The launch went much better than the first outing. I installed a trolling motor plug on the boat and pre-wired the motor so I didn’t have to remove the engine cover to connect the battery wires. This was a huge time-saver. The engine ran rough for a while, but eventually smoothed out and actually started idling at the end of our voyage. I had raised the transom about 4” and this helped a little, but it could still be higher. I figured out that the motor sits about right with the keel down and resting in the water, but with the keel up and while under way, the motor seems too low. I’m not sure what to do about this. I also tightened a bolt so the motor does not steer anymore. This was a big help so just the rudder steers the boat. I had to play with it a while to get just the right angle so it would not push the boat one way or the other. Not being in the middle causes it to push the boat to the right when the motor is straight.
The wind was just about perfect for a second outing in the boat. I raised the big jib and it was awesome. It wraps all the way around the shroud lines and really moves the boat in light wind! It was pretty hot so my wife wanted to take a swim. I wasn’t really ready to stop sailing so I asked her if she wanted me to pull her for a while. I threw a rope off the back and told her to jump in and hang on. She liked the idea and enjoyed it for a while until I made a joke about trolling for alligators. This ended her pulling session immediately. I gave her the tiller and told her to point toward a water tower and I jumped in with just my skivvies and a life jacket. I was really scooting through the water. I am almost convinced that I could have got up on a plane with a kneeboard under sail. Once again I forgot to put the weather vane on the top of the mast and also the battens in the sail. We survived without them.
After reading some of your posts, I decided to install a downhaul on the jib system. This was an improvement. All I did was get some small rope and install a small pulley on the jib connector up front. When I attached the jib hanks, I ran the small rope through each of them and tied it at the top. I ten ran the other end of the rope back to the cabin under the pop-top. This way, when I was ready to bring the jib down, I just walked toward the mast inside the cabin, released the jib halyard and slowly pulled the down-haul line as I let out the jib halyard. I then pulled the jib lines inside the cabin along with the back o f the jib and I never had to get out on the front of the boat. Brilliant.
So Her Majesty wanted to go fishing. We motored up into a leeward cove, dropped the anchor and went to casting. She caught the first fish and that brought smiles all around. I caught the next one and it was a little bigger so I just tossed it in the ice chest. She came over and looked and commented that mine was bigger than hers. I told her “no, I believe yours is the big one.” She bought it and the harmony meter remained high.
We ate dinner at the dockside restaurant at the marina. This was nice and we watched lots of boats go by. We were again the only sailboat on the lake. It was dark when loading up the boat and the LED nav lights I installed this week worked great. Thanks for the suggestions there also. I’m still not happy with the trailer. It seems the boat is too high in the front and it doesn’t sit in the middle all the time. I’m going to do some cutting and welding this weekend that should help the loading-up process. At least this time both fenders stayed welded to the trailer. The biggest surprise was that Her Majesty reminded me to unplug the trailer lights before backing into the water. Spending the night in the boat on the trailer on the 4th of July at a public boat ramp in B.F. Texas must have made an impression on her!