[quote=Edchris177][quote]when it blows it blows [/quote]
I was thinking about your lake, with those surrounding high hills & winds from everywhere at once.
[quote] Last time I just said screw it and let go, let the boat go over me, and grabbed the tiller crossbar on the way by. [/quote]
That idea crossed my mind, BUT, you only get one chance! I thought, if I missed it, I'm 3 miles off shore, & doubt if I could swim back as the wind was offshore. It would be at least 10 miles to the next shore, depending on drift angle, & there are so few boats around, I probably would not be seen or get picked up. I think those handheld radios have 6W max power, the Coastguard Station was 10 miles away, not sure if it would reach. Plus the fact that the radio was in the tramp pocket...dumb place to keep it.
[quote]So Ed, how long did it take for the adrenalin to wear off? [/quote]
HA HA, I must have had some, as I scampered up that hull PDQ. In hindsight it would have been much easier to climb onto the tramp near the front beam, then shinny out to the bow. You don't realize how sharp the underside of a skeg hull is, very little area to balance on, too sharp to be on your shins/knees. I don't know if standing on the stern would have worked better. The hulls are very buoyant when inverted, due to the flat shape. I don't think they were submerged an inch, the tramp was just at the surface. I thought I might have more leverage on the bow, & being a finer profile, standing on it would push it down further than I could get the stern to go. I knew I only needed to get the mast 10-20 degrees off vertical & it should come up. I think standing on the downwind hull is important. The boat is drifting, & the mast, sails, rigging etc all create quite a bit of drag, helping to move the masthead towards upwind. Once the hull/tramp starts to come out of the water, the wind grabs & does the rest.
The biggest scare was going full turtle. I was not looking forward to the idea of having to ride it all the way to the other side. The GPS log showed it drifting 2-4 kph, (1.25-2.5mph). That meant 5-8 hrs, with only 3 hrs daylight left. Once I got it wrestled onto its side, I knew I could get it sailing again. If the rudder hadn't jammed it would have been a final screaming beam/broad reach home. I experimented with footing off, but the tiller force was so high I thought I might break a blade, or the hiking stik pull apart, dumping me again. By that time I'd had enough for one day[/quote]
