Saturday, March 1, 2014

A February sail on "The Donkey"

Well...it has been a while, hasn't it? We moved about a year ago and as a result, I have been pretty busy with house stuff, and setting up my new shop (YES!!!) so although I have been sailing, the Donkeyrider blog has been pretty stagnant. Actually, seeing as how the boat is essentially done, I won't have much reason to continue to update the D/R blog, other than for the continuing observations of learning how the Duckpunt sails, and making the resulting commentary as I see fit. 

So, I took "The Donkey" out on Friday for a sail on Greenlake, which since moving is only a block and a half from my house. This is so amazing because I can simply put the punt on a cart and roll it right down to the lake for a sail, and never have to deal with grunting the thing onto my car, and driving to a put-in. Greenlake is a beautiful little lake in Seattle, and is a charming sailing location. I feel so lucky to live here!

While thoroughly enjoying it, I am still struggling a bit with truly mastering the Duckpunt. Part of this stems from not sailing it often enough to really build a skill set. I also screw up something in the rigging nearly every time I take it out, which is embarrassing to admit since it is only an Opti rig, and does not get much simpler. Still, I manage to mis-rig something almost every outing! I also sail so conservative that I don't ever realize the hull shape's true potential. The punt must be sailed well heeled over to dig the chine in, and I am just not confident doing that when it is cold out, and I am terrified of the water. More practice is needed, although I am still having a blast, whether sailing the boat as good as I could be or not. It will be a long time indeed (if ever) until I am as good at sailing this boat as the Duckpunting chaps in Mersea. They are amazing!

I was able to film a bit on my outing, and I hope you enjoy watching the video. I hope to continue filming my punting trips, so hopefully there will be many more videos to come.

Click on the link below, sit back, relax, and enjoy!