We returned to Annapolis Sailing School to rent a Rainbow 24 and practice the skills we learned over the summer. It was well worth the trip as we need the experience! This was the first time that Sara and I sailed together without anyone else with us. It was an overcast day with winds from the northeast at about 15 knots. So we went ahead and reefed the main before heading out. We got out to the bay pretty quickly on a broad reach practicing jibing the whole way out. Once we got out out of the traffic we pulled in to a beam reach and continued to jibe and tack back and forth. I attempted a man overboard figure eight maneuver but didn’t want to luff the sails as the wind was causing them to whip sharply.
Coordinating the turns and walking the boom over took some getting used to. When Sara was at the helm and walking the boom over for the first time she didn’t let go of the mainsheet and was pulled right across the bench! I turned around to see what was happening and her shoulder was bumped up against the leeward cockpit coaming!
As we were returning to the dock we had our first experience heeling! It took us quite by surprise! I asked Sara to pull the jib in to close hauled as I turned up into the wind and pulled the main in. Sure enough we heeled right over and I struggled with the tiller for a while to figure out what to do! I was too surprised to even estimate how far over we were heeling or to even think through what needed to be done. This happened twice more as I struggled to figure out the balance! It wasn’t until we were driving back home and Sara was reading about heel that we finally got to think through it and figure out what to do next time.
In all it was a great first experience. We definitely want to get out and explore more of the bay. It was tough staying within the bounds of the school when we wanted to just sail off into the sunset. Looking forward to the Spring when we can get Rose Anne in the water!