This post is from one of our members Daniel Friesen on sailing Ragna. The chart is his progress recorded by tracking his outings using Strava on July 1. The following is his report on that days sail.
Today I had the most exciting and fun sail that I’ve had so far – the wind was pretty strong (looks like Jericho shows about 16 knots average, high of 21 knots), and the waves were huge! That boat handled it all SO well, that I was almost never scared – the worst was when I was almost back to the harbour, with following seas and the ‘dynamic ballast’ was sloshing to and fro in the bilge – there were a few moments when my windward rail was nearly submerged, which would likely not have been as fun. I wonder if the incoming tide was causing a bad current. I finally took off across the waves and that was much more stable, though then I had to be extra watchful for traffic in the channel.
Out in the open bay, the waves were their usual confused mess, but Ragna was completely unperturbed by it, never straying from the course I set for her, although she does like to give me a taste of the saltwater – I got pretty wet from some of the splashes.
When I was hoisting sail it was again much more difficult than it should have been – I finally got it hoisted by since I was doing so out in the waves I didn’t take the time to figure out the cause, besides seeing the twisted lines. When I got back I looked more closely and found that the pin holding the sheave at the masthead was out again. I’ve taken the mast into the boat shed and cleaned out the hole and pin, readying it for fastening. I thought about epoxying it but wanted to check with Arnt before doing that. Perhaps a plate similiar to what was used for the centre board pin would be more maintainable in the long run? I mentioned the twisted lines – I think a swivel is needed so that if one of the lines twist it doesn’t bind the other.
Thanks (yet) again for access to this terrific boat! Every time I’ve had it out someone has complimented this fine craft – and I heartily agree!
PS: Arnt has a plan and will work on it this Saturday July 4th.
Oarlock and Sail Wooden Boat Club 