Roughest day

Sheesh! That guy from a couple posts back was so right about the waters around here. ("It's that insane dirty dancing of wind and tide that makes you wish the band would just go home.")

The wind was a nice SSW 12-13 knots...

but it was dirty dancing with the tide, so it was really bouncy. Going to windward was slow but steady, and once I got half-way to Albert Head the wave action settled somewhat.

But then near Albert Head the wind freshened and I felt overpowered a couple of times, ragging the main. So I reefed, for the first time on the water.

I got the tack and clew down eventually (need to get cam cleats!), and went into the cove on the north side of Albert Head for calm water to tie in the reef points I couldn't reach from the cockpit. Once again I considered junk rig... but, so much work to make it happen!

The run home, with the mizzen furled, was bumpy and fairly fast. I've discovered that the wave action in videos looks much tamer than it is in reality. Wind here is about 16 knots. The boat is quite dry and handles waves well without shipping any—in a word: buoyant.

View from the shore (notice "SSW 17 kts gusting to 20 kts"):

Roughest day. Nothing broke.