Il faut des jambes! Sunday I had planned to re-install the secondary auto-pilot and test it. But when I got started I realized I had forgotten four bolts. And so instead Todd and I went sailing. It was another light wind day. We set out Richie and went up north towards San Francisco. Around 1:30 PM we turned around, snuffing the spinnaker in the sock, gybing, and re-hoisting on the other tack. We then dropped the spinnaker in favor of the J2 until we rounded the outside green buoy. We were really slow then and re-hoisted the A1.5 for a while. Finally, we decided to turn the engine on to make the last few miles home.
As we were out I also engaged each hydrogenerator to make them work a little. The shaft seal has been known to dry so a bit of action will go a long way in preserving the seal, or so I hope.
Old!
At the beginning of our outing, we furled out the gennaker. I hadn’t used it since the last few days of my return. As I inspected the sail I noticed a tear at the luff, a couple of feet long. So Genny will have to meet with Joe, again, for a repair.
I’m growing really concerned that all my sails are old and tired. As you can see in the above video, Richie is blown out and has had some serious repairs done to it. So is Big, and now Genny. I hope that, in exchange for their old age, they’ll share their ocean and wind wisdom with me! After giving some thoughts about my sailing inventory, I have realized that the one sail I need to prioritize is the J2. I only have one, and it would be very wise to have another one. After the mainsail, the J2 is the next most important sail on the boat.
Not forgotten after all
When we were done, I checked my bag, and what did I find in there? Four bolts! At that point, after putting the boat away, I was not about to re-install the AP, so it’ll be for another day.
