The Shakedown Cruise
Buoy 'N Sea
Phil and Trish Littman
Sun 11 Nov 2007 03:56
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On Sunday, we went out on a "shakedown" cruise in
North and South forks of the St. Lucie River to try out the rigging and
uncover any potential problems. This was the first and only chance the captain
and crew would get to sail the boat before leaving for the
trip.
We practiced reefing the sails, then
sailed upwind and downwind while the crew took turns steering. The boat is
equipped with an autopilot, which maintained a course within a few degrees. With
the genoa reefed halfway and one reef in the main sail, we were
making 5.5 - 6.5 knots at times (according to the GPS ) with 10-15 knots of
wind. This is great speed for an ocean cruiser.
We also tested out the preventer rigging. Phil and Steve discuss where and how to
anchor the preventer sheet.
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The City of Stuart was hosting an airshow that
weekend.
 Our view from the boat.
Back at dock we notice that the main sheet was
rigged improperly by the rigger, causing the main sheet to brush against the
bimini. This would have worn down the line or
damaged the bimini.
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Overall, very few (and minor) problems were
discovered and corrected. This speaks very well of the hard work Phil and Trish
put in to get her ready. |