Spinnaker, Day #19
03 April 2009 | 03d51sSouth, 132d23.5dWest
George and Sue Stonecliffe
Light winds 6-8 knots. Julia Max cruised along under our new light air spinnaker yesterday, pulling us along at 3-4 knots. Found that using the GPS compass scale, keeping it at 120 degrees, the sail would stay full and on the starboard side of the boat instead of swinging back and forth from side to side, swaying the boat with it. Most annoying. Very hot in the cockpit since we can't use the bimini when we need to watch the sails which is extremely important with a spinnaker. The electric auto pilot also did very well keeping us on course and the spinnaker from wandering. We continue to learn how best to keep the boat moving under sail with so many new variables such as a sloppy sea state sailing downwind, can we use the mainsail, can we set the wind steering vane (not in these light conditions), will the wind let us steer in the direction we really want to go? Went chasing after rain clouds in hopes of getting a fresh water washdown but the storm cells moved away from us as fast as we could go under motor. At least we got close enough to get a sprinkle.