I first saw her advertised on the net, then it took a year before I was able to see her for real... Started major
refit in December, changed almost everything inside-out including sleeving epoxying and riveting the broken
mast.
The
boat was painted and ready for launch as soon as the ice melted.
She was launched as agreed and for the first time in my life I was on a sailboat.
Started the 4hp pulled out of the marina and set
anchor 100ft from shore, it was the start of a amassing experience ...
Spent my first day trying to stop
water ingress from my
cockpit drain valves and tomorrow I will cut my
rigging and stand my
mast up... All was good.
This is going to be my first night at
anchor, a well anticipated night indeed...the
wind picked up and I woken to a sever hobby hors, bucket between legs and some shade of green i was experiencing my first motion sickness symptom, couldn't move the
boat and surly can't enter the marina in such condition... First morning light the
wind slowed down enough for me to enter and duck to
safety... A man who saw me bouncing arond last night assured me that once my mast is set up she will settle to a nice steady motion.
So the
rigging was cut and mast erected, the main fitted perfectly on its first reef point and the only
jib was 150% . So off I went on my very first sail ever with no prior experience and clueless about sailing and it's physics.
Oh forgot to mention that I've capsized my dingy (kayak) 100ft from shore and nearly died frozen the prior day...
Anyway hear I am on my way to Lake Huron from little
current... First impression , the boat is way faster then my friends nash26 in every way. Good in light winds and fast in moderate wind she's steady as a train on tracks and I remember thinking then, I won't need an auto pilot with this boat.
Spent my first night at anchor in witwimicong Indian reserve , the boat hobby horses like crazy all night, and no matter how I distributed the load she showed no sing of taming whatsoever , from now on she be called Crazy Horse...
The sail to Lake Huron was intensive and fast but comfortable, until Owen strai where I broached tear the
mainsail and broke tiller... This man was scared stiff and wanted out ASAP, problem there's nowhere to go except back to where I started, the entire coast is rocks and unfriendly . All the way back I hade one thing on my mind, stir the boat to land and jump off, but it proved impossible so I
engine back like a headless chicken to ground zero... Must have. Hit dozen rocks and grounded 3 times at night, I did every
mistakes in the book on my first voyage. Finally got back to little
current and docked between other sailboats, spent the next day watching crazy hors safely tied up alongside other sailboats, she was kicking like a bronco on steroids while the other boats where barely moving ... With tears in my eyes I knew she wasn't for me regardless of the
work I've done and my love for design...
Turned my collar to the wind set my eyes on Intensive a grampian26 and 2 days later she was launched and off to Georgian bay...
I've sailed Incentive in just about any conditions a few weeks and never felt in
danger, crossed the bay from Killarney to Club island to Cabot
Head to Lion
Head to Owen Sound to Midland in
fog, rain high winds...
Now that I am back to Montreal with my
family, I can't help thinking of Crazy Horse and wonder... Was it my lack of experience ? Was it the limited choice of
sails? Or a combination of all this? She's sitting at the duck where I've abandoned her waiting for me to decide of her faith... I am sadden to even think she might go back
on the hard and wast away in time to be forgotten again...
Talk to me sailors!
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