Sailing to San Diego Part III. Passing Avalon by Night

That evening as I rowed my dinghy over the teal green sea I enjoyed looking down, down into its clear mysterious depths. I slowly arrived back at my boat. As I climbed up over the four foot sides of the boat, and then proceeded to set my things down in the cockpit, I looked out to sea just in time to see a glorious sunset. I looked up at my pirate flag and saw the wind blowing it steadily and so having had lots of rest during the day, I decided that with the wind being strong and myself feeling well, I would venture out tonight for San Diego. As I got some food from a tin ready to eat, my mind was still racing in thought. The night would be upon me soon and so I would have to act fast so as to at least be able to clear the harbor with some wind.

As I ate more of the delicious canned peaches, I then began to think hard upon the best method of raising anchor and realized that having no engine, I would have to raise one anchor, then raise the jib sail, raise the main anchor and then the main sail very quickly all in very strict order and with as much preciseness as possible, for a big mistake could end up getting me in trouble at the least and end up washing my boat on the rocks at worst!

    So that is what I did and when my hands started undoing the halyard line (rope) that raised the large mainsail, I began to feel very stressed and couldn't seem to do it skillfuly as I usually do. But I managed nevertheless, and pulled hard on the mainsail. It stopped half way up and I about had a heart attack (you know how I felt). I suddenly noticed that one rope line was still holding the sail leashed up to its resting place on the boom and I jumped down into the cockpit with urgency and unleashed it quickly. I then looked out at the water and noticed the jib sail was pulling the boat in the right direction and then ran back up on deck pulling the mainsail up as soon as was humanly possible. With it up, I soon felt the boat make it's way steadily out and head upwind in the channel between the other boats. I felt mostly relieved. Now if only the wind would hold to get out safetly! It did, but sometimes with a little difficulty tacking; and in half an hour I was sailing away from the dying sunset, away from the little island a mile from shore, and dangerously between another island and the rocky Catalina shore. I say 'dangerous' as I was afraid the island would block the wind and the tide would wash me up on the rocks. I had little choice in the decision as this was the best, safest and fastest route (at least it could be argued). But the wind did not get blocked and instead seemed to funnel right around it getting me out and away safely to sea.

CLICK HERE

 In fact the wind had really picked up out here a mile from shore and I was really 'clipping along at a fast pace (at least 6 knots I recorded in my log). The waves this evening were about four foot running with speed up to my boat. The waves would appear like they wanted to crash aboard but then just as you thought they might hit, the stern of the boat would lift up and they would pass under pushing the boat with great speed through the water. What with the wind and the waves pushing so hard the boat was really going fast! I had to really hold on to the tiller and watch as the waves came from behind and make sure that they didn't do any mischief. The wind too, as it was just waiting for me to mess up so it could jibe the boom really hard to the other side. But I was wide awake and watching. About a mile away, I could see the dark shore of Catalina passing by with each wave. Tonight the moon shone a brilliant yellow and made the water sparkle. It was such an amazing night. I had imagined it so much differently - mostly many fearful thoughts of being stuck out at sea on a dark night without much wind and having a long way ahead of me going all the way to San Diego. But thankfully my fears were not validated. Only the strong wind gave me any concern as it was giving me trouble. But as soon as I let out the main sail all the way, it settled into a manageable position and sped me quickly on toward Avalon - ten miles away.

I was quite surprised when I suddenly noticed some very bright lights far away on the island (now about 5 miles off) and began to wonder what area that could possibly be. I then realized that the island had a large cliff on the southerly end and that it appeared very familiar. Familiar like the end of Catalina island: Avalon itself.
"No!" I said to myself. There's no way I've arrived here so soon! It was at least ten miles down the coast and I had only been sailing for a couple hours. Well I had been going quiet fast - at least 5 knots an hour to get here so soon. I couldn't believe it. But there it was in a perfect silloutte. There Avalon lie for sure - wrapped in mystery from sea. I wondered how I had at first not realized it was Avalon, because everything about it now gave it away. Even a boat passing mine did as well. For where do you suppose they were heading for after having just come across the channel - Avalon.

I can't quite express the feeling of being alone out amidst the dark ocean waves at night passing the sillouette of Catalina many miles to the West; the lights of Avalon shining warm and cheerily to me as if waving "hello!" My boat pressed on with the wind driving it and as if waving back "Goodbuy! We're on our way alone to San Diego. Say a prayer for our safety!"

An hour or so later away from Catalina - it now being a smaller black sillouette on the horizon, the wind suddenly and completely died. It was now around 11:00 pm. "Oh no!" I groaned to myself with a touch of fear. Fearful because I was somewhat near the shipping lanes. Fearful also of a passing ship on the way to Avalon not seeing me -though I turned on my navigation lights anytime a boat or ship was in sight. So some of my fear was groundless. But still the unknown fears and thoughts of being out at sea without wind had finally begun to unfold. The sails flopped lifeless. Without the pressure in the sails the boat lost its speed and angle beating through the waves. Now the waves had complete riegn over the boat and it bounced to this side and then that making the sails and the boom swing dangerously from side to side nearly hitting me in the head! Besides this the noise from the sails cracking, the boat rocking and the boom swinging was truly a nightmare! Sometimes the boat would rock so violently that the angles of sight were dramatically different than moments before. One moment I would be viewing the sea and waves, the next the sky and moon. At first I felt overwhelmed and wondered what to do first. The only thing that I could think of was to take the main sail down to stop that awful cracking sound and then set the boom in its hanger so it wouldl stay still.
With the rocking it made it a bit like playing dodge ball or some other interesting sport that kept you on your toes. One wrong move and I would bump into something, bruising my shin or elbow or knee.  With difficulty I brought the mainsail down and then with it done realized that the main halyard had swung around the mast and got messed up and tangled somehow just like on the night arriving at Two Harbors. But this time there was no land to fix the messed up rope. So I fiddled with it for fifteen minutes just hoping to figure out how it got so tangled. Finally I got the long 'man overboard pole' and 'fished' it out from the mess it was in up the mast. When that was done, I tried to relax but it was still emotionally draining and all I could think was 'how long was this going to continue?'

    At some point the boat caught a newborn wind at a perfect angle and actually stayed on course without my help. And so I  actually got to rest for two hours without interruption which really helped me out tremendously. I almost felt like I had rested all night. But the key word here is 'almost' as I was still tired but I felt comparably very much better. I awoke to the beauty of the morning just before sunrise. A large fog bank stood more in toward land. It was 6:30 am and I was thankful I wasn't caught in that.

-Skipper Albie

PS: Come back soon to see what happens next after passing Avalon. Thanks for your comments! :-)

Sailing to San Diego Part Two: A Day at Catalina

 After a difficult time sailing to Catalina the day before, I was looking forward to fixing the broken rigging and resting up. I had no desire to sail further to San Diego today and besides there were things I needed to complete before I left. 

My day started early at 5:30 am. I awoke, got myself ready and then set the jib sail and texted Janette as I awoke to the most glorious sunrise:

Albie: "Oh my gosh! Most beautiful sunrise I've seen since Philippines! can see distant mountains toward San Diego wrapped in golden light shooting 2 heaven!"

Albie: "Goodmorning darling! By the time u get this I'm already had a good sleep and am rowing or sailing 2 shore 2 get my shroud fixed. I love u. Talk 2 u when awake."

   I undid the mooring lines (similar to an anchor) connected to my boat and floated clear. Raising the jib sail halyard, the boat now had power to go to Two Harbors. I stood up on top of the deck near the mast overlooking the peaceful sea. Passing by the island and the other boats, I could see the gentle wind blowing softly on the ocean and into the jib sail at the bow. It was so beautiful to watch the sail fill slowly with wind and see how it pulled softly on the boat taking it where you would like to go. The morning was so peaceful and the deep blue and green sea so lovely to sail upon. The cliffs and coves of the island passed on by. It was such a refreshing moment that I inhaled and remembered why I loved sailing so much!

 At Two Harbors there would be a place to fix my shroud and also retrieve my mainsail halyard (rope). The night before it had got stuck in the rigging and got all mixed up. Unfortunately I had made a bad mistake in trying to undo it - accidentally letting go of it and the rope had gone up to the top of the mast! It is truly amazing, now I think about it, how many problems I had the day before! Also how the next two two nights sailing to San Diego would bring more painful moments to really learn how to deal with these situations at sea. For instance, when the wind would stop blowing and the windless waves would rock the boat, it would make the boom swing out of control across the deck and the mainsail halyard rope would often get snagged on the upper mast light. It's hard to understand even for me being on land reading this in my comfy chair but these painful gut wrenching moments would have to happen a couple times before I would learn the 'secret' trick to un-snagging my twisted halyard and how to keep it from getting mixed up like that.

So after sailing peacefully by under a light breeze, the harbor patrol man named John came roaring by in his patrol boat and knowing I had had problems with my mast the night before, saved me a lot of time and gave me a tow into the dock where I could retrieve my halyard and attempt to fix my shroud. He also set me up with a man who was good at repairs to help me. With his help I was able to finally get my halyard rope down. To do this I had to attach my oars to my long 'man overboard pole' and rig a hook attached to the top of it to snag the line. Swaying back and forth on my feet with my eyes and head strained upwards at the top of the 30 foot mast (holding a very long - wildly swaying pole and aiming for a small knot hole to snag onto) was almost insane to even think I could succeed! But with my friend holding me steady so I wouldn't fall into the water, I finally achieved it and we shouted with joy when we pulled it down on deck!
       Once this was done, the kind gentleman left and this whole proceedure gave me an idea of using an extra strong bungie cord hook attached to a rope in which I would hook into the place on the spreaders and tie down the attached rope to the deck in order to procure a make-shift shroud. The spreader arms (which look like a cross on the mast) are only half way or so up the mast - so I accomplished finishing the whole job in only half an hour! This being done, I tightened my new make-shift shroud and believed it would work quite well! In reality it did get me to San Diego but as I would later find out, the metal bungie hook was not really strong enough. The metal needed to be stainless steel in order to take the heavy pressure of the mast and sails pulling on it. But this I would find out later sailing in San Diego harbor.

I then got another tow from the Harbor Master to an area I could anchor. While anchoring near the sandy beach on one side and near these beautiful protruding rocks on the other, I noticed a lady sitting on her boat anchored near me curiously watching us set the anchors. After two anchors were set, I promptly went below into the v-birth and fell asleep for a couple hours.
    I awoke to the sounds of children and parents swimming in the beautiful aqua green sea just offshore. I decided I needed a try at that too and promptly got into my swimming things. The lady from the other boat was still watching everything going on and all I was doing now as I jumped over the side of the boat. Truly the water was as glorious as it had looked! The water was refreshing from the hot summer sun and beautiful to swim in! I swam all the way around my boat and then got out. As I was changing out of my wet things, there seemed to be no escaping the ladies eagle eyes, so I went below and shut half of the hatch door so the beautiful cool breeze could still come through, but not those gazing eyes! After changing, I ate some tinned fruit. I had had such an unrestful night I then realized I was still tired. So I opened the forward hatch to get some cool sea air while I rested and fell asleep again.

    I awoke the second time hearing the lady outside yelling: 'Columbia!' I awoke realizing that she was calling out the the model of my boat. I then looked out the forward hatch and realized my boats' anchor had slowly drifted during the afternoon. I climbed out the hatch and began to hesitate a little in fear what I should do to remedy the problem. I promptly began to pull the boats main anchor line and the boat moved away from her boat. The lady in the meantime had called the Harbor Master on her cell phone or portable VHS and this didn't help much as when they came out it seemed like I had everything under control. But that did not stop the lady and the Harbor Master from getting in a nice argument over it all. She seemed to have a chip on her shoulder about them for some reason and the Harbor Master could feel it and didn't appreciate her grumpy and whiny attitude. She blamed the whole incident on the fact that they had said to call if there were any problems. The Harbor Master came back at her for being unappreciated of their help and there necessity to take care of important business and leave that which could be handled by mariners on their own - to themselves. I however, tried to distract the argument from going any further and suggested to them that I lengthen my back anchor and also attach my third anchor 10 feet from the end to hold it down since I did not have any chain on that line. He thought this a good idea and also suggested that I row out and drop this extended anchor much further away this time and I did so, while his boat revved up his four engines and steered through the green ocean and held my boat at bay so that it did not drift toward the ladies boat in the meantime. This, it seemed, worked really well and as I look back on it, became a standard procedure with my anchoring and I am very grateful to that negative circumstance for teaching me this lesson. Due to this I was never to have an anchor problem during the three more times on this trip that I would anchor.

     So after this incident was over, I stayed on the boat for a good while longer just to make sure the anchor was holding. When I saw that it was, I put my cell phone in a plastic watertight bag and got into my dinghy and rowed to shore. Once there I pulled the dinghy up on the shore and taking the paddle with me for a walking stick, took a pleasant walk up through the campsites over the hills near the beach. The walk was very pleasant and the trek over to 'Cat Harbor' was beautiful. Over there the dreamy blue mountains on the far side of the bay meat the sea - truly lovely! After all the hiking, I arrived at Two Harbors and then called Janette. I needed to get her insight on my new plan I had just come up with. You see, I had begun to entertain the possibility of leaving Catalina this very evening and sailing to San Diego at night. Before my walk, I had pretty much convinced myself to stay the night at anchor. But sitting around doing nothing is hard for me - especially when I feel refreshed and ready to go. And also Janette was leaving for San Diego tonight too. I wanted to be there with her and didn't want to waste a moment. So I discussed these thoughts with her. Ultimately the decision rested with me so while I was at the dock I got the weather, coastal wind and wave report to help me. This report seemed to support my belief that there would be plenty of wind and so I felt encouraged further to leave this evening.

Later when getting back to the boat it would take all my skill and strength to get the anchors in fast enough before I drifted too close to another boat, the sails up and sail the boat upwind and downwind, in and out of all the other boats - without an engine and get out to sea fast enough before the wind had a chance to die down for the evening.

This night sailing to San Diego was to be one of the most adventurous sailing moments for me - one I would not forget! Join me next time in Part III to hear the rest.

-Skipper Albie

Sailing to San Diego and Back - Alone without an Engine

The First Leg: Sailing to Catalina Island.

It was our vacation time!  We had a couple weeks open and we thought that it would be fun to stay on the water in San Diego for a holiday. So I thought I would sail down there so we could stay on the boat in Mission Bay.

 I was impatient to start the trip and began the voyage late at night. However. the wind was too light and there was not enough wind power to sail very far. So I headed back and instead went to bed in the v-birth. First thing in the morning when the wind came up, I sailed out of Marina Del Rey. Here is what my wife Janette and I texted each other:

 A: Just heading past lighthouse. Wind is light we will see how wind gets when @ the breakwater! Love u

t  J: Don't push u r self...pace urself.

 A little later...

 A: Position is about 33.46 and 118. 29. Just wanted to let u know. I can see Long point (& Pt Vicente) at about 9 o clock from me

 J: K thanks

 A: All is well. About 1/2 - 3/4 way across. Heading 180 from MDR. For 2 harbors. I love u all! Xxxooo please tell mom too!

 J: I will tell mom. Be safe. R u going to rest? Sail in morning to Oceanside. Love n miss u.

 It was only shortly after texting this that I made my big mistake. I had begun to feel nauseous. At this time I usually didn't get sea sick unless the waves were getting five foot or higher. And this is what was beginning to happen as I got out past Point Vicente. And it was this sick feeling that made it harder for me to take more careful action. All too slowly the wind had been picking up faster and faster without me really identifying the significant change - or if I did it was without care as I didn't want to move. And so the wind was putting an enormous strain on my large genoa jib sail. Since it had taken the strain okay up to this point, I thought it could take just a little bit more until I got to Catalina. But it came to pass that suddenly, the wind did for me what I should have done myself. Indirectly it took that sail down, because my lower shroud (one of six super strong wires that holds up the mast) suddenly snapped! The mast instantly flexed and bent and looked like it was going to snap! In terror I quickly turned the boat into the wind - taking the pressure off the sails and mast. Then I crawled over the cabin top to the bow and trying to stand up amidst five foot swells, I let out the jib halyard allowing the sail to fall quickly to the deck. Then very carefully I crawled back to the cockpit and guided the boat back on course with only the mainsail up. Now that the big genoa sail was down, the pressure on the mast was not as great. I turned the boat onto the other tack so that the boat would sail at another angle to the wind and thus relieve all pressure on the right starboard side shrouds. In this way I was able to sail to Catalina without having to turn back for home. I still had no idea how I was going to fix that broken shroud and finish sailing to San Diego. But I was still sailing and thus thankful.

 I arrived at Catalina around seven pm and was so glad. I thought that only another half an hour would take me into Two Harbors. But I was really mistaken, because the main prevailing wind decided to end its day and left me just outside the harbor without enough wind to get in! If I had an engine things would have been much different but that would have been a different story. Now I had no other choice but to tack another direction and try to come in the harbor at an angle where there was still some wind blowing. Even though the giant rocks rising from the sea, the tiny mystical islands around Catalina and the evening sky were all so beautiful, all I could focus on was trying to get in the harbor and anchor before dark. But it was not to be. I was going so slow due to such light and varying winds that it was dark before I even came close to the harbor. In fact it became quite a battle. One time the wind suddenly died completely - leaving the boom swinging back and forth from the high swell, when it swung dangerously close to hitting me in the head. As I pinned the boom away on its hanger so as to stop it swaying and moving from side to side, suddenly the boat moved to a different position, and a huge gust of wind arose that pulled the boat down on its sides nearing me to the water! The mainsail being hung on its hanger was reacting to the gust and creating all the power. Yelling with anger, I quickly unleashed the mainsail again, letting out some pressure as I rode along. As I went quickly through the dark water, I felt utter frustration and anger at the seas for playing games with me and such games as could possibly bring the mast crashing down too!

 Finally I arrived at an area where I could drop the mainsail completely and attach the bow securely to a mooring cann and rest for the night. But when I did I was 'anchored' (so to speak) to one of the most unshielded mooring canns in the harbor and the ocean swell would rock the boat like crazy making a lot of noise. In order to get any sleep I had to put ear plugs in my ears! Little did I know but this was to be one of many nights sleeping on a rocking boat at sea. But before I end this part of the story, there is a little more to tell as I realized I had attached the mooring cann ropes to the boat completely backwords and as I tried to rest I could hear the rope pulling against the bottom of the keel. I couldn't help but think this was dangerous as it might put unneeded pressure on the keel and perhaps create a leak or something bad. So I got back up, very irritated, and pulled the boat around undoing everything and pulling on the wet ropes and finally half an hour later got the boat secured properly. But as I was involved in this, the Two Harbors Patrol came out and wanted to tow me over to a better mooring cann (to a more sheltered area) and while this was nice - I was just plain tired and didn't want to do a single thing. So we worked out a deal and I went to sleep! I missed Janette and couldn't wait to see her in San Diego. My text to Janette that night and hers back to me went like this:

 Albie: I'm safetly over @ Catalina! I'm moored to a mooring cann (like an anchor). I miss u too! I will try to call later. :-) xxxooo

 Janette: Yeah! U r safe.

This was the first leg of my voyage sailing to San Diego. In the next section I will share how I temporarily jury rigged the lower shroud and headed toward San Diego. I will add the next leg of the voyage to San Diego shortly. Feel free to share any comments with me about the trip. I would love to hear them! -Skipper Albie

Winter Gales

The last three weeks in a row, Marina Del Rey has been hit with small craft advisories and winter gale warnings. Last weekend I was out in one. Preparing the boat (before I left) for high winds took an hour in itself. The harness was set in the cockpit ready to attach to the safety line. The hatch doors were ready at hand to put in place. I had started the engine ahead of time and it was warm and ready for me to turn it on. I always have my life jackets ready - so that was one detail I didn't have to worry about. I had three sails ready to set and up on the bow from the smallest up. First the storm jib then the regular jib and then my genoa. The wind swept through the marina at high speeds until about 3:30 pm or 4:00. And then just as I was untying the dock lines, the intense wind dropped in intensity from around twenty knots to about fifteen.

 Setting sail without the engine (as I usually do), I set out down the basin. Tacking back and forth in fifteen knots can be a little challenging for most sailors who are not used to tacking in tight quarters and strong winds. This is because you HAVE to build up enough speed to cross the wind before you tack or the wind WILL pull you right back in the direction you were going before - and that could mean suddenly wondering if you are going to hit someone's boat (NOT fun).

So tacking in 15 knots is kind of like a good exercise for me but its the real deal at twenty knots and up. So I practiced turning the boat from reaching as close to the wind as possible to a beam reach half way across each tack just to build up that extra speed - even though it means gaining less ground over water.

After a nice sail down the main channel I entered the ocean and was soon met by five to seven foot seas that had built up over the day. The waves were not cresting and the wind had suddenly dropped from fifteen knots to ten and I honestly was struggling to get the speed I really wanted with that little front sail set. So I jumped up on the cabin top and held on tight to the rigging as I crossed the deck to the bouncing bow. Once there I grabbed the wild head sail and brought it down and set the larger genoa. I began to get a good clip after that and passed an anchored boat to port. The sun had already set and I was sailing along the dark ocean in the ever fading red twilight. It's a strange thing but the most fearful time of sailing for me, is right as the light is leaving the sky and darkness is falling. That is the time when you are used to the light and the darkness seems more intimidating than it usually is. I can't even remember how many times I've been sailing out at night and I usually am just fine with it. In fact there is a fascination with it for me as I love to see the shore lights many miles away creating a silhouette of the mountains in the distance. The silver light on the waves is beautiful too as they come and go from bow to stern. But right after the intense beauty of sunset has left and the afterglow is fading, I've noticed how lonely I feel and how apprehensive I get about facing the dark sea. And add the possibility of racing winds and growing waves and white caps and it all becomes that much worse!

And true to form, the seven foot waves now appeared bigger for some reason and the reason I was sailing further and further away from the welcoming green and red harbor lights made less and less sense! But I kept going for another half an hour. In this time the wind began to increase again and soon the boat was healing hard from the pressure in the sail. Time to bring down the sail and put up the smaller one again! Soon the small one was up and I was safely back in the cockpit taking over the steering from the tied down tiller in 'auto-pilot'.

 The wind was fairly cold and despite two hats, three jackets, a scarf and gloves - my hands were still cold. It was probably all the times I had taken off my gloves to fiddle checking my cell phone or some details on the boat that had made my fingers get cold. I promised myself that it was time to get serious and leave the non essentials alone. So I entered the cabin and got my thermos of hot water and made myself some hot chocolate. Just holding the warm cup - helped my fingers warm up again. I sat in the cabin for a little while as the boat carried on faithfully up and over the mounting waves. Thankfully it was not a blowing like a full fledged winter gale or it would be a LOT colder and going in the cabin would have been out of the question. In fact, I did not even feel concerned about closing the hatch doors - which I would have if the wind had been blowing much harder.

Speaking of the wind, I suddenly began to realize that even the small sail was pulling the boat hard now too. Okay, time to really contemplate what really made sense. Continuing on and preparing to put the storm jib up and fight my way back through a real winter gale or turn back now before it got worse. I chose the obvious - my wife would be proud! Besides, I was beginning to feel a little queasy anyway and was at this very moment sucking on a butterscotch candy. These candies have a real way of taking my mind off how I feel and making me relax. Maybe its the taste or something but it really helps a lot. I can't tell you how many times these little butterscotches have saved me from getting sea-sick. I turned through the waves to head back. Opening the main sheet I let the main sail fly. I then uncoiled the jib sheet and let it out too. The head sail caught the wind - now coming from the boats side and you could see it belying out. Winding the jib rope around the winch three times, I then sheeted it down on the cleat and it was set. Before it was all over though, I was to be taught an old storm lesson over again. Suddenly a big gust hit the boat at probably thirty miles an hour and within micro seconds the boat headed up dangerously into the big waves. Crossing the waves broadside would normally have been dangerous but as the wind was not causing the waves to brake white, thankfully I could get away with it. Nevertheless, I was determined to not be controlled by the sudden gusts and let out my main sheet much further than usually required so that when the gusts hit - the boat refused to listen to the storms call and I stayed on course!

 Shortly thereafter, the wind was funneling through the breakwater wall and now making it hard to beat back into the marina against its force. I really did not want to sit out here for another half an hour tacking back and forth against the wind just to get in the harbor. Normally it wouldn't have bothered me, but the wind was increasing and who knows what it would be like in half an hour! So with that, I turned on the engine and cranked up the horse-power and got back in the marina in great time.

I thought that after that my problems were over but I wasn't expecting twenty know winds as I came around the corner past the Coast Guard Station and into the main Channel of the Marina. These winds were blowing directly at me and tacking into them was pulling hard on the sails. Thankfully I still had up my smaller jib and as it was just a notch below dangerous, I didn't have to put up the storm jib. But I was concerned about coming into my slip under sail as the wind was blowing really hard and I would be going too fast. So I either would have to keep the sails up and then drop my big main sail right before I got to my finger channel or use the engine. I chose the engine! Ha ha! You would have thought that all would be well and that would be the end of it - but after having dropped the main - the engine then suddenly refused to start. Imagine my surprise! It was just like an engine to work all night but then when I really needed it -  to give me problems! So now I had no choice but to try and tack up the G-Basin but I only had my jib up and couldn't tack up wind with only the jib. So now I had to turn the boat into the wind and raise the main again. But, wouldn't you know it, the wind was blowing too strong to turn upwind - the wind kept blowing me back! Really, this was beginning to look just like de-ja-vous  from four years ago when something similar had happened and I (being MUCH less experienced) began to freak out and NEARLY crashed into the boats at the guest docks. I knew my skill was much better this time. And yes - they were! I decided if I couldn't head up into the wind, then I could wear (or jibe) downwind and get up enough speed to come up. And this worked. However, just in time or If it hadn't I would be having to enter an unused dock and take a time out there! Lol!

So thankfully I got up into the wind and got the mainsail set once more. After beating upwind for another twenty minutes or so  I got to my finger channel, and with a sudden surge of energy jumped up on the cabina and dropped the main sail to the deck in a matter of seconds. Using the jib, I entered my slip - still very fast - and jumped off the boat onto the dock and tied down the boat. Another big adventure was over!

~Albie
Thanks for your comments about Winter Gales!