Finally, the day we’ve really been waiting for. Sunny, 65 degrees, a (slight) breeze, and no one on the lake!!
First sail on Turnstone was well worth the wait. Very comfortable boat, surprisingly easy to rig and manage given that we’ve never sailed a yawl before.
The name “Southern Venture” was properly banished forever (all traces had already been removed) using a hopefully appropriate ceremony… I felt a weight lifted once I knew that had been done properly, now we can start bringing aboard items that say “Turnstone”.
Some random thoughts:
- Definitely doesn’t point as high as the Hobie 16 used to… not that I mind, just an observation.
- The observation above could have a lot to do with operator error on my part… I’m pretty sure (now) I’m running definitely jib and possibly main sheeted in way too tight.
- This is a decidedly beachable boat… I wouldn’t want to leave it beached overnight or anything, but it certainly seems up to nosing onto a sand beach to load / unload gear, then haul it back out into deeper water using the stern anchor.
- I have a lot to learn about operating under power before I start slicing and dicing in crowded anchorages, or approaching docks with any sort of wind… if I weren’t so worried about my boat my motoring skills would have been laughable.
- Boy it’s nice to be dry, and sitting up with something behind my back to lean on.
- New boat, same problem as the old one… as soon as we get on board it’s all we can do not to start napping.
- Not the best tracking at slow speeds, but handles nicely with just a touch of weather helm once the wind comes up… don’t feel like we’re making a lot of leeway but hard to tell on such short tacks.
- New boat, same lake… as fluky of winds as we’ve seen on Redfish.
Anyway, a truly wonderful day, hard to come back to reality at the end but we’ll be up there again soon I hope.
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