I'll be putting the site back together in the next few days to get ready for the possibility of teaching a bit...

Lindsay, Jim, and I took Lady Linds out to De Anza Cove again. The goal this time was to sail north of Fiesta Island, through the free speed area around the VOR tower and into Sail Bay. That meant going about half way across Mission Bay, and then turning around. For the most part we were pretty successful. The wind in the opening stages of the day was pretty light, variable, and would only gust to maybe 3 mph. As we got closer to the North Ingram Street Bridge, however, the wind really picked up. Sail Bay was full of an intimidating amount of small boats racing over by the Mission Bay Yacht Club. The channel under the bridge is, well, no wider than the bridge, but there is a spit of sand at low tide that makes it about 25 yards wide on the Fiesta Bay side. Since we were going through at the lowest tide I think possible, the channel was very narrow. To make my navigating harder, five sailboats of about our size were coming through with the wind at their backs wing-and-wing. They ended up posing almost no trouble for us as we were making very little headway against the wind, and once we put the boat on a port tack (where the windward side is to starboard? Right??? I don't know) we went well to the left in the channel while they headed right. I think their goal was to sail around Vacation Island, as once they passed us and headed south, we never saw them again. We ended up sailing under the bridge, and headed about 20 yards into Sail bay before turning around in an accidental tack when I stalled the boat and we were backed up a few feet and turned back onto that port tack. No big deal really. Headed up one more time, tacked, and went back under the bridge with the wind at our backs. The trip back to the dock was pretty quick, about a third of the time it took us to get out there. I think the wind had picked up to about 7mph, gusting to more. If we had intended to stay out, I would have liked a reefable sail. WD Schock sells some, but since I'm only going to be around another two months, it hardly seems worth it. Maybe something for Jim to pick up for the summer.

Back in early January I picked up a Lido 14 from a great couple up in Dana Point. Since then, a bunch of us have been fixing it up (mostly painting some small places) and taking it out on Mission Bay. This weekend we learned a couple of things. First, a boat that has been properly designed will sail far better than my home built PD Racer (rest her soul). Drunkard's Dream was never a quick one, but the Lido sure is. Second, wind can still overpower any foils on a racing dinghy.

While on hiatus until the return voyage from Europe, my off hour projects have shifted away from boats (although the designs they are a' percolating) to battery powered bicycles. Feel free to check out that ongoing project at www.sdpoweredbikes.com

Spent the day out again at Mission Bay. Lindsay and I clocked in an average speed of 3.7 mi/h and a little over an hour of sailing. According to the GPS, we sailed a bit over 3 and a half miles, so that was good. Not only that, but we ended up going where we wanted to. Up north we tacked back to the edge of the bay to say hi to some kids in a Sabot. Then we sailed to the eastern edge of the bay to drop Linds off for a few minutes so she could stretch. Then, back into the wind to take the channel north of Enchanted Island, mostly to make fun of the sea gulls. We saw a baby with grey feathers, but about the size of an adult. My limited biological knowledge makes me think that he's about ready to fly and harass us out there. By the time we were sailing south again the wind was really picking up, and there were some thunder storms coming in from Mexico, so we decided to call it a day. Just before leaving, we met another home builder who had made a foam and fiberglass fishing boat for himself. Think about those inflatable pontoon boats that guys use, and then imagine fiberglass with all its home made mistakes. It was really quite a set up. He had a system for getting it off the back of his RV, then onto bike rims, then down to the water. I saw a tie down for a winch back up to the RV. I was very impressed by his kung fu. Today was why I built the dang boat.

14 knots are too many knots for my boat to handle. It remained afloat, but the rudder was overpowered again, and we ended up rowing back to shore. If its not one thing, its another... :)

A new sail design, a stronger rudder, and it seems to be working a lot better. Made a lanteen sail for the boat, and its working well. Went out twice this week, and both times we were able to get back to where we started. Sailed about 2 1/2 miles today around the bay. Map follows.

The winch I got from Harbor Freight allows me to drag the boat up the beach to the car. That's nice. Broke another rudder though. I'll have to work on that.

Took the boat out a second time in two days. Worked much better, but a couple of items broke. The rudder split along the wood grain. So, that's going to require some redesign. Also broke off part of the leeboard case when we ended up in the shore one too many times. Oh well.

 So Most of this map is from rowing. Just wouldn't point. I figure its my lack luster sailing skills. Need to think of the sail like a wing. If the angle of attack is too high, then its not going to move. There is a most efficient location to put the sail relative to the wind.