On the day after the Great Pumpkin (Sunday), we went out on a pleasure/practice sail - 'we' is Stephanie, Rom (from the Saturday crew), Jonathan (a friend who hadn't been on Elise before) and myself.
It was really blowing! I estimated gusts at 20 knots toward the second half of the afternoon. I forgot to turn the instruments on (not racing...) so I don't have a final answer. We stayed in the area between the bridge, angel island and alcatraz, so the windy part!
Was so nice! A few interesting tacks as I had forgotten to tell our guest that it really helps to release the jib...I was wondering what was keeping the bow in the water and was getting Elise's deck more vertical than anticipated :) There were a few other practice moments, which is no problem at all, with the cruising sails - also some slightly slower weight shifting and a few maneuvers that brought the lee side of the boat close to being submerged.
Also - something to remember. If someone is new and asks to drive downwind - do NOT advice to do the race thing and really focus on wind shifts, etc...(not constantly looking ahead...) - best is to do the regular driving thing: look ahead, focus on some landmark and horizon...the typical 'let's make sure you don't get seasick' move...stupid stupid me...
Oh, and a word of advice, do not forget to bring WARM SHOES AND SOCKS...blue feet are probably not good, even if you are being kind and trying to match Elise's favorite theme color...
We got back in time to enjoy some really nice wine (thank you Rom!), really nice cookies, meringues and other delicacies before heading out to the first Chamber Music concert of the season in Bernal Heights!
Anyway...I will post some pictures soon. I promise!
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