In an earlier blog I described buying a daysailer for summer play. After we bought the boat we got to talking with a man in line at West Marine in Gig Harbor. When the subject of the Harbor 20 came up, he told us that he was from Newport Harbor where there are many of these boats. He put me in touch with several very useful resources in that area. I was now on my way to see Peter Haynes, one of those people who had been very helpful on the telephone.

So after spending the morning replacing tires that were ready to disintegrate on my aging Subaru, I met him at his boat. There are about 140 of these boats racing in Newport Harbor. On race nights they have A, B, and C leagues. And there are many race nights in Newport. Peter gives seminars teaching people how to rig and sail these boats. Given that I am still trying to figure out the boat, I had struck gold.

At the dock he showed me how many of the features of the boat are supposed to be set up, from the rigging to the electric motor. In addition, Peter had added a number of his own little innovations to make operating the boat a lot easier or sail better. I took many photos for reference. Then we went out on the harbor. There was some breeze, which gave me a chance to experience how one powers up or depowers this boat for differing wind strengths. We also practiced throwing in and shaking out a reef while sailing.

Needless to say, I was in seventh heaven. I was sailing on a beautiful sunny day in SoCal and soaking up sun and information. After sailing a bit, we tied up at Newport Harbor Yacht Club. Members were getting boats ready for a two-on-two team racing regatta the next day. I took more pictures and learned a bit about how they were preparing these boats. I also met Philip Thompson, from whom I had already purchased some equipment for our Harbor 20.

Then we went up to the Yacht Club bar for a beer. This was not the exact same bar where the boat had been conceptualized, because the building had been remodeled, but I was in the same place. Eventually we had to sail back and put Peter's boat away. I thanked him profusely for all of the help.