Im a newbie, just purchased my first sailboat, a 78 Catalina30 and did a solo trip down the coast for 10 hrs to get to my haulout location for winter.
I waited for a fine day with light winds, 10 knots gusting to 15 and disappearing altogether on occasion. Seas were mild and the day perfect.
I was sailing wsw into the
wind and enjoyed practicing tacking , and adjusting the
sails as best as I could figure with my limited knowledge but as the day waned I realized I would be running late and arrive after dark if I didnt move along. I ended up sailing very close to the
wind and had to
motor sail on occasion to keep pace when the wind lulled , the unintended consequence was that I found myself going off track a bit and back filling the sail, even getting spun-around in a circle if I didn't pay enough attention to the tiller.
While this was annoying I got some great experience trying to find the "sweet spot" into the wind. I discovered a magical sensation when the sail would fill and the angle would be right and the
boat would leap ahead and you could just "feel" you did it right , This sensation is addictive to me, I can only describe it as harmony between the wind,seas,
sails and tiller.
I think Im hooked
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