I picked up my first mate, Blue, abou 10:00am and headed down to the boat. I explained what had happened the past week and we had decided that we would go out and have a good time no mater what the boat looked like. We arrived at the boat yard and loaded up the dinghy with supplies. Before we set out, I noticed the dinghy main line was tattered and should be replaced. I pulled a lsection of line from the back of the truck and we removed the old and replaced with the newer line. We went out and boarded Lil Provo. I told Blue that today he was going to play skipper for a while. I fell it was important for him to really start to learn more about the sailing f the boat. If something ever happened and he had to take over, he must know what to do and what to do in an emergency.
We went out and had wind immediately. It seems funny, but so often we go out and are one of the first boats out on the bay, when we look back at any other boats coming out of the mooring, they always seem to follow our lead. We had decided on our ride down, we would head for Perth Amboy as we don't travel too much back into this tighter area of the bay. When we were just clearing Keyport Harbot, Blue asked what happened to the lines to the Jib. I told him I had noticed that yesterday and am going to have to replace them. He said, they didn't look that bad last time we went out. Yes, but that was before the jib got messed up during the storm, the lines most likely took a beating as well. I was still at the helm and told Blue to grab the coil of rope from the cabin and lash the ends and find me the center, we'll replace the lines to the jib when we get back to the mooring. B;lue spent some time making sure the ends were taken care of so they would not fray and found the center of the line. I had him tie a small simple knot in the middle so it would be easy to find. After that I thought it was time for him to take over. I know how much he loves sailing the boat. Each time he learns something new.
Today we were riding the edge of the wind. He was enjoying sailing and trying to maintain keeping Lil Provo on the edge of the wind so we would not have to tack as much. Suddenly, something caught my eye halling from above and going into the water. "What the hell was that?" I exclaimed. I looked and saw a seagul not too far and though he had taken a dump on the fly. But a few minutes I looked up at the wind vane only to see the wind vane and VHF antenna were gone. That is what hit the water! The only thing I could think of is they removed it when working on the mast and didn't tighten back up as I tightened the hell out of it when I put it on in the spring. It seems I have to buy one every year.
We continued sailing and were now passing the route 35 bridge. The wind had dropped down a lot and we were coming close to the small lighthouse in this section of the bay. I told Blue it was time to head back and maybe we can hook up with some better wind. We turned starboard and headed toward New York City. This angle gave us some good wind. As we got about half way back we turned toward the Keyport Harbor. We were really moving now. Blue loved it, we were moving about 5.5 mph according to our GPS and were healed over. Just the way we like to sail. At one point I had to grab a line and hang off the side of the boat, but this is what sailing is all about. It was perfect! We saw one of our friend off to the south about a 1/2 mile away. I blew our air horn and waved, they waved back. It was at this point, SNAP! The starboard line to the jib broke. Blue paniced and asked what should he do. I told him just turn her into the wind and we'll fux it. I grabbed the line he had prepared earlier and had the new line in place within a few minutes and we were back sailing. I then had a discussion with Blue on why turning into the wind is important when you have a problem like this.
We continues sailing for another hour and then headed back to the mooring field. All went well and we secured the boat. After packing up the dinghy, we did our normal ride around the boat to check it out and to make sure nothing had been forgotten. This is a very good practice and has paid off time and time again. On the way back I saw the boat that Lil Provo had collided with during the past thunder storm. His damage was similar to Lil Provo with his rub rail all messed up, but he did not have any hull damage like Lil Provo. I took some pictures just in case and we proceeded back to the ramp.
Though we did have a few problems, we still had a fun day.
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