Quick solo sail before the weather changed ... just put the mainsail up to see how things would work with only one sail

July 3, 2010: Quick Solo Sail in Howe Sound ... got the mainsail up to practice single handing

Solo sailing once again ... the wind was up a lot, so I reefed the main ... sensible ... but then the wind dropped to nothing and I decided to shake the reef out ... within a few minutes the wind was up way too much ... dropped the sails which got all tangled up and ended up motoring home ... at least I made it out safe

June 26, 2010: Solo sailing once again ... first there was no wind, then there was way too much wind resulting in dropping the sails in a panic as the boat heeled way over ... too much to do by myself. Made a mistake of not judging the tides, currents, waves and wind which were all against me on the motor home ... if only someone else had been there to help me untangle the sail I could have sailed once the wind dropped to something reasonable.

Taking Chris out for his first time on a small boat

June 20, 2010 ... trip with Chris ... teaching him how to tack and gybe. Pretty successful for his first time out

Solo sail around Passage Island ... first time I got both the sails up by myself

June 19, 2010: Solo Sail but this time getting both the mainsail and the jib up ... at times it was a little much to operate everything, but I made it

The 2010 Round Bowen Race. There were 125 boats at the start and I was able to pass one around the other side of Bowen ... not bad for my first race.

At the start line ... going north while all the rest of the boats were going south

Right side of the starting line

Middle of the madness of boats

Left side of the starting line

The fleet in the distance ... amazing how quickly I slipped backwards

The 2nd to last boat was still a long way behind the rest of the fleet ... actually caught and passed that boat round the far side of Bowen

Doug at the helm allowing me to goof around with the camera

The welcoming committee when we came home

Front page of the Undercurrent showing various pictures of the race

How can you possibly compete against this boat

Front page of Bite showing the start

The race results for the cruising class ... next year I want to finish and get a time

The route around Bowen Island in the race ...Racing around Bowen Island in the 22nd annual sailing race. Wonderful day out on the water. 37 Tacks, 17 Gybes, 27.6 miles, 8 1/4 hours to sail an 18 mile course around Bowen Island ... We didn't make the 7 1/2 hour time limit and got a Did Not Finish ranking ... Officially we were the LAST boat to cross the line, but several other boats had turned their engines on while Doug and I sailed the entire course so I don't feel we were totally last. Total trip 30.8 miles, 9 1/2 hours.