[Public-List] Surprise's first race

[Gordon Laco via Public-List]

Hello friends,

 

Although we got into the water in good time during April this year, last night was Surprise’s first sail.  A lot happened between launch and last night.

 

I was feeling pretty chuffed to be able to tell the marina where we winter that I’d be ready early as promised.  Usually something comes up and they have to shuffle us around till I’m home from some business trip.  So, there I was the night before our scheduled Thursday launch.  Everything was ready to go; I’d even made a start of stripping and re-varnishing my woodwork (more on that later).  The last thing to do was test start the engine.  This is usually just a formality.

 

Nothing happened.  The engine spun vigorously on the starter, but didn’t make a cough.   I checked that it was getting fuel, dismantled and cleaned the carb (removing a discreditable amount of gunk) replaced the spark plugs (properly gapped) and even gingerly sanded the points.   Still nothing.

 

So, I postponed launch.  Friday and Saturday, I struggled to find out why the engine wasn’t starting.   I was starting to imagine a shot condenser or coil…  when a friend and client came by and asked ‘what’s wrong?’   I told him, and told him what I’d done.  He said what grit of sand paper did you use on the points?  I told him.  He said ‘Atomic IV’s are indestructible… I’ll have it going in five minutes.’   He climbed aboard, opened the distributor and began gently filing with a piece of folded emery paper.  He then took a piece of notebook paper, folded it and gently wiped the closed points with it.

 

He climbed out of the boat and while climbing down and walking away said over his shoulder ‘try that’.   The engine started up like normal.  I shouted ‘what kind of rum do you like?’  Without turning he shouted ‘anything dark!’

 

So now we were ready to go, but the high wind, rain and generally frazzled feeling drove me to postpone again till the next day.   The next day I came to the boat and discovered that the floor boards were floating.   How the hell could the bilge flood when the boat was still ashore?!    Dockside vultures condemned me for letting the bilge fill over winter and predicted dire damage from ice… but of course I’d only replaced the garboard plug a couple of days earlier, and there was no water in her at that time.

 

And then I noticed a faint waterline of varnish scrapings and dust around the cockpit about 1/3 the way up in the well, and mats of it over the two cockpit drain grills.   Aha, I thought.  I’d scraped my cockpit coamings, but had left the residue all over the place.  The rain had washed it into the cockpit well where it clogged up the drains, allowing the well to fill somewhat.   Enough that the mushroom vent I’d installed in the forward face of the cockpit to ventilate the engine, and which was open, came under water…  letting water into the boat.   After the rain stopped and the vent had drunk its fill, the rest of the water seeped out past the clogs in the cockpit drains.   Well that resolved the mystery.

 

Out came the garboard plug and the water was drained away.  I dried the tops of the flattened batteries and started a charge on them.   Launch, which was delayed for the third time, was set for the end of the day.   It was accomplished without drama, and away we went.

 

Motoring from Penetanguishene to Midland in very light air, we were pleased with the propeller improvements Campbell had made for us.   But I was startled to discover that the knotmeter had suffered some sort of mental crisis during the winter and now always reads high, no matter what adjustment is offered.  Damn.  Well I’ll deal with that later.  In the meantime, it’s kind of invigorating to see numbers like 7.8 and 9.3 showing as speed…

 

So then I got busy with work, and the boat sat idle.   I became involved helping a friend prepare his recently sold boat for its hand over to its new owners… a father and son who had never sailed before.   They planned to sail the boat to Toronto… a 400 mile voyage, with no planning, no charts, no nothing.   Then as it transpired that that they were not going to be able to leave the club, as regulations require, I started helping them get ready more directly than just to help my friend with his spring commissioning.   As weeks went by, it became apparent that they were not going to be leaving soon at all, and that they had somehow developed the idea that I and my skills had been sold with the boat, and that I was obligated to be their technical helper.   Finally a showdown between my friend, the seller, and they, the buyers, occurred.  It was laid out to them that they now owned the boat… they had to get it out of the club right away… that the seller was going to be in trouble if it was revealed to the club that the buyers were squatting on the dock as non-members using the club for an indefinite period.    I asked them where they planned to keep the boat… they replied they were going to go to Toronto’s National Yacht Club and stay the summer as a ‘visiting yacht’.   I explained that clubs offer visiting privileges to yachts from other clubs that have reciprocal agreements… but they’re not from a club, and the visiting privilege is just for a night, not for a season.   They protested they’re coming from our club… I said ‘sorry, you’re not members here’.   They looked stricken.

 

So I walked them over to the marina next door to our club, introduced them to the docks lady, and showed them how to rent a dock.  Then I suggested (again) that it would be cheaper and safer to have the boat trucked to Toronto, rather than try to sail with no preparations.   I introduced them to a marina there who agreed to look after reception and relaunching… and then we took their mast down again in preparation for their transport appointment.   

 

Then a couple of days later, my friend the boat’s old owner received an angry series of texts from his buyers saying that they disliked his and my lack of acceptance of responsibility for getting their boat ready for its voyage and for lack of continued support through the upcoming season.   The messages included me in their condemnation.   I confirmed with my friend that he’d made them no promises beyond ‘engine running and rigged’ as his promise of delivery…  somehow they developed the feeling that my professional help would be on-going.  Well I feel badly for them as they realize how little they’re prepared for yacht ownership, but I can’t be their helper indefinitely.   This was all very distressing.  How did I get tangled in this?  I’d only intended to help my friend who had sold his boat…

 

So I’d not got to my own boat yet… but cleared the decks of work and other responsibilities to tune up SURPRISE’s rig for last night’s race.  We got out to the start in plenty of time and began thrashing to and fro with the fleet as the clock wound down to our start.  We had our older 120 genny on the headstay as it was pretty breezy… and also because despite what I’ve promised myself and various crew for the past four decades I’ve been racing… the first race of the year was also our first sail of the year.  No practice sails this year, as usual.

 

We got off to a good start, darting to leeward of the usual mob of squabbling Sharks who were jamming each other up at the committee end of the line.  Feeling quite clever, we left them all behind and began climbing up to windward.  Most of the fleet went left… we went right.  We got to the pin in the midst of heavy traffic, our arch rivals inches ahead and astern as we rounded doing over 9 knots (indicated on the knotmeter…) and popped our chute flawlessly.  Then the wind cacked out, and the rest of the race was a drifter.  Due to our small headsail (certainly not my own lack of concentration), on each of the beats the leaders drew away from us and we were unable to regain position on the runs.  We finished in the middle of the pack, not horrible, but not great either.  

 

We close reached back toward the club under the spinnaker, very nice sailing, then doused it as the wind fell to nothing.  Motoring, we spotted friends in their lovely 5.5 Mtr class yacht becalmed so motored over at 11 knots to ask if they wanted a tow in… they gratefully accepted.   I shouted back as the line was passed “the cost will be three beers or your girl (they had a young woman aboard)”  She shouted back in mock rage “THREE?  ONLY THREE BEERS OR ME?”    Knowing my friend was a good sailor and could cope well with emergencies, I pretended not to hear his shouts to cast off the tow and ran him into the club far too fast before casting him off…  haha all good fun once it was over.  He had to do a couple of very tight circles to shed speed before gliding up to the dock.  I shouted encouragement while watching him, then gave my approval of a maneuver well executed despite the problem I posed for him.

 

Well that was the first race of the year.

 

Gord #426 Surprise