Kitty Williams: Adventurer Explorer

It was the perfect afternoon for a sail so I raced at breakneck speed to Kerr Lake. At Steele Creek Marina I boarded The Skidoo — my friend Thomas’ Catalina Capri 22. He untied her,  pushed us off the dock and hoisted the sails. I always have trepidation when using sail power to leave the marina. There is a moment when all the sail area creates strong drift but not enough water is traveling over the rudder to have helm. Mucho action and no control! Woo this is all part of the fun! It is important to know that sailing happens in slow motion. Somewhere between a sail’s pace and a tree’s. Its plenty of time to get worked up two or three times over what turns out to be nothing. When I’m ready to rip off the motor cover and start her up, the helm kicks in and I get control of the boat and can relax. And that is what sailing is: 50% relaxation, 31% exhilaration, 12% sheer boredom,  7% terror!

We cleared the end of the dock after several tacks — changes in direction because we were heading into the wind. Outside the marina the wind dropped out for about three minutes. This gave the crew just long enough to get on each other’s nerves. Ripples shot across the surface of the water and then a lovely breeze filled our sails and we were off. The wind was low and steady. The weather was perfect. The boat heeled slightly but not enough to be strenuous. We sailed 6.66 miles in about 2 hours 15 minutes then I needed to head back to Cary for cello lessons.

Getting back to the dock the wind was shifty and unpredictable. There is nothing better then saying “we don’t need no stinking motor” and docking under sail, but this afternoon was not the day. I cranked the motor and Thomas gave me a conciliatory “its good to run the motor every so often.” Docking was a little tricky with a gusty tail wind. Approaching the dock I threw it into neutral long before I normally would and we had plenty of momentum to make it to the dock. All in all a beautiful sail.