Stavanger, Wednesday
Summing up the season
It has been a short but active season for Frøken Sørensen. Since her first sail, the 27. July, we have accumulated 21 outings in her. From time to time during my project, I had my doubts if this was a wise thing to do. I needed not have worried; the old Miss turned out to be a good-natured lady mostly. Thanks to her beam, she has power enough to carry some sail upwind, and thanks to her long waterline of 6.3m, she has some speed as well. I might try to add a bit ballast to her, partly to produce a bit more muscles when close-hauled, and partly to trim her bow down and stern up a bit.
The sail itself behaves extremely well. Unlike Johanna’s sail, I can hoist and lower this one while under way as long as there is a second hand to handle sheet and tiller.
The hybrid aluminium-wood mast has also been a grand success. I did not have to put as much as a screw at any of her ends or at the joint.
They say that the devil is in the details. I this case however, the Devil must have cooperated: The details have summed up to make an extremely user-friendly day-boat, safe enough to not scare me (too often), easy enough to handle, and quick and comfortable enough to let us enjoy the trips.
I attach this and that photo, taken from a bypassing boat, in August. The wind here is just a low F3. Actually, this was one of the fewer occasions when I could set full sail. The photos are is semi hi-resolution to let you zoom in on details.
Now there seems to be a couple of fine days ahead of us, but then I must make ready for hauling FS ashore. I have already brought the mattresses home...
Cheers, Arne
PS: At the last trip, two days ago, Ketil came with me. He is now doubt a better upwind helmsman than I am so in the steady F3-F4 we did seriously well!