Maiden Voyage!!

It's time.  I'm nervous. The wind is really blowing and I have 2 friends with me who have never sailed (well, one was on a dinghy once). No time like the present.

Screenshoot from GoPro footage

Things I learned

1)Don't ignore the buoys in the harbour.  I found out the hard way that shallow IS shallow - even for a dinghy.  Yes, we got stuck about 30 feet from the dock and yes, I had to jump out of the boat and walk us out of the shallow water.  Then, we had to paddle in.

2) I need a different main block.  The one on this boat is completely opposite to what I have learned on.  The cleat is at the top of the block so when you start to heel and you're holding on for dear life, you're cleating the main and pulling it tighter and tighter.  This is fine until you want to spill some wind from the sails.  At that point, you need to make the unnatural movement and snap it down to release.  Basically, this cleats by default.  I can see how some people would like this.

3) Pulling in and out of the dock will be quite the spectacle for bystanders for a while.  I find this extremely difficult.

4) Tiller extension is too short on this thing. I've ordered a longer telescoping tiller from C&L.  This may or may not be an easy install.  Need to take a pic of it and send to Dave.  We might need to rivet it on.