(no subject)
Instead of repeating a lot of what captain_squid said on his journal here and here, I figured I would add a few comments of my own with the pictures that I took during the trip.
Here is a shot of the Blanca just after we arrived and settled in. Squid and I posed for another shot just before sunset. The humidity was palpable, I was glad to be rid of it after that first night.
The next two shots are of our first day sailing. It was a beautiful day with light winds. I got a lot of experience working the sails in the morning, almost to the point that our instructor had to fight of the itch to enter us into the race that was going on that day. Instead, we opted to switch posts and head back home. The wind had died in the afternoon and we were not sure how much more to expect.
On day two, the wind picked up. In fact, instead of the 10-15 knots the previous day, we had 20-25 knots to face with stronger gusts to boot. Bob took us out anyway, because we were willing and showed some aptitude the previous day. This is Squid at the helm. You can see the chop on the bay, which should have afforded us some protection. Here is a shot forward. You may notice that the sail is bunched up at the bottom. That is called reefing, and you do that when you have winds that might over power the sail. While the trip was mildly harrowing at times, it was a blast. I am certainly grateful for the chance to do some sailing in adverse conditions. I will be way more confident should we find ourselves in a similar predicament.
Day three was a wash, literally. We did our exam and set to wait until the afternoon to see if it would lighten up. The day before, we had seen a very pretty boat and it seemed to have anchored itself across from us in the evening. Note that it has two sails off the front of the mast. That is called cutter-rigged. The second mast (mizzen) at the back makes the boat a ketch. I regret that I did not get any shots of it sailing.
Anyway, the afternoon sail did not pan out, so we went to the naval aviation museum. It was huge. I could have taken the rest of my roll there, but considering that it was geared for day photography, I only got the outside.
The next couple of shots are of us finishing up our skills requirements with Bob. It was another heavy wind day, so we only hoisted the jib. It was a nice enough sail though. Anchoring was interesting (I was forward so I did not get a shot). We managed to set it pretty easily even though the current made it look like it was slipping.
With 101 and 103 under our belts, 104 was on the Lady Marian. I tell ya, a 40-foot catamaran is large. Sleeping on a bed was nice for a change. While the couch on the Blanca was comfortable enough, the ability to stretch out was a welcome luxury.
Maneuvering such a large vessel could be intimidating. Squid had said as much to me earlier in the week. However, since it had an engine on each hull, I found it to be quite agile in tight corners.
Along with the smooth handling, its pace is equally, er, smooth. After a day's sailing, I was getting us back to the slip. As I was coming through the channel, a boat that had been refueling decided to pull away. Now, I tried to give it some room, but the channel there was a bit too narrow and I ended running my starboard hull aground on a sandbar. Fred helped me get the boat dislodged, and reassured me that the other guy probably should have waited for me to go by.
Anyway, this boat then anchored itself in the bay. Since it is not a public anchorage, this guy was painting himself to be a bit a rube. The kicker was when they hoisted their spinnaker and then attached of their kids to it. It was like a stationary parachute. Clever sure, but I was just waiting for the moment where the wind would spill from the thing and see the kid careen into the boat or the jet-skier nearby. (Picture to be attached)
Here is the obligatory wish you were here sunset shot. It is probably the best picture of the roll.
The last sailing day we got in with the catamaran, was a cruise to Bayou Chico for lunch. On the way we passed a military craft doing maneuvers with helicopters practicing landing over water.
Bayou Chico was interesting. It had a narrow channel and covered slips. The restaurant was okay, though we did seem to hit it as it was being slammed by a large group. Chatting with the guy fiddling with the Beneteau 40 in the photo, was pretty cool. A sort of mutual admiration for each others vessels.
On the way out, we sort of followed a tug that had come to take a couple of loads of scrap iron somewhere.
One thing that Squid did gloss over on our penultimate day was that after dinner, we had gone down the strip to do a round of putt-putt. Most of the week we had spent our evenings studying while Lemur would read or play games. This was a nice change of pace. Squid, though complaining about being tired, trounced the both of us. I honestly thought that a couple holes had it in for me because I would putt a good shot only to be thwarted by the lip of the cup.
On the last day we had 30-35 knot sustained winds. As Squid said, Fred was satisfied that we had the necessary anchoring training with Bob to translate it to the catamaran, so we took the test and then parted ways.
We ran into Bob as we were finishing packing up and got someone to take a group photo. I had a great time with Bob and will likely try to keep in touch. He may be instrumental in guiding us on our next selection of sailing vessels.
After packing up, we decided to check out the beach. Lemur had spent one day there already but I had not really had a chance to soak it all in. Considering the violet weather, it was likely to be even more impressive. The first picture is of the beach itself. I took it off of a pier that runs a long way out from shore. It gave a great vantage even though it did not serve too well as a wind break. This other shot is of the water tower. Unfortunately, I think we walked a little too far from it to see that it is clearly painted a beach ball. Cute, no?
It was a great week. I learned a lot and felt like I accomplished something. Several somethings even.
And... Pensacola may very well turn into a destination I visit with a degree of frequency. I look forward to going back there without the yoke of being a student. In fact, I have a feeling I’ll be finding several places like this with my new-found certification. The world just got a little bigger, and I am eager to see where the winds might take me.
Here is a shot of the Blanca just after we arrived and settled in. Squid and I posed for another shot just before sunset. The humidity was palpable, I was glad to be rid of it after that first night.
The next two shots are of our first day sailing. It was a beautiful day with light winds. I got a lot of experience working the sails in the morning, almost to the point that our instructor had to fight of the itch to enter us into the race that was going on that day. Instead, we opted to switch posts and head back home. The wind had died in the afternoon and we were not sure how much more to expect.
On day two, the wind picked up. In fact, instead of the 10-15 knots the previous day, we had 20-25 knots to face with stronger gusts to boot. Bob took us out anyway, because we were willing and showed some aptitude the previous day. This is Squid at the helm. You can see the chop on the bay, which should have afforded us some protection. Here is a shot forward. You may notice that the sail is bunched up at the bottom. That is called reefing, and you do that when you have winds that might over power the sail. While the trip was mildly harrowing at times, it was a blast. I am certainly grateful for the chance to do some sailing in adverse conditions. I will be way more confident should we find ourselves in a similar predicament.
Day three was a wash, literally. We did our exam and set to wait until the afternoon to see if it would lighten up. The day before, we had seen a very pretty boat and it seemed to have anchored itself across from us in the evening. Note that it has two sails off the front of the mast. That is called cutter-rigged. The second mast (mizzen) at the back makes the boat a ketch. I regret that I did not get any shots of it sailing.
Anyway, the afternoon sail did not pan out, so we went to the naval aviation museum. It was huge. I could have taken the rest of my roll there, but considering that it was geared for day photography, I only got the outside.
The next couple of shots are of us finishing up our skills requirements with Bob. It was another heavy wind day, so we only hoisted the jib. It was a nice enough sail though. Anchoring was interesting (I was forward so I did not get a shot). We managed to set it pretty easily even though the current made it look like it was slipping.
With 101 and 103 under our belts, 104 was on the Lady Marian. I tell ya, a 40-foot catamaran is large. Sleeping on a bed was nice for a change. While the couch on the Blanca was comfortable enough, the ability to stretch out was a welcome luxury.
Maneuvering such a large vessel could be intimidating. Squid had said as much to me earlier in the week. However, since it had an engine on each hull, I found it to be quite agile in tight corners.
Along with the smooth handling, its pace is equally, er, smooth. After a day's sailing, I was getting us back to the slip. As I was coming through the channel, a boat that had been refueling decided to pull away. Now, I tried to give it some room, but the channel there was a bit too narrow and I ended running my starboard hull aground on a sandbar. Fred helped me get the boat dislodged, and reassured me that the other guy probably should have waited for me to go by.
Anyway, this boat then anchored itself in the bay. Since it is not a public anchorage, this guy was painting himself to be a bit a rube. The kicker was when they hoisted their spinnaker and then attached of their kids to it. It was like a stationary parachute. Clever sure, but I was just waiting for the moment where the wind would spill from the thing and see the kid careen into the boat or the jet-skier nearby. (Picture to be attached)
Here is the obligatory wish you were here sunset shot. It is probably the best picture of the roll.
The last sailing day we got in with the catamaran, was a cruise to Bayou Chico for lunch. On the way we passed a military craft doing maneuvers with helicopters practicing landing over water.
Bayou Chico was interesting. It had a narrow channel and covered slips. The restaurant was okay, though we did seem to hit it as it was being slammed by a large group. Chatting with the guy fiddling with the Beneteau 40 in the photo, was pretty cool. A sort of mutual admiration for each others vessels.
On the way out, we sort of followed a tug that had come to take a couple of loads of scrap iron somewhere.
One thing that Squid did gloss over on our penultimate day was that after dinner, we had gone down the strip to do a round of putt-putt. Most of the week we had spent our evenings studying while Lemur would read or play games. This was a nice change of pace. Squid, though complaining about being tired, trounced the both of us. I honestly thought that a couple holes had it in for me because I would putt a good shot only to be thwarted by the lip of the cup.
On the last day we had 30-35 knot sustained winds. As Squid said, Fred was satisfied that we had the necessary anchoring training with Bob to translate it to the catamaran, so we took the test and then parted ways.
We ran into Bob as we were finishing packing up and got someone to take a group photo. I had a great time with Bob and will likely try to keep in touch. He may be instrumental in guiding us on our next selection of sailing vessels.
After packing up, we decided to check out the beach. Lemur had spent one day there already but I had not really had a chance to soak it all in. Considering the violet weather, it was likely to be even more impressive. The first picture is of the beach itself. I took it off of a pier that runs a long way out from shore. It gave a great vantage even though it did not serve too well as a wind break. This other shot is of the water tower. Unfortunately, I think we walked a little too far from it to see that it is clearly painted a beach ball. Cute, no?
It was a great week. I learned a lot and felt like I accomplished something. Several somethings even.
And... Pensacola may very well turn into a destination I visit with a degree of frequency. I look forward to going back there without the yoke of being a student. In fact, I have a feeling I’ll be finding several places like this with my new-found certification. The world just got a little bigger, and I am eager to see where the winds might take me.