Thanksgiving Weekend

I got to get out sailing several times this Thanksgiving weekend.

Once on Thanksgiving Day


View 2011/11/24 in a larger map

Then again on Friday


View 2011/11/25 in a larger map

And again on our 17th anniversary. Brooke came this time. Its the farthest that she has ever sailed.


View 2011/11/26 in a larger map

Had a wonderful sail with Flannery today.


View 2011/11/20 in a larger map

Only a little drama... We came about into the wind to pull down the sails. They were flogging so much that one of the jib sheets came loose and ended up wrapping around the propeller of the o/b. Fortunately we still had the main up. Flannery had the tiller, so we just started sailing, while I unwrapped the jib sheet from the propeller. No problem. :)

This week I finished up working on the new tiller I bought off ebay. 4 coats of spar varnish. It looks beautiful. Pics soon. I also made a cover for it. And got it installed. I also took off the cockpit table in hopes to refinish it. Brought it home, and started stripping the varnish off it. Two things became clear, 1) it was teak, and shouldn't have been varnished, and 2) the p/o had repaired it. And like most things the p/o had DYI'd, it wasn't done right. Once I started cleaning the old varnish off, the boards making up the table just came apart. It looks like he just use elmers glue to put them together. Anyway, I need to fix it now. I had to stop working on it, as I don't have clamps long enough to do a table.

It was cold this morning. The temp started out in the 50's, but warmed up quickly. By the time I was motoring out of the marina, I had taken off my gore-tex, and fleece. I left my knit cap on, cause being bald my head gets cold. Leaving the cap on cause a problem, which I will explain later. The water was flat in the sound, and the wind was from the ENE at @ 9knts, So I knew that I was going to head to the Gulf. Once there, the Gulf was pretty flat too, so it made for quick sailing as I headed north toward Anclote Isl. I got a call from Brooke when I was there, so I came back in and headed toward the marina to pick her up. The blue line in the track is because GPS didn't record, so I just drew in some straight lines.


View 2011/11/12 in a larger map

So I picked up Brooke, and we headed back out. It was around 1:30 or so, and she wanted suntan lotion. Oops. I was having such a good time earlier (and it was cold), that i forgot to put on any lotion. When I got home at 5:00 I was RED. Except where I had my knit cap on and glasses. I look like a dork! Bright red, except I have a nice line around my head and above that its white.


View 2011/11/12.2 in a larger map

Evening sail

I went sailing this evening. Its always nice to get out. The winds were really light, and died about sunset time. I ended up motoring back.


View 2011/11/03 in a larger map