Century Club: Mariah Dean

Thought I'd practice single handing an FJ. Ended up talking about sailing with Rick and getting lessons about the coreolis effect in sailing, wind loft (how there is more wind at the top of the mast), when to use vang to increase or decrease twist, what the heck that 150 , 130 etc means for jibs (and the "j" factor- distance between forestay and mast? ..hope I remembered right), etc. Rick also shared that he has a youtube channel, Sailing Poor Richard, where he will be posting educational videos of sailing. Was cool to see the visualizations of sailing on engineering software! 

Then I went and did RC for the small boat race. The wind was very light. We shortened the course when it dropped below 5 kts. Randy and Chip were teaching me about clouds, how they can indicate wind, how to locate the clouds to be able to better start telling how far away they are (radar), and learned a lot about their awesome sailing histories! Next time I do RC I need to wear grimier clothes bc the anchor is so muddy haha 

Got some jib and spinnaker trimming practice in. First time back on a big boat in about a month? Very light winds and some light rain. 

Sailed on an international FJ this weekend in a regatta in Hoorn, NL. What a pretty harbour! An amazing experience sailing by windmills, historic houses, canal boats, old north sea fishing boats, etc... First day the winds were pretty light. I'd say our main goal was to keep the boat moving. The winds picked up on the second day so our goal shifted to "have fun, don't capsize!". Was so fun sailing with Dutch sailors and learning some Dutch sailing terms (I already knew "Schipper" bc it is like our "Skipper" but with one of those "schk" sounds we don't use in English). The group was so kind, friendly, and welcoming! It was a really nice experience and beautiful scenery. They had a USA sail for the boat I was on too! It was also cool seeing the flying dutchmen fly! They also taught me how to use a trapeze and held the boat stable for me to practice on land. 

Did a port tour of Rotterdam while my friend who was hosting me was at work. Wow that is a big port! It is like it's own city! Biggest port in Europe and one of the largest in the world. The weather was a bit less than ideal so the inside of the tour boat was super crowded. I sat up top the whole time, the only one to do so. Glad I beought my buff. Cool tour and learned more about the Netherlands trade and maritime industry. Included a picture I saw while walking past the Rotterdam maritime museum (did not go in) about a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. Doubt the backpack was intentionally part of the design but I could be wrong, regardless, thought it was a nice touch.