Our friend was patient about the number of trips we needed to get acquainted with Tico Time. When he called us on a Saturday to say he was leaving on Wednesday for Costa Rica, we did our best not to panic. We were at the tail end of monstrous weather that had lasted from February and into March. We'd done our best to mitigate damage and make things livable on our Rvrlivin home on the Columbia as well as ShirleyCottage on Mt. Hood where we spend much of our time as well. When he called we were on Mt. Hood.
We asked if we could come aboard one more time while he was still here. We had been out briefly with our friend and felt confident in the motor. I wanted to open the sails and make sure the rigging worked and find out about more than motoring. We weren't ready to bring her home that day - still lots of outfitting needed on our dock.
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| Exploring Tico Time on a grey NorthWest day in the Multnomah Channel. She'll be moving upriver to the mouth of the Gorge where the Columbia River exerts the forces of nature more robustly. |
We drove from the Mountain to the Multnomah Channel and boarded Tico Time getting acquainted with electronics, the engine, the head and just sitting in the cabin. We learned that our friend had not been sailing for a while, but just motoring out.
He suggested we clean out the folds in the covered mainsail. It was stiff and took every bit of my strength to hoist the heavy sail the length of the mast. Out dropped birds nests and wasps nests. We had arrived with rubber gloves. We used our friends hose to rinse away the sticks, mud, feathers and dead insects that rained down from the sail. Still the weather was just right for the task. A bad day for sailing, but a good windless day to clean while docked.
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| Ick! Birdsnests, mud, dead insects rain down as I raise the mainsail after a winter of non-use. Rubber gloves are fine for cleaning, but sailing gloves they're not! |
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| The furler for the jib seems stuck at the top of the mast; the windvane has not survived the assault by birds so there's quite a bit of work needed at the top of the mast. |
The sails on the boat all need work to get them to glide and raise without strain. Lots to learn. Boat ownership! So glad we had started out small! Kayaks and canoes don't take much maintenance. Mis Sueños was a little more work. Each time she was sailed, prep time included complete rigging, as I chose to remove the sails each time. Now another step with a larger boat, but it was nice that have a little time on the water in baby steps. As a member of the Oregon Women's Sailing Association (OWSA), I've actively taken great classes and helped out as a volunteer along with enjoying the Wednesday Night Sails (WNS).
Just the same, though I've been sailing often the last few years, I was feeling like everything was brand new. Michael and I buried ourselves in resources and support. We found websites such as A Beginners Guide to Sailing http://howtosail.wordpress.com/ to review and refresh ourselves on the very simplest of terms. I am the one with more sailing experience and Michael is willing to be first mate. He will bring a wealth of knowledge on the technical side, such as his ham radio experience and high aptitude for all things mechanical. I will be his willing student as we share our strengths.
Among our resources is a little red book that looks like the "See Dick and Jane..." book. It's watercolour illustrations, simple text, and informative bite-size chapters make it a delight to peruse. I decided it would make some perfect bedtime reading. It doesn't need to be read in order, so I simply opened the book midway through. To my horror was a picture of a boat with water pouring into the stern and the bow raising above the waterline. I showed it to Michael. We took turns waking each other up all night. We both had nightmares invoked by our first grade level sailor book.
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