Quote:
Originally Posted by tis
If you need advice on how to sail with practically no wind at all, speak to ApS. I have been amazed seeing how little wind he needs to sail.
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With no wind or ripples showing on the lake, I have a photograph showing my sailboat's wake!
If you
have to get going, just pull out this handy-dandy gizmo:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256801973618946.html
In gray skies, I ventured to Middle Ground Shoals. Far in the distance, the lake's surface had taken-on a very dark line. I wheeled around, and headed for home base. Speed picked up, and I was on an unaccustomed plane, with the sail straining, and the bow threatening to "stuff".
I sailed close to the shoreline to cut down some of the wind. Finally, not able to control the boat any longer, I got to my neighbor's dock and turned for the shallows. So here I am, crouching in two feet of water--with my own dock 100-feet too far!
Gripping the bow handle firmly, I awaited the end of this mayhem before me.
After a few minutes, the sail ripped from end-to-end, but there was nothing to be done. When the sail shortly turned into rags, the aluminum mast folded in half, and I had to let the boat go.
I climbed out of Lake Winnipesaukee to watch Winter Harbor turn entirely white.
. Not a wave in sight--the surface was a frothy maelstrom. (My second "cell" experience in six decades of sailing). Probably fewer than ten minutes had elapsed from my 180° turn at Middle Ground Shoals.
My boat had fortunately been blown parallel to my dock--with the mast, sail, and spars making an improvised cushion between boat and dock. Just the sail and mast required repair--
which was improvised--and a story for another time.
