Day 6 of Races

Today was an interesting day--it started the minute we were pushed off the docks. Mark's father noticed the plugs were open (these plugs keep water out of the haul of the boat, which is hollow). Needless to say dad calls us back and tries to leap on to the boat and landed in the ocean. He swam over and sealed our plugs. Unfortunately we had taken on a lot of water and the the whole body of the boat was low which means swamping the boat would be easy. Kira and Mike, both had to be on the back of the boat to make the water in the haul come to the port hole in the back so they could use a hand pump to get the water out. We were still heavy, but much better and safer for sailing.

It was another day of cool weather, which started wet and drizzly, but ended with cloudy, blue skies and nice strong winds. It was nice not to have to do 3 races today because the stronger winds are hell on your hands. The salt water was stinging the old eyes and the gusts of winds were up to 17-25 mph. It was a fun day to sail.

Overall, the day and races felt better. Tactics and sail management were better too. We had spinnaker problems in the second downwind of the firs race. We couldn't use it, so we went downwind without it. We were last both races, but definitely improved. In the last race, we made some excellent gains on the last windward leg of the race--it was impressive and a good note to end on.

Rumor has it there is some more Texas Hold'em tonight...races are at 11:30 tomorrow again. Two more days and the 2nd and 3rd place spots are still up for grabs. This has been an awesome experience and well worth the work. Until tomorrow...

Amy