The wind was quite brisk today, so I thought I'd put in the reef before going out. But I realized I hadn't set the jiffy-reef lines up quite right. So instead of ending at the reef grommet, they now go up to it, through it, and down the other side, fastening at the boom. It works much better, especially since this boom isn't square or round, but a tall rectangle. If the boom gets pulled sideways, it bends, so the forces on it have to be made to stay on the top or bottom and not slip around to the sides.
Reefed:
Full sail:
I also re-tied the head of the sail onto the yard, with individual ties at each grommet. The way it was—with a continuous line—there was a crease from the first grommet back from the luff, down towards the tack, which you can see from a previous pic:
The sailing today was great. The wind was strong and the mast was bending, the yard more so. The sail filled into a nice shape. It looked perfect, to my eyes.
What they say about the yard spilling wind when there's too much of it seemed to be the case today. At any rate, although it was quite gusty, she handled smoothly—though lively, as I had to play the sheet and the tiller in the gusts. At times I was sure that if she had a slightly different hull shape, she would have been planing.
The wind in Cadboro Bay today started out SSW, then changed to SW, which was perfect, as I was able to reach from one end of the bay to the other. Off Cattle Point (which I'm guessing is the southern end of Cadboro Bay), the wind picked up considerably. And it picked up over the whole bay as the afternoon progressed. I'm more comfortable now with stronger winds in this boat. She heeled over and stayed at the point just before the gunnels start to get wet. I never felt like there was a danger of dumping. And I never felt like I needed to hike. My weight on the windward seat bench was enough.
