May 23, 1999 - Our First Sail
We awoke the Sunday morning of our first sail as the new owners of Jenny P to gorgeous sunshine streaming through the portholes in our pullman berth. Already in the sixties at 9:00 a.m., we knew it was going to be a fabulous day for sailing. At 9:30, our friend Jerry from work met us at the boat to help us sail -- or more like act as a human fender. Shortly after, Monte the previous owner arrived; he was going to go out with us for a bit to see if the transmission noise he had been hearing earlier had been repaired. He had graciously hired a mechanic to fix it right before the boat was sold to us. We, however, think he may just have wanted another sail ;-)
At 10:00 am we began warming up the engine. After making sure everything was secured below, Michael steered the boat out of the slip for the first time. Luckily with Monte's coaching, all went perfect. We motored over to the fuel dock to fill up the diesel tank. So far, all had gone well. Until it was time to leave the fuel dock. Behind us pulls in an enormous power boat, practically blocking the entire area we were going to turn around in. Monte recommends that we just back the boat up to head out of the marina. So, Michael puts the boat in reverse and slowly begins to back and turn away from the fuel dock. Major lesson learned here: boat does not steer well in reverse. We stare in horror as our beautiful bow sprit angles closer and closer to a metal railing sitting at the end of the dock. Monte dashes up to the bow to fend it off, and almost succeeds, but we hear a horrifying screech as the wood is sheared by the metal railing. I rush up to the front to observe the damage; luckily only the very end of the wood tip was affected with a good sized chunk missing. Later observation finds that all that we chipped off was some paint and epoxy; the wood was fine. It looks as though we weren't the first to inflict damage on our poor bow sprit!
At last we head out of the marina into the sound. It's a marvelously windy day, and with the main, jib and staysail up we hit 7 knots. We do a rather quick loop and then have to take Monte back to the marina as he only had time for a short sail. On the way back in, someone from another boat leaving the Marina yells, joking, "You're going the wrong way!" to which we reply: "Oh no--we'll be back for sure!" Monte coaches Michael back into the slip, which we slide into beautifully (greatly improving his confidence after our little mishap at the fuel dock).
Waving good-bye to Monte, we head out again, this time for the day. We decide to steer south towards Elliott Bay and sail in front of the Seattle skyline. What an amazing time we had! There we were, sailing our own boat in the beautiful sunshine, talking and laughing with our friend, staring with wonder at Mount Rainier and the Olympics, taking photos with genuine smiles on our faces. Time seemed to stop and we finally felt free from the pressures of our jobs, money, traffic, cellular phones, civil wars and refugees. All that mattered was the wind, waves, sunshine and Jenny P.
It is just past noon as we head out of Elliott Bay, amazed at how the Seattle skyline has grown in the past ten years. We decide to cruise over to Blake Island to practice anchoring. As we get nearer we see several other boats anchored on the east side of the island. It is a bit windy, but we find a spot with a depth of 25 feet and decide to give anchoring a try. Well, it took a while as we ended up drifting around in the wind in circles several times. Finally the anchor set; the engine was turned off and the three of us sat back in the cockpit for a much needed rest and cold drink. It was a beautiful spot; large green trees lay almost right on the sandy beach and the only sounds were of birds and children laughing in the distance. Oh, and the occasional powerboat zipping by. Oh well.
We soon realize that our stop there was to be a quick one as the wind was coming straight in the northern direction we needed to go in order to get back to the marina and so we would have to tack all the way back. We patted ourselves on the back for continuing to sail as we saw several sailboats motor past us. After about two hours, however we realized that we needed to turn on the engine as well if we were going to make it back by ten. At last we made it back as the sun was dipping lower and lower into the sky. Nervously we entered the marina, as this would be the first time we would be getting Jenny P back into the slip ourselves. Slowly, slowly we turned past D dock, and Michael glided into the slip like he'd done it a hundred times. Success!
Exhausted, we all had a nice cold bottle of beer, thanking Jerry for all of his help. We couldn't have done it without you, Jerry! After a nice warm bowl of stew, we collapsed into bed, exclaiming how tiring sailing can be. And wishing we were going out again in the morning, instead of to work.
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