I relearned yesterday why solo sailors should have light carbon fiber spinnaker poles and not this monster 16' aluminum one like I have. I cleverly decided not to put up my spinnaker, although conditions were perfect for one. I thought that going wing on wing would be fine without going through the hastle of getting the guy lines out of the spinnaker line bag. Bad idea! AFter struggling with the pole for 30 mins, I realized I needed more control of this heavy projectile banging into my shrouds. Now ,you realize it takes 6 lines to control this pole not counting the genoa sheet. Naturally ,four of them lead into the cockpit . Now visualize yourself with your lifejacket & harness running back and forth from the cockpit to the mast to launch this monstrosity. Your jackline you attach the harness to has now been routed in board as far as possible for safety reasons, but this requires attaching and reattaching at multiple extra new points. You kind of get the picture now? well, it was after much cursing that I finally got the genoa flying and the boat moving again. At 0230 JLT I was awakened from sleep by the auto pilot screaming for help. The wind had just shifted from NW to East causing the boat to heave to on the opposite tack and tangling the genoa up between the forestay and the staysail shroud.. Don't get the wrong idea though. I love this shit! Stay tuned for more episodes of the continuation of Rob and Ted's "excellent Adventure" PS ignore the course and speed. they are incorrect.