and a little patience got us through without much drama. There’s something charming about a boat that rewards technique rather than brute force.

The trip out toward Capers was calm, social, and almost comically spacious for such a simple plywood design. Everyone found a seat, nobody felt cramped, and LLAMA just kept humming along. The chop in Bulls Bay kicked up a bit, but she shouldered it without complaint. The vibe on board was easy: a mix of sightseeing, passing around snacks, and watching that long, flat hull slide across the water with surprising confidence.

By the time we beached on Capers, it felt like LLAMA had earned a spot in the “boats worth keeping” category. This wasn’t a stress test or a heroic passage—just a friendly, real-world outing with enough variables to show what she can and can’t do. And for a boat I bought half out of curiosity and half out of instinct, she proved something important: she’s capable, she’s social, and she can carry a small crowd to a barrier island without turning the day into work. More outings will reveal more quirks, but this one made me trust her.