Texas 200 and First Impressions.
Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2015 7:54 pm
The Pocketship Candy-O sailed beautifully in its first real test. John Harris has designed an awesome boat! The Pocketship feels solid and is something a builder can really be proud of on the water. I am pretty sure it outperformed a majority of the 80+ boats in the event.
I did the the first half of the Texas 200. Camp 3 was at the yacht club very near my house. It was too tempting to call it a trip instead of doing the second half for a number of reasons, so that what I did. I'll sail the second half next year so I can say I completed the slowest Texas 200 by taking a year to do it.
In an event like this there are so many decisions that have to be made and being a newby to this type of event. It is constant problem solving without the advantage of experience. I found the correct answers enough times to stay out of trouble and make it all the way home (the halfway point of the event).
One of the reasons to bail out of the event was an uncommon prevailing wind that was going to cause some problems in the upcoming days without a bit of motorized aid. The other reasons were fatigue, lack of experience, a little intimidation, and a few things that needed to be different on the boat.
Things I will change on the boat to make an event like this:
Seat cushions! -after all day of sitting on a fiberglass/wood surface in bathing suit pants my buttocks felt like I had been sitting nekkid on a cheese grater for ten hours.
Tiller lock and or extension. -this could have given more options in my seating position and made the boat more stable when going down in the cabin to get something.
A smaller more accessible ice chest and remote for the radio. -going down into the cabin is a real pain solo.
Outboard motor. -some of the places we dock were really tricky and tight and the outboard is also a great safety item when things go wrong.
Brought too much gear. -should pack a bit lighter.
A crew.
Things I did that really work out well:
Stereo.
GPS with a transducer. The transducer for this event was well worth the trouble. There were a bunch of shallow areas.
Covering every inch of skin with fabric other than cotton. The sun was intense and the humidity was worse.
Anchor with a long line.
My entire electrical system was flawless. It included a solar panel, cigarette plug, usb charging outlet, volt meter, am/fm radio, fuse panel, cabin lights and nav lights.
Twin size memory foam for sleeping was really comfortable even in the heat.
Mosquito netting...until it fell down
I only sailed Candy-O once (finished the build a week earlier) before the start of the event and I must admit my sailing has been very limited since I was 12. So I was basically sailing with the skills of a 12 year old The skills come back quickly (as limited as they are), kinda like riding a bike.
It was so much fun to sail this boat I can't believe how much time I have wasted not doing any sailing all these years...well maybe not wasted I live in such a perfect city for sailing it is nice to be able to take advantage. This is going to be great fun for years to come.
I did the the first half of the Texas 200. Camp 3 was at the yacht club very near my house. It was too tempting to call it a trip instead of doing the second half for a number of reasons, so that what I did. I'll sail the second half next year so I can say I completed the slowest Texas 200 by taking a year to do it.
In an event like this there are so many decisions that have to be made and being a newby to this type of event. It is constant problem solving without the advantage of experience. I found the correct answers enough times to stay out of trouble and make it all the way home (the halfway point of the event).
One of the reasons to bail out of the event was an uncommon prevailing wind that was going to cause some problems in the upcoming days without a bit of motorized aid. The other reasons were fatigue, lack of experience, a little intimidation, and a few things that needed to be different on the boat.
Things I will change on the boat to make an event like this:
Seat cushions! -after all day of sitting on a fiberglass/wood surface in bathing suit pants my buttocks felt like I had been sitting nekkid on a cheese grater for ten hours.
Tiller lock and or extension. -this could have given more options in my seating position and made the boat more stable when going down in the cabin to get something.
A smaller more accessible ice chest and remote for the radio. -going down into the cabin is a real pain solo.
Outboard motor. -some of the places we dock were really tricky and tight and the outboard is also a great safety item when things go wrong.
Brought too much gear. -should pack a bit lighter.
A crew.
Things I did that really work out well:
Stereo.
GPS with a transducer. The transducer for this event was well worth the trouble. There were a bunch of shallow areas.
Covering every inch of skin with fabric other than cotton. The sun was intense and the humidity was worse.
Anchor with a long line.
My entire electrical system was flawless. It included a solar panel, cigarette plug, usb charging outlet, volt meter, am/fm radio, fuse panel, cabin lights and nav lights.
Twin size memory foam for sleeping was really comfortable even in the heat.
Mosquito netting...until it fell down
I only sailed Candy-O once (finished the build a week earlier) before the start of the event and I must admit my sailing has been very limited since I was 12. So I was basically sailing with the skills of a 12 year old The skills come back quickly (as limited as they are), kinda like riding a bike.
It was so much fun to sail this boat I can't believe how much time I have wasted not doing any sailing all these years...well maybe not wasted I live in such a perfect city for sailing it is nice to be able to take advantage. This is going to be great fun for years to come.