Sailing

Went for a short sail Tuesday afternoon. Wind was light from the South. Weather was mostly sunny with light cloud cover at times. Here's what I noticed:

• The jib sheets always got hung up on a cleat on the forward side of the mast. The cleat will be replaced by a plastic donut attached with webbing that won't catch anything. I've been using that cleat to secure the ends of the mast-raising wires, which aren't used except for raising and lowering the mast, so can be fairly permanently tied up, thus don't need a cleat.

• The jib sheets aren't lead properly. I put them through the cleats on the gunnels, hoping they'd work well enough, but the leech was flapping, meaning the leads need to be on a more acute angle. I'll try using the handrails since that would be easiest. If the handrails don't work out, I'll use plastic donuts fastened somewhere, possibly to the gunnels, as leads.

• Cleats for both jib and mizzen sheets need to be replaced with cam cleats; as it is, it's too slow to change tacks.

• The mizzen does not hold her bow to windward: the cabin catches as much wind, and she drifts sideways.

• There's still some lee helm. Not much; almost balanced. I'm wondering if she'll make headway without the jib. Taking the jib out of the equation might give the necessary weather helm.

I seemed to be mostly going back and forth, not gaining much ground with each tack. I was thinking as I sailed that I was making ground to windward because of the current. But it could also be that the current was holding me back; it was hard to tell. The tide was coming in, but apparently the currents aren't always going the way one would expect them to. The case for GPS, I guess.

I was nervous, sailing out there for the first time. But everything worked well enough. There was a nice breeze and not much wave action. (She seems to stall in waves.) I'm liking my Oak Bay experience.