My typical sail is a three or four hour day or evening sail. Our location in the mid section of the Chesapeake Bay can get pretty crowded so I find that evenings offer to best times as I don't have to worry about traffic. I usually don't go out unless I see that the wind is around 10 knots or more. In the summer of '01 there were plenty of quality evenings. It was one of windiest summers I every had.
I have a cheap Intel Pocket digital camera that I am not too fussy about. It has very few settings and can store around 70 shots. So what it lacks in quality it makes up in quantity. Here I just extended my arm out overboard and clicked away. This shot is the best of the lot.
This late afternoon sail was very special. The wind was around 15 knots but the waves were almost nonexistent. There was little to slow me down. It was one of those wonderful sails when every thing was in perfect tune. The kind of evening when you could just sail on into the next morning and still not be tired.
About three years ago I bought a Navico (now Simrad) TillerPilot. That was one of my smartest purchases. I don't know how I ever got along without it. When there very minimal boat traffic I can just set it and do what ever I please around the boat. The major concern is not falling off. I have gotten very good about wearing my inflatable PFD.
I have no idea how much juice the TillerPilot drains from my battery but I have yet to have it drain the batter completely. The TP has it's own small battery that is located in the aft port locker. All other electronic devices get their power from the main battery in the V-berth.
Can an IF boat really go 9 and 1/2 knots? Only if the knotmeter is out of calibration. If my knotmeter reads 1 and 1/2 knots when I am at a standstill, does that mean I was going 8 knots? I doubt it. I think the calibration must get progressively worse as the speed increases. Nonetheless, it's always fun to see it that high.
