Monday, August 23, 2010

Sailing At Last!


This past Saturday Ken and I escaped from our responsibilities for the morning and finally went sailing.  We woke up early and were off by 8 a.m.  The weather was perfect, with a nice wind and blue skies.


We were the only boat on Lake Pontchartrain, so we were able to practice sailing without any worries of other boats, or spectators. 


After having Nirvana in the in the boat yard for 2 1/2 months, and then having her home for 6 weeks with a broken water pump and rainy weekends, Ken was happy to actually be sailing her again.

... and so was I!


We started with just the head sail up, as we have never gone out without a friend on our sailboat or on another sailboat for support, or help!  There was a pretty good wind, and you can see the waves in the picture above.  The bridge connects Slidell (where we live) to New Orleans.


 After Ken steered a while and got a better feel of how Nirvana responds, he pulled out the head sail.  We didn't pull the head sail all the way out, as it was pretty windy and we didn't want too much too fast.

I have to admit I was a little nervous at first, since we had experienced once before how quickly things can get a little hairy when you're not experienced and it's a windy day.  But, after the head sail was up and I realized we were moving along just fine I was able to kick back and enjoy the music, the breeze, and the beautiful day.  We did a little tacking, and next time we'll try a few more things.  We stayed on the lake for a few hours, and then reluctantly headed back home to take care of those responsibilites that come with being a landlubber.  Too many, I might add!

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

8 comments:

Sandee said...

How fun. I'm glad you finally got Nirvana out and had a great time. Boating is indeed one of the very best things to do.

Have a terrific day. :)

Mike said...

Looks like a perfect day!

Emily said...

I am glad you finally got to go out for a sail. Good job! Looks like the perfect day for it.

Laura and Hans said...

Finally! And to have enough wind for just one sail is great! I like sailing with just the jib myself, it's just easier and I'm lazy.
I certainly hope you can start getting out more.

westsailor28 said...

hi guys, folowing your good blog, enjoy your good photos also!, my two cents worth, if in doubt,or you feel the boat is overpowered, just point her into the wind more!, that should slow her down!

Ken n Cheryl said...

Thanks and we really hope to do more sailing soon. We've got to practice! Westsailor 28 ... thanks for the advice... makes sense and will keep in mind, as we are truly beginners.

Travis and Maggie said...

Awesome! At least someone is sailing!

Albert said...

I'm a fan of Windtraveler, and just found your blog. In my first time ever on a sail boat crossing the Pamlico Sound, along with my wife and another couple that had just purchased a new boat (23' - 1971), I supervised the setting of the spinnaker - having read about it in Chapman's. The moral of the story - go for it. Also, race your boat, even in a PERF class around the buoys. It will make you better sailors quickly.

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