Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Lessons

While bickering about the finer points of dropping anchor in soft mud the other day, we caught Tater Tot's towing line in the prop. Ah, newbies. We are usually very carful to bring the line in as we prepare to anchor. All was fine once the line was untangled. Just a little lost bottom paint. Another lesson learned. We've been learning a lot lately.

1.) When anchoring, or doing anything else really, you need to focus on YOUR task. Crewing a 30 ft sailboat is very manageable with two people. Usually someone is in charge of the helm. Helm duties include watching for things we may crash into, run over, and the like. The other person is either bringing in a fish, raising sails or dropping anchor. Trusting one another to complete their task allows both tasks to be completed safely. Obviously, sometimes, things need to be adjusted or communicated. But, maintaining responsibility for your assignment despite a world of distracts in a high stress situation will avoid larger mistakes.



This guy was laughing at us.

2.) Taste hose water before filling 60 gallons into your water tanks. We filled our water tanks in the Newport Yachting Center fuel dock. The water tasted like cancerous plastic. BPA through the roof. We spent that night in Point Judith Harbor sucking all the water out with a hose into the bilge then hand pumping out the bilge. Dan then crawled under a beach facility foundation to find some fresher water.  Then he carted the water back and forth with our 5 gallon jugs on Tater Tot. All in all 5 hours or so wasted.




Since we don't have water, beer is the drink of choice. 


  
Spring water from a spigot below the Roger Wheeler beach facility.

3.) Don't sail during a small craft advisory with the wind and current against you. Like, duh. Are we a small craft? Do they take the heart and spirit of a crew into account when determining a "small craft?" No. We were never in danger. But, we found a way to turn a 4 hour sail into a very uncomfortable 10 hour sail. 

4.) Stay hydrated. Easier said then done. 

I'm sure there a hundred more lessons to come! And I can't wait to learn them. 

1 comment:

  1. Polypropylene line floats. We use it for our dinghy painter. Just don't get your dink stuck under a dock on a rising tide (been there, done that).

    We also installed a relatively cheap water filter from home depot before our tap. Best tasting water we've had and we don't have to worry about the tasting it before hand. As long as the water looks clear, you're good to go. Get some solid water jugs if you get a chance. Those flexible/packable ones will eventually break (they're great for emergencies, but not for regular water runs).

    Have fun

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