Time for a sailing tale! I moved my M23 to a new marina on the Oregon coast this month. I have enjoyed 4 great weekends of sailing. I'm not going back to that tame lake we used to sail in. Yesterday, I took a non-sailing friend for the ride of his life. We had cloudless blue skies with temperatures in the low 60s and a fresh breeze screaming out of the north at 25 to 30 kts with gusts to 35 and 40. After we cleared the marina we raised a double reefed main and headed up the river (the Coast Guard had the bar closed due to large breaking waves rolling in). We were hard on the wind trying to claw our way up the river against the outgoing tide. Progress was slow so I decided to raise the jib, there was never a dull moment after that! We made pretty good time after that but I had to sail her like a dingy with the mainsheet in my hand at all times. The gusts hit with such tremendous force that I wound up constantly playing the main. After we heeled past the 45° mark several times I decided that the working jib was just too much (duh). I handed the tiller to my nervous friend, told him not to worry the boat can take way more than we can, and headed to the fore deck to bag the jib shouting steering instructions back to my friend and hooting like a child on a carnival ride. I dropped the jib into the cabin and headed back to the fore deck with the storm jib. We got that up without incident and proceeded along nicely until we lost a jib sheet in the middle of a tack. I don't know how the stopper knot untied itself, but somehow the two jib sheets tangled and the windward sheet whipped out through the block and started flailing around ahead of the mast. Again, I hand the tiller to my friend, tell him this is all a normal day of sailing, and head forward to retrieve the wayward sheet. My helmsman had some difficulty controlling the tiller and jib sheet simultaneously so I was on the foredeck with a wildly flogging jib and a flailing uncontrolled sheet wrapping itself round and round the leeward sheet. It took some time to catch it lose it catch it again and attempt to untangle it. I wasn't entirely successful with the untangling process but I did manage to rethread the sheet back to the cockpit and retake control of the boat. My greatly relieved helmsman grabbed his cell phone and started shooting video to show his children what a wild day he had. My friend was out with me because he needed some time away from his marital troubles so I asked him if I was doing a good job keeping his mind off his wife. He laughed and said he forgot all about her the whole time he was at the helm. When we finally turned and headed back down river on a broad reach he was amazed that things quieted down so much. I looked down at the gps and we were holding a steady 7 kts for quite a while. My friend said "you don't really like going downwind, do you?" I laughed and said "it depends". The main had the jib blanketed so I dropped the jib downwind, but it sure didn't take long to get back down near the marina. I decided to head back up river for a bit with just the main to unwind a little before heading back in. It was a great day. My boat handled everything that came her way (including all the skipper's mistakes) without any complaints. I could honestly look my friend in the eye and tell him that I never once was afraid, I had complete confidence in the boat, and I knew we weren't in over our heads at any time. I learned a bit more about how the M23 tacks with reduced sail and with no jib at all (she likes to be snapped smartly through the tack so a 35 kt gust won't stall her and turn her downwind instead). I also got to congratulate myself on the wisdom of wearing sailing gloves on a blustery day (playing the mainsheet could have been brutal without them). To top it off, as we motored back into my slip my friend said "I think I'll start looking for a little sailboat, that was a hoot". It was a great day and I am once again thankful that I have been blessed with such a fine boat. By the way, no other sailboats left the marina that day and my Montgomery 23 is just about the smallest boat there. Thank you Lyle Hess and Jerry Montgomery, your boat brought the crew safely to port again. With big smiles on their faces, I might add. Mark Dvorscak M23 #74 Faith
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