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| Just before casting off, ready for adventure! |
Having bought a new home which is not very convenient to the marina I've been staying at, it was time to find a new home for Ravat. I was also looking to join a yacht club this year as I have completed enough of the big projects to afford me more time to participate in sailing and social activities. These two vectors converged on the Pultneyville Yacht Club, which I am excited to be a new member of. I rented a slip there, and joined this spring, so the only remaining task was to get my boat to her new home.
The trip from Rochester to Pultneyville is approximately 20 nautical miles as the crow flies. I planned a full day since I did not wish to fall back on motoring unless necessary, and I knew that under sail I might be anywhere between 3 and 6 knots. That's a spread of roughly 3 to six hours without taking into account the amount of tacking required. Rarely does the wind follow the crow.
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| Ravat ready to depart Rochester |
As it turned out, the majority of our trip was ideal sailing conditions. A decent breeze kept us moving at over 5 knots, the temperature was pleasant, and seas were in the 1-2 foot range. Ravat was in her glory under full main and 150% genoa clearing 5 knots.
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| Updating the logs in perfect conditions. |
It was later in the afternoon that the cloud came into view. I could see clear skies at the tail of this storm, and all around it, so I knew we'd be able to ride out whatever was coming. Looking at wind direction, and storm size, I decided to head out farther into the lake and see if the storm would skirt the shore. As luck would have, that's exactly what happened. The storm passed inland of us with winds building throughout the duration. Those winds built slowly, but steadily until I was reminded of a seamanship rule that I had neglected... Reef BEFORE you need to.
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| Storm approaching... |
By the time most of that storm system had passed us, the wind levels had built way past the canvas I was flying. The boat was rocketing along nicely, but it had become very difficult to gibe the boat. A surprise gust hit us, and we rounded up aggressively with quite an exciting moment of healing. I let the main all the way out, which spilled enough wind get us back under control, but while we were headed up the sails and rig took quite a shaking. We headed up one more time briefly to reduce sail, and furled the genoa. We were still over-canvassed, but only a bit.
Twenty minutes later the winds stopped gusting and became a bit more predictable, and slightly less intense. I was able to take advantage of that time to put a reef in the main, and bring out a slice of genoa to balance the rig. Steering and healing were finally back under control.
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| Reefing the Main. |
A short time later we had Pultneyville's harbor in sight. The winds began gusting again, and remained quite strong. We watched a catamaran come out of the beach like a rocket, both sailors obviously looking for serious adventure. I went about tying on the fenders. By the time I looked back up to see how far out they had gone, all that was left were two hulls upturned, and two sailors working on righting their boat. We circled back in case they needed help, but assistance was not required.
With sails put away and fenders deployed, we made our approach into the harbor, and docked without incident in our new slip. Despite the high winds, Pultneyville's harbor seems very sheltered, and I had little problem landing as intended. Ravat had suffered a torn seam in the genoa, but otherwise no issues. Every time I test myself on this boat she rises to the occasion behaving predictably and keeping me safe. The CS27 is a truly magnificent vessel.
Having prevailed over our adventure, we promptly walked up to the Pultneyville Deli Company's bar for a hamburger and beer, both of which, were exquisite.
