Sailing Log #1

Today, we set our sails for the first cruise of the season. This was my first cruise aboard a Beneteau. Sailing instructions were delivered by the Columbia Yacht Club Cruising Fleet to round one or more of the water cribs, or not, and return to the dock for an informal gathering at 4:00pm. I exercised my “+1” privilege and brought along a friend for his first ever sailing experience.

The skipper was pretty hands-off as several of the guests were students from Columbia’s adult learn-to-sail program, Skipjacks. The Skipjacks program is a wonderful, socially-oriented, crash course in sailing. It’s held every spring at the Club and involves two in-class sessions where they teach the basics, parts of the boat, points of sail, and knots (both the speed kind, and the faster kind). After the two classroom sessions, the remaining seven weeks are spent on the water with each student performing as many jobs on a boat as they are comfortable.

Winds were out of the north, but the Lake was surprisingly calm. Temperatures were in the mid-60s and the forecast called for mostly sunny skies. We headed for the Four-Mile Crib with various people at the helm. Even my friend, much to his reluctance, got a turn. Though there was no call for clouds in the forecast, it turned grey on our course for the crib. Jackets and hats came out as we tacked toward the Harrison/Dever cribs to the north. Out came the provisions and we dined on chips with fresh guacamole, caprese salad skewers, and a cheese patter replete with delectable offerings.

By this time I had taken over as helmsmen. Most of the other members of the crew seemed to lose interest in piloting. I was very happy to fill in this gap as her skipper was enjoying his time with the crew telling stories and passing beverages. My mood for the sail was leisurely. The wind was being inconsistent and I chose to just keep the sails full and not really aim for our second mark. We ended up taking a more northwesterly course back toward Navy Pier.

We tacked again to attempt to recover our course for the second crib, but upon finding our wind, we were bound on a course due east. At this point, the wind was a bit too chilly for some and the appointed hour was approaching. An experienced crew member took over as we lowered our sails and proceeded to motor along the parade route at Navy Pier.

Returning to the dock was a simple matter and we were much more comfortable in safe harbor. We continued polishing off the various snacks and visited with others as they returned to the dock for the informal after party. I took the opportunity to make a visit to two members’ boats I had not yet seen. One, a 30′ Catalina, had joined our sail fleet mid-season last year and the other, a 28′ Monterey power cruiser, was spending her first time at the dock.

Dock time is a lot of fun on busy days. Everyone is hospitable, friendly, and you can easily drown away an entire afternoon among the crowds. These crowds, however, didn’t really indicate a dock party and we later discovered that the party had been moved to the bar at the club so everyone could keep warm. I didn’t really feel as though I’d missed out on the party. The great thing about the dock is that you can always make your own.