Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 09:02
Leaving the dock for the first time, especially after a major, major refit, is a nerve-wracking, stomach queezing, wake-up-with-lists kind of experience. So when Jan and I let go the lines for Pax's first sail, it was profoundly moving when the boat reminded me of her name. Pax. Peace.
As Jan gently pushed off the bow and I put the boat in reverse, Pax started a pirouette. Instead of backing straight downwind along the empty dock, we immediately starting turning to starboard, the little 2-blade prop spinning merrily and winding the bow around better than any bow thruster ever dreamed. I backed a moment, drifted to where the rudder almost touched, then moved the tiller and gave her a burst forward and after two more nudges for and aft, Pax swung around almost in place with her bow now pointing toward the harbor entrance. She was ready to go!
We sailed for an hour and a half, leaving one reef in the giant main and rolling out the full jib. Hasse & company did a beautiful job with the sails. We did 5.3 knots in 8 knots of breeze. With all the new rigging to check, our tacks were slow motion experiments, but the summer evening was perfect with a rosy glow on the mountains, 10 knots from the west and a mellow group of fellow sailors on the bay. Peace perfect.