Blown away

So we motored along the ICW to get back to Tampa Bay. We opened a couple of the draw bridges, which was kind of fun. It is sort of like playing with the CB radio when you're a kid only the guy on the other side stakes you seriously and they stop traffic to let you through.

Finally, mid afternoon the wind picked up. We were getting 10 knot winds and had to compensate about 20 degrees up wind just to keep on our planned course.

We sailed back to our destination and the wind picked up even more (15 to 20 knots). The boat was heeling so we had to adjust our sail plan to depower the sails.

To maximize power of the sails, you want sails trimmed perfectly and close to the wind. You want them a little loose to catch as much wind as possible in light winds. Essentially, you want a big parachute to catch the wind.

Powering up the main sail is done by:
1. Slightly lowering the main or loosening the Cunningham to let the part of the sail next to the mast bow out a little.
2. loosening the outhaul to let the part of the sail next to the boom bow out a little.
3. Tightening the boom vang to eliminate twist.

To depower, do the opposite.

The only way to power up the job is to move the jib fairlead forward to eliminate twist.

So we played games with our sails and finally made it back to our starting point.