Hi Neal,

I just got back to Dallas from Port Lavaca.

I have mastered basic sailing of my boat, mind
you I'm doing this single handed having never
sailed before. I mostly just anchored out in the
bay and only came back every three days to get more
ice. I sailed all the rest of the time.

I installed a microwave and have plenty of hot
food from cans. I call it boat food. It's not too
bad. I noticed that food isn't a big deal on the
boat. I eat a lot less and then only to stave off
hunger and not for the pleasure of eating. I don't
seem to miss regular food though cause everything
else is so much fun.

I got an igloo water container - 5 gallons. I find
that to be preferable to bottled water to be kept
in the built in cooler. It's more convenient and
I can keep more cold drinking water available. Even
by the time the ice melts the water stays cool for
a while. It's a 95 degrees here. Humidity is
90% most of the time.

The biggest problem I have identified is fatigue.
I sleep good but still wake up exhausted no doubt
due to the constant heat. But fighting with the
jib takes a lot of energy. I have an autotiller
but don't have it installed yet. Jib handling
would be easier when I get it installed because
I can keep the boat headed into the wind during the
fight. I believe the jib is second only to the
boom as the most dangerous part of the sailboat.
Only qualified sailors should be allowed to have one.

My boat sails like a dream with either just the jib
or just the main. But with both, it's a powerful
machine that thunders through the water as it's
master. It's awesome.

The bay is so shallow that the cruising ground is
very limited. I was headed back to the marina at
night with no lighted navaides on that part of the
channel. I got out of the channel and ran aground.
There is just no margin for error with this part of
the channel. Either you are in it or you are aground.
The wind and waves were pressuring me to even
shallower water. So I jumped over the side with my
stern anchor and walked it out to deeper water.
Then when I got back to the boat I found a new
issue. I couldn't get back in. I could not climb
back into the ****in boat. Part exhaustion, and part
just no way to get in. I just figured I would pull
myself up over the side starboard aft. No ****in way.

I finally resolved the problem buy tying some
loops into the slack of the anchor line. I put one
loop over the starboard genoa winch and tied two
other loops lower on the line for makeshift
stirrups. It worked great.

Then of course the anchor wouldn't set. And this is
all going on with only moonlight and cabin lights.
So I went back out to the anchor and stomped it into
the hard sand enough to get a bite. No problem
getting back on board. I winched myself back enough
to get the keel off the bottom slightly but it was
enough. I kept bumping bottom but was able to get
enough water under me to get underway still bumping
along till I found the channel again.

One thing I have learned that really surprised me is
that I can propel my boat by skulling the tiller.
I have total control doing this and am able to also
turn the boat instantly with the tiller. I believe
this to be an unadvertised feature of the boat. It
could be that everyone already knew about this but
me. But I have never seen it mentioned in any book
or on the newsgroups. I'm only talking about doing
this in the close confines and still water of the
marina during docking. This is great for docking in
the marina with no power. In a pinch, I believe I
could get out of the marina and under sail without
using the motor at all just by skulling with the
rudder. I have two 90 degree turns to get into and
out of my slip toward the channel.

The rest of the time was uneventful just smooth
wonderful sailing but I thought these incidents
were notable.

(Name withheld to protect the worthy)

S.Simon - a sailor who inspires the best in anybody