Hi all, thought I would share with you my recent experience in Fl. I
trailered Seawitch down to St. Petersburg to spend the Thanksgiving
week sailing on Tampa Bay. The weather was in the 80's during the day,
and sunny most of the time. I launched at the Municipal boat ramp on
Demens Landing in downtown St. Pete. Prior arangements got us a spot
in Harborage Marina, not far from Demens. On my final sail Fri. the
winds were 10-15, and predicted to be increasing as the day progressed
due to a major cold front rolling in. I had full sails and we were
moving along on a port tack. I decided it was time to start making way
towards Demens to haul out so we tacked to starboard. My 1st mate, my
7 year old grand daughter moved from the starboard side of the boat in
order to be on the high side with me. I was looking at the port side
stay and before my eyes, it pinged where it enters the swedge, and from
there in seconds it unraveled and the mast, boom and all the sails
droped into the water on the starboard side. I hauled the whole mess
up onto the boat, secured things with some of the line that was
floating aroound. A large motor boat came along, and offered to tow us
into the launch area. Once tied up to the dock, I was able to unravel
all the line and cables and get things back in order so I could haul
her out for the ride back to GA. Now, I will spend the winter working
on getting the boat re rigged. I will probably replace all stays since
I no longer feel like I can trust the existing rigging. This time I
want to have more easily adjustable stays. As always, I appreciate
your comments and the benefit of those of you who have more experience
than I.
=====
Time for a cool change!
Sandra(Seawitch #617)
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