You'd think we'd just want to get right out there and sail our new boat each and every moment the opportunity arose. You'd be wrong. Well, partially wrong. Chris was of course ready for such an endeavor but not so much me. Visions of failed docking attempts mired thoughts of a beautiful sail outing. It took some time for me to get over this fear. After weeks of Ad Astra just floating in her slip, we finally threw off the dock lines and headed out for a really magnificent sail. We carefully planned our departure process from the slip - which dock lines or spring lines to release first and in what particular order - as well as each of our respondsibilities. I was to call out distances of objects (other boats, docks) relative to the bow and Chris was manning the helm. Without any drama, we were out of our slip and motoring to the Patuxent River. We then had to jog our memories on how to get this boat sailing. Not gonna lie, I was nervous. The mast on Ad Astra is 64 feet high - that's a lot of sail potential. Fortunetly, the winds were light, and we were able to get her sails up without much difficulty. With the evening sun warming our faces and the winds blowing light but favorably, we pointed Ad Astra on a broad reach and off we went. Chris being the competitive type, had us catching up and passing a nearby Hunter (with 2 Adults and 6 kids!). He was on cloud nine. We weren't out for more than an hour when a small front blew through picking the winds up from 5 to 15 knots. By then we were beginning to feel more comfortable and adventorous with the boat and decided to see how fast we could really get her moving. Chris manned the helm while I trimmed the sails and we were off! With a comfortable heel, we were sailing Ad Astra at 7.5 knots in all her glory. You should have seen the smile on Chris' face. I didn't think you'd ever be able to wipe it off.
The sun began to dip into the horizon and so we decided to head back towards the marina - we still needed to practice getting Ad Astra back in her slip. We had a healthy crosswind and those dark visions of running into neighboring boats crept back into my head again. Our slip neighbor Jim was at the ready in case we needed any help. Chris practiced two times heading the boat astern into a "psuedo slip" and felt ready to try it for real. With crossed fingers we slowly motored towards our slip. I was ready to fend off from the bow if needed, otherwise I was to grab the starboard spring line and get it ready for tieing off. Chris did a great job - minimal fending off needed! - and Ad Astra was back in her slip! We tied off the remaining dock lines, cleaned up the boat, and headed off towards home ( the apartment for now) giving ourselves a pat on the back for a job well done.
It was great to finally get Ad Astra back out there sailing - what she was designed to do, and we are gaining more confidence with each outing.
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| Chris keeping an eye on the sails. |
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| The look of concentration. |
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