Sunday's high adventure

Brian Maddux (brianmaddux@yahoo.com)
Tue, 27 Jul 1999 12:47:51 -0700 (PDT)


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Well, I've been "lurking" for well over a year now,
and finally have an adventure to tell about. You'll
see the relevance at the end (which I will try to keep
close to the beginning ;-) )

I some of you know, I don't have a Potter, but do have
a 14' Orca (open, no deck) sailboat with a sprit sail
and electric trolling motor.

We launched from Langley, WA (on Whidbey Island)
around 2pm. The wind seemed like just a nice steady
breeze on the shore. My wife and I are what you would
call "novices" when it comes to sailing. I'learning
through experience, and she (Patty) is exhibiting
great patience!

As we came out into the Saratoga Passage, we found
that it wasn't breezy, it was windy. Also, there was
an unexpected 1-2 foot chop. Not much in a bigger
boat, but to a novice in a small boat, it looked huge.
So, we motored around for a while, and finally decided
to go in the "shadow" of the marina and put up the
sail.

We got the sail up, and headed out. Well, things did
seem to be working quite right, and we were headed for
a (fortunately vacant) boat on a mooring. Here's the
plus side of a small, light boat. As we were about to
hit the moored boat on the port side, Patty pushed
off, avoiding the collision. Embarrassed (but no
scratches on either boat, and luckily no bruises on
Patty), we started to sail across the wind. It was
great. We picked up some speed, sailed across, and
slightly into the waves, and everything was going our
way....

...until I decided "we don't want to be out this far."
Then I turned downwind...

... and funny things started happening. I ended up
turning too far (or not far enough), and had the wind
*dead* astern. I had the sail out at 90 degrees to the
boat (too far) to port, the wind astern. It gave a
push, died, and the boat heeled to starboard, and the
wind came up again. Before I knew it, the sail went
around *in front of the mast*, and tangled. Now I
understand the idea of a lee shore. Guess where we
were headed!

I put Patty in charge of the tiller and the motor, we
turned away from the shore, and I started trying to
untangle and get us sailing again. No luck. Now for
the second positive of this boat. Getting the sail
down is a snap. Loosen the snotter, the sprit comes
apart in two pieces, which leaves you with a sail
fluttering in the wind (and water). Lower the sail,
and your done.

Overall, it was a good learning experience. Of course,
at that point, we were done learning for the day.

The boat is great. Several "old-timers" have looked at
it with a bit of envy, and declared it would take just
about anything that Puget Sound could throw at it. I'm
just not sure about the folks in the boat. We're
finding its just a bit too exposed to be comfortable
in on days like Sunday (which is a "normal" day so far
this summer). Maybe with some more experience we could
be comfortable in it. Its a matter of getting that
experience! Sunday's conditions were just too
demanding for a novice in a small, exposed boat.

So, the upshot of this adventure. My wife is now
*much* more interested in a WWP 19. Maybe next spring!
We would look for a used. We really like the ability
to launch from 2 minutes from home. But we need a
bigger boat.

My idea was to start small, and work up. Well, I think
for the area, I started too small. Live and learn. But
I am very comfortable, after Sunday's experience, and
reading this group's posts, that a 19' Potter would
suit our needs.

So, Michele (Oak Harbor), by next summer, you might
have another "potter" for the Whidbey Island Potters.

And Tom (Freeland), I'd love to take a look at your
boat when you have it in Langley. Now would be a
perfect time to show off a 19 to my wife.

To the rest of you. I'm partial to the 19, because of
the room, and I'm thinking a little extra size would
make both of us more comfortable. However, given my
story, I'd like to hear suggestions for and against
both Potters. I know that the 15 is perfectly capable
of handling the Sound. I'm just not sure of the size.

Well, that's more than enough babbling.

Have a great day!

Brian Maddux
Orca 14 (unnamed)
potterless (but for how long!)
Langley, WA

===
Brian Maddux Whidbey Island, WA
brian_maddux@bigfoot.com
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/5308

** Please send all mail to brian_maddux@bigfoot.com. **
** This address forwards my mail to my current email **
** address. Thanks. **
_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com