Learning the ropes

It was blowing a good force 6 Southeasterly on Tuesday dropping throughout Wednesday down to around force 3. A Southeasterly is the worst wind direction of the lot when it comes to Glandore. It brings with it steep short waves that shoal up alongside Adam island and run straight up the harbour and cause a really confused sea in the sound as the tide goes against it.

With the wind dying we took the opportunity to stick our noses out and see how Teal liked the slop that remained. We sailed out with the mizzen, full main and staysail. She did well to windward with that arrangement but without the jib she was heavy on the helm. We let her go to see what she would do left to her own devices, she points up to wind, just about luffs up then begins to fall back on the same tack before instantly pointing back up again. As a result she seems to stand her ground very well with her nose high up to the weather. I was afraid she would fall off on the other tack with the boom against her backstay but she continued to fall off the same way.

We swapped the staysail for the jib to counteract the weather helm. It did balance the helm much better but pressed her harder than the staysail did. We also find it easier to go to windward with the staysail as the luff is hanked on, unlike the jib which curves its luff no matter how tight its hauled She acted the same way when we let go as with the staysail.

We sailed back in on a broad reach at 5-6 knots then made a few short tacks back a forth across the harbour before taking her back on to the mooring under mainsail. A good days messing is great for getting to know her better. I thought she would take some water after a bit of a clobbering but her bilges remain dry when I checked this morning.

No pictures taken so a random one instead.