First sail of the season

A short one, and no pictures, on account of Mandy wasn't here and I was at the helm pretty much the whole time. I took out the lucky winners of the Federal Way AmeriCorps team's "Sweets for Success" charity auction, which promises a thrilling four hour sailboat ride among the many biddable items. We provide the sailboat, and the thrills. Also light snacks.

Snacks and thrills were in short supply this year. Pretty much any given day before July is a crap shoot when it comes to weather and yesterday was better than some and worse than others. It was sunny and moderately breezy when we pulled out mid-morning, but the wind died off as we got down into Elliot Bay and the clouds started to come in as we slatted our way north again in light air off West Point. Actually, I was a little relieved that it was so calm, since it can be a drag to effectively sail single-handed with four obstacles in the cockpit. As it was, I barely had to touch a line all day long, no one got sick, and no one got sunburnt.

Fortunately, no one had to pee, either; I charged up our recently re-assembled head (a re-circulating model) before heading out, and it still leaks. If there is a plus to this, it looks like it may be leaking now from the discharge hose and not from the main gasket. It's nearly impossible to tell for sure since it only happens when it is in place, and there is no access at all to see completely around the base or the gasket. But the drips I could see were much closer to where the discharge connects than to the gasket. That would be relatively good news, since we can always tighten the hose clamp up and see what happens.

But that will have to wait for Mandy and her tiny little hands to get back, since I can't get mine in there.

It was good to get out on the water, anyway, and just gave me a taste for more, which is bad because I'm heading to Arizona soon, where water and sailing are both in short supply. Sunshine, on the other hand, appears abundant, so I will have to hope that is an adequate substitute. Oh, and there is some baby or other down there I am supposed to see.