Going well. I've taken the J22 out a few times and am getting pretty pleased with getting to the mooring under wind power. That really gave me the heebie jeebies for a while. I imagined sailing the ship right into the side of a big expensive beauty. I'm still amazed at how precisely the ship steers and can be controlled. Shifting winds still give me the slip, though. Don't know if it's the wind or the skipper making sails luff!
Took a spinnaker class, very intimidating! Then got to be in another spin class 3 weeks later courtesy of the teacher for extra practice, no $. Very generous! I certainly am not going to be doing any spinnaker work with the family, but I'd love to take the people in my class out for some practice. The day before the second lesson we had Ladies' Sailing and I was able to sail with a racer in her J22 with her spinnaker up. I did the bow work with the pole, "the monkey on the bow" as she aptly calls it. It was the first time I'd done spinnaker since the first class two weeks before and a perfect review before the second class the day after. Need a much more practice with the spin sheet/guy and the steering aspect! That's going to take a loooooooong time to learn, I can tell.
For that second spinnaker class we actually had northerly winds in the morning so we could sail the spin out of the harbor, and then southerly winds in the afternoon so we could ride back into the harbor. Perfect!
Was going to take the J22 out today, but lightning was in the forecast so I cancelled. Naturally, the sun came out full and strong with blue sky at the same time the lightning had been in the forecast. Naturally.
Anyway, it's going well. I haven't had it out in strong winds, just nice light winds, which is good. Almost boring in a way, but good!
This weekend is the club regatta and I'm volunteering for the race. I'll be on a mark boat. It's been a busy year for our club. We hosted the Jr. Olympics and the Maine State Opti Championships (today and yesterday), but this is the first time I've volunteered. I think some people are about volunteered out!