Liem takes a sail on Botany Bay...

[khiemtran]

Saturday morning, and it's Liem's first sail in a dinghy...



At least he has his own wetsuit. We're going out in the Pacer again, but this time there'll be three of us, including Chris the instructor.



The tiller demands great concentration. Well done on not crashing into that moored yacht, Liem! (Also note the Timor Leste cap supplied by asakiyume.)



I get to work the jib, while Liem steers. He's holding the tiller extension in his right hand, just out of the frame. "Why is there so much water in there?" he asked, peering down at the lowered centreboard. "That's the sea," I tell him.



Afterwards, it's my turn and we practice dropping and retrieving a small buoy (not, to Liem's relief, "a small boy"), to simulate a man overboard. Then we practice approaching the larger buoy below and stopping alongside.



The winds started out very light, but a southerly change hits just after midday. This is Liem steering again. Even on the Pacer, Liem is short enough that the boom passes comfortably over his head. Every time we warn him to be careful when we're about to tack, he simply says "Why?"



Getting back to the beach required a square run with the mainsail lowered. You can see the wind was blowing almost directly onto a shore. Before the change came through, the winds here were so light we actually had to paddle a bit.

Comments

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Ducking now is a good habit to get into. I've been smacked in the face by the boom and I do not recommend it. :P

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's certainly a very good habit - as is a healthy respect for the boom.

[coffeesvp.livejournal.com]

Looks like great fun. Cool cap.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

It was great fun. I can't wait to do more exploring with Liem out on the Bay. And it was a very cool cap too. Liem even got asked what the flag on it was, but he couldn't remember the country...

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Ooh, the dinghy has a centreboard that lowers, like the Blacketts'!

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes! We kept it all the way down the whole time yesterday, but you can also vary its height based on where you are headed relative to the wind. Lifting it up when you don't need it reduces drag and also helps make gybing easier.

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

For those mid-wabe periods....

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Water looks a little choppy--definitely seems like you had wind!

Yay, Timor-Leste cap! Yay, it was buoys and not boys overboard!

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

The small buoy we used was called Charlie and he had a terrible time for falling overboard that day. Even worse, he had to put up with the indignity of having to bob in the water while we sailed past multiple times trying to get close enough to pull him up. At least Liem didn't go overboard after him, trying to pull him in...