Pirate Hunting with Mikey

Sailing twice in two days! Mikey and I took the boat out to Jordan Lake again today. The conditions were a bit better than yesterday. This means that we had 3-4 knot winds for about two hours. We were able to travel under sail for about an hour and a half until everything became completely calm. Even though we didn't keep our sails full for very long we were still able to travel further on the lake than I had ever gone.
Mikey thought he saw a large Pirate ship in the distance so we went to investigate. Luckily (for them) it was a false alarm. Mikey was itching to fire our cannon. Turned out to be a large party barge (think MTV spring break). Another would be pirate ship turned out to be a loon. After the winds died down we decided to explore the lake using the iron jib. We motored out around an island and into a few coves. I scoped some nice places for Courtney and I to anchor and spend the night.


Courtney called me while we were on the lake and said that she and her friend, Katie, were on the dock waiting for us. We picked them up and went for a short ride before it got dark. The boat wasn't crowded at all with four of us in the cockpit, I was pleasantly surprised. Katie took the helm and piloted us for a while before we let the autohelm take us into the dock (well, almost all the way in). Breaking the boat down with four people is great! Everything went much quicker with four sets of hands. All in all, a great two days on the lake. Courtney and I might get to take her out once before we head to Morehead City for Cassidy's first salt water trials.

Yachting with John

Today John and I went to Jordan Lake. I was expecting the wind to be fairly calm, but hoped for at least a constant 5mph. It was a beautiful day, about 57 degrees and partly cloudy. There were lots of fisherman out taking advantage of the weather.


John and I stepped the mast and rigged her up in record time. She was floating in no time. Of course, as soon as we were ready to motor out, about five fishing boats lined up right behind us. No problem, just made it a bit tighter there. I think the fishing boats expect my boat to be as nimble as theirs... it is not. Anyway, we launched without managing to ram or tick off the other boaters and we were off. Motored out a bit and raised the sails. We got in the slot and were cruising at a good clip in 5-6 mph wind for about thirty or forty minutes. Then the wind completely died and the lake surface turned to glass. We decided to make the best of the situation by dropping the sails and motoring about for a while.

I thought it might be a good time to try out the autohelm. It worked like a charm! I don't know what I expected but this thing is a dream! We pointed her at the dock from about half a mile out and both stood on the bow as she cruised for about twenty minutes. The picture shows what a simple setup it is. The mainsheet system is also visible in this shot, it really makes for an open, uncluttered cockpit.


Wish we had better wind, but it was fun anyway. My friend Mikey is in town so we are going to go again tomorrow. Hopefully we will have more favorable conditions. Also, Courtney and I are taking the boat to saltwater on Dec. 8th. We intend to cruise the Outer Banks near Hatteras Lighthouse for a day, but more on that later. This will likely be Cassidy's last sail for the winter. I am busy planning my winter boat projects and am anxious to start.

First Sail on the New Boat!

The couple who sold us the boat were nice enough to take us out on a 'training run' today. Courtney and I met them at Ebenezer Point at Jordan Lake near Wilsonville NC. It was an absolutely beautiful day for a sail, a bit chilly but not shivering cold. They walked us through the rigging process in the parking lot and then we dropped her in the drink. She floated, so the first test was passed. The motor cranked right up and we piloted her out into the wind. The wind was mild and a bit inconsistent, but I think this was probably perfect for our first time out. Bob helmed her for a tack or two and then I took control of the tiller. I got the hang of it pretty quick, but like I said, it was pretty easy going out there. We tooled around with a few tacks and a jibe and then brought her in to drop off Bob and Poem. They were great and we really appreciate them taking us out. It must be odd to drive off with your old boat in the background, but they are racing J24's now so they are still active in the sport. I think that racing fast boats appeals more to Bob who is an engineer and is thus very in tune with the physics of the boat. I hope that I understand it as well one day. So then Courtney and I got our first one on one time with the boat. It went a bit better than I expected, and way better than Courtney expected. This boat is very forgiving and comfortable. We got through six to eight tacks and got better every time. It was a bit harder going downwind, especially because the wind kept dying and changing directions. Anyway, we got her back to the dock and up on the trailer without a hitch. It took us a while to derig her, but I think that we will get much faster once we both understand what we need to do. In conclusion, a wonderful day out on the lake! My face hurts from grinning so much, and Courtney liked it a lot more than she thought she would. We can't wait to take her out again (maybe tomorrow!).

Scrubbed and Stepped

I have been pretty busy the past week and haven't gotten to spend too much time on the boat. I did spend a couple of hours scrubbing the deck and inside the cabin. She looks great now:

I went over every last inch of the deck with a sponge and several brushes. Not only does the boat look much better, but it allowed me to get acquainted with every little chip, crack or pit in the gelcoat. All in all, very good condition.

Invited John and Brian over to take a peek and step the mast:


The mast went up very easily, I don't think that Courtney and I will have any trouble getting it up by ourselves.

Tried out the running rigging, everything looks pretty good. This O'Day has the A-Frame style mainsheet system. Many 22's have a triangular plate on the backstay to which the mainsheet system is attached. This is good for a few reasons and bad for many others. I think I will be pretty happy with the current setup, but I may investigate the options for a traveler. Also considering running the halyards aft, should make singlehanding easier.

The sails look terrific, there are some on my flickr. Have a main and a 150 jenny. A normal jib would be nice to have at some point.

Anyway, don't have much time for a proper update. We are going sailing on Saturday with the boats last owners. I can't wait to helm her for the first time!