Yesterday we got the kids their own little boat, which also serves as a sailing dinghy for our boat. The boat is a 1988 Precision 14. Now technically this would make the boat T/T Windsong but I'm sure the kids will give it another name. In our boats name the S/V stands for Sailing Vessel and for a dinghy the T/T stands for Tender To. Just a little bit of useless knowledge, but if you ever see it now you'll know what it means ;-)
We bought the boat from Hamilton Creek and then decided it's first sail would be back to our marina. Well the conditions were not ideal, with unfavorable winds and impending bad weather, however Colby and I set out to get it there one way or another.
The trip started off quite comical as we tried to sail out of a little cove against the wind and with not much room. The little boat just kept slipping back further into the cove. This is when I realized it would help out if I put in the daggerboard. (I"ve never owned a boat with a dagger or centerboard) Once we figured that out progress was made, well progress like a slug makes progress across the sidewalk.
We waved goodbye to Jessica and Peyton as they both had a few good laughs on shore and that's when the famous last words were uttered "We'll see you in about an 1 1/2 hours" If only we would have known all the "fun" we had in store for us.
During the course of our upwind adventure we delt with frequently shifting winds, no wind, high long lasting gusts and damn power boaters in Donzi's that seemed as though they were almost trying to see how big they could make the waves for the husky guy and kid in the little dinghy sailboat.
About 2 hours (yep already past schedule) and halfway neither of us was paying attention when we felt the centerboard pop up, rudder kick up and the boat grind to a halt... Yep we had forgotten and not been paying attention to one of the shoals that extends from shore. We hopped out to assess the damage and pull the boat up onto the beach. Lucky for us it was mostly fine gravel and sand so no harm no foul. Well except for the broken pin that sheered off the rudder! At which time Colby announced "Hey dad would this be a good time to go pee in the woods since we're gonna be here a while?"
Broken rudder = No steering lol
After taking a trip into the woods myself *whistle* and then some creative thinking I removed the bow line and used it to make a Macgyver like attempt to fix the problem. Within minutes we were back on the water sailing with nothing really damaged but our pride. Oh yeah and the rudder.
The rest of the trip went well except for the 3 o'clock blow that created some pretty high winds, and far more than the dinghy was meant to handle. A little skillful (yep I'm tooting my own horn) sailing and we finally made it to our marina. Tired, frustrated and just plain DONE..
It turned out to be a fun little adventure I'm sure neither Colby or I will ever forget and I"m sure he is going to learn a lot from this boat that will help him on our bigger boat and down the road.
Some Photos Of The Day
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