A confidence building weekend

This was the type of weekend which you did not want to end. Naturally this meant it was a wonderful weekend. You could not ask for better weather. It was not only sunny with a comfortable breeze but with some variability which was good as far as instructions were concerned. We covered many of the same things today yet with different feel to them.

For example, instead of chasing down the man overboard buoy like yesterday we used a racing marker which was offshore of the marina. This allowed us to practice different wind approaches. This led to a lot of tacking, heading close to the wind and following the wind (with some back quarter bearings as well).

Ann was a bit drained from the last couple of days so she took the helm, more of the time, while my main tasks were the sails and sheets. That was all right with me as it gave me lots of practice with the furling jib, as that was tech which post dated my prior sailing career and the style of jib rigging on the Makina.

For the last 10 years you might call me an avid bicyclist. During the pandemic we decided to get a BowFlex, stationary bike and tred mill for my Daughter, Son-In-Common-Law and my exercising needs. Just by chance over the last six months or so started into some upper torso weight training which seemed to bode well for sailing. The short and the long of it is that just being around boats is twice or three times the exercise as any of the exercise aids at home. Climbing up and down the companionway to the cabin, keeping one's balance on a bobbing boat while raising the mainsail not even mentioning carrying supplies and equipment from and to the boat.

No wonder Ann was tapped out as she had not been doing the minimal exercising as myself.

While Ann aimed us through the waves, Jason reminded me of some nice knots for tying off sheets in a manageable and tidy fashion. Jason imparts his wisdom in a non-stop fashion, even turning casual conversation to something useful or interesting to the training mariner.

We did a hove to to take lunch of more yummy peanut butter sandwiches with deliciously messy sticky buns for desert.

Then it was the long tack back towards the marina and back to the slip. We made fond farewells with Ann in the hope that she may be able to join us for another weekend before my departure.

Jason and myself had a good discussion on the future once alone. He explained that we were very close to the minimal 28 hours of instructions one needs before being eligible for the exam. My feeling was that although 28 hours may give you the basics required there were some instructions that would be nice to have considering my intended passage. My feeling was at least another weekend of instructions would make me feel more comfortable.

Jason agreed and we talked about the possibility of him coming to stay on the Makina for a couple of days and we could mix instructions with a passage that was at least taking me in the direction of Montreal. We also thought we might be able to get Ann to join us; which sounded great as she is a wonderful crewmate.

Sorry for not being much on the pics this log post; but it was a very hands on learning day and not a lot of chances to snap off a pic.

Tomorrow it will be back to Scarborough to a week were we may we see Makina splashed and this adventure then becoming very real.

May the wind be at your back!