Saturday Adventures

Group, David Lewis here in Tulsa recently adopted my racing micro; here is
his most recent report...

Gregg Carlson

>Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 12:32:19 -0500
>From: David Lewis <dlewis@...>
>
>It was a dark and stormy night...
>
>Ok, well maybe it wasn't night nor exactly stormy but
>it was overcast and not sunny.
>
>I took my Mom and Dad out on the Micro Saturday. Great
>sailing: white caps, high winds, boat handled beautifully.
>Would have put the reacher up but I didn't have it rigged
>right before we launched.
>
>We sailed for an hour and a half, with the wind mostly.
>Sailed down and around "Governor's Island" and went down
>toward Ketchum to check out "Two Tree Island" which had
>no trees at all. Some weeds, but no trees.
>
>Launched at 9:30 in the morning and were heading back
>by 11:00. About 11:15 we heard a noise that made our
>throats dry, "pop!" A sail track fastener had come loose
>from the sail. Not a problem, she was still sailing good
>and we were heading in anyway - though still over a mile
>from port.
>
>A minute or two later we hear, "pop"..."pop pop" "pop".
>The sail was now hanging on the mast by the top and bottom
>ties. Headway into the headway was almost nil - maybe 75
>degrees off.
>
>Okay, time to take down the sail and start up the motor.
>Instead of putting her in irons like any intelligent
>sailor would do, I pointed her downwind with the sail out
>90 degrees. Told my dad to hold her on this course while
>I went up front to the mast and started to take down the
>sail. No sooner had I started loosening it when I noticed
>we were turning into the wind. "That way, that way!" I
>pointed in the direction we were formerly heading. Too
>late. The mainsail came whipping around, braining my dad
>on his head and coming up short against me.
>
>Now, you must understand the wind was still blowing strong
>enough to kick up whitecaps around us. The sail was almost
>straight down the line of the boat and could go no farther
>because I couldn't duck out of the way where I was. So
>the boat begins to tip. A lot. To prevent it going over I
>dived into the drink. Went under a ways and came up slowly
>with my hands above me praying I wouldn't find a sail on the
>water above. I didn't. She had righted herself before
>taking on any water.
>
>Okay, so I'm heading to the front of the boat. My dad is
>sitting there with blood running down the side of his
>face. My mom can't find me and thinks I've drowned. I
>discover the rumors about getting in the Micro are true.
>You can't. I always leave the bow line tied up so I
>pulled that out and made a loop for my foot. On the
>second try I made it (the first one ruined by the fact
>Dad still did not have the boat under control).
>
>Okay, try this again. We point the boat INTO the wind
>this time. (at least I learn from my mistakes!) and I
>take down the sail. Start up the motor and head on
>home putting this learning experience behind us.
>
>Not exactly. The motor refused to start. We tried to
>get it going for maybe 15 minutes all the while the wind
>blowing strong, heading us into a harbor. Before we hit
>a boat dock I climbed up front and hopped on the dock.
>Tied us off and we jury rigged the sail again.
>
>We tacked back and forth trying to get out of the harbor
>making very little headway and losing more than we gained
>each time we tacked. Finally I gave up and decided to
>beach her. I was not 3 feet away from hitting bottom
>when my dad discovers the mizzen had come loose and
>decides to pull it in. Naturally the bow swings around
>and heads us away from the beach, straight for a boat
>dock at high speed.
>
>Just before crashing into a boat I whip the rudder to
>starboard, swinging the nose to port, downwind. So
>instead of crashing into a boat we crash into the dock.
><BIG SHUDDER>. Dock seems okay but the bow is broken
>up a little. Fixable. So we turn around again and
>this time manage to beach her.
>
>For the next half hour I'm in the water hauling her out
>against the wind to the end of the harbor. Beach her
>again and rig up the mainsail better. This time we
>manage to get out of the harbor and are sailing fairly
>well. Still making barely any headway so once again I
>go up to the mast. Paranoid, I cry "that way, that way!"
>every time I imagine the bow turning. I tighten up the
>sail really quite well (even if I do say so myself).
>
>Finally we're making almost normal headway. The only
>worry is that mast shows a definite crack now and flexes
>apart every time the wind picks up. We play it safe,
>turning into the wind every time it gets strong, and at
>3:30 we put into port.
>
>Good part is Mom comments, "That was alot of fun! Couple
>hours there were rough but before and after was great!"
>
>Hah! So we're going to have a sewing party for the sail
>Friday, fix the bow and launch Saturday morning, weather
>permitting. Can I pick up the mast tomorrow about 5?
>No way I dare take out my old mast again.
>
>David