NewSailingDiary

The day had finally come to put all of the hard work of Bonnie,
Mike, Larry, Robbie and myself on the boat and into the winds of
Walker. The overnight temps had put the 2-3" mush surface of
Walker back to a solid state. At least it appeared that way. Bonnie,
Mike and I tromped around the ice, skuffed our heels, and jumped
up and down. It was the worst ice I have been on this season. The
ice was shelly, hollow and riddled with snowmobile tracks. With the
season getting short and anxious to try the wing we rigged Yellow
Fever. Getting the 75 pound wing stepped and up was a non event
that Mike and I had done a couple of times in my yard. I put on my
usual attire and bailed into the cockpit as Mike and Bonnie pushed
me off and into the elements. I could barely make headway
crashing and smashing through the deep shell ice. There was a
good Westerly breeze but not knowing how to sail the wing and
dealing with the shell ice made for a poor combination. I continued
North in hopes that I could find some solid ice. After an hour of
crashing, smashing and pushing I came to the conclusion that
there was no good ice on Walker and I was a sucker. As I neared
the ramp I remembered seeing some good ice along the shoreline.
There was a strip about 20' wide that followed the shoreline of
what we call "Windsurf Beach." I tried to work the narrow strip but
being this close to shore the wind was coming from a different
direction about every 50' and there were two overhanging trees to
dodge even if I did get the boat moving.
Bonnie saw that this was going to be a non event and Mike had
made plans as well so they offered to help me unrigg the wing. I
said "what ta hell", I took the day off from work and I'm gonna sail
even if I have to do it on a piece of ice 20' wide and 100' long. So I
had coffee, talked with myself for awhile and hopped in the boat
heading due East to maybe find some smooth ice on the Eastern
shore. At this point I had not got what I would consider a good ride
from the wing but my sails never worked very good with both
runners stuck through shell ice either. As I pushed the boat East I
caught a good puff of wind and hit some hard ice all at the same
time. I jumped in making adjustments the best way I new how, flap
at 30 degrees and wing at, well lets just turn the damn thing and
see what happens. The wing seemed to tell me where it wanted to
be. The wing would weathervane into the wind and by turning the
wheel that adjusts the wing just a bit to windward would make her
go. There was a definete sweet spot to the wing adjustment in
lighter wind but in the heavier puffs the wing would accelerate and
deaccelerate as I turned it almost like a throttle. As I was about to
enter the doors of wing heaven something up ahead caught my
eye. Oh F___ I said to myself as I hit the pedals and came into the
wind. The fear of hitting a breather hole was soon overcome by the
fact that I was sailing straight into the wind. Wow I thought to
myself, this is cool but I need to stop this thing and check that
hole. As it turned out there was no need to check the hole because
they were everywhere and I did coast to a stop at the next one. I
could crack the ice over them with my heel but didn't feel it was
anything I should be sailing over or even close to. Any place I found
ice solid enough to sail on was riddled with drain holes just like the
one pictured.

Feeling that I was pushing my luck being on ice like this alone, I
made my way back to the ramp, drank some more coffee and
relished the short ride that I had. Concerns as to how I would get
the heavy wing down alone diminished as I threaded my now
obselete sheetline, of all things, through the tang on my rear beam
and into the side stay allowing me to lower one side of the wing
and catch the other as it came down. This system worked fine
and the wing came down to rest as planned.

My overall impression of the wing today was that it is very weak in
light winds. No doubt this was due to ice conditions and lack of
driver experience but still I get the feeling that it won't be much in
light winds. My boat felt very heavy today with the added weight of
the wing and controls which may also be a problem in light wind.
The boat would not go unless I pushed it hard and built up some
apparent wind. Once the boat reached 10-12 mph it felt like the
wing was feeding itself and became a different animal. In the short
time that I got the wing moving it responded very well to the
controls and was an absolute joy to drive. The wing control could
be held very easily with one hand, but a loosen of the the grip on
the wheel would allow the wing to sheet out. It looks like pointing is
going to be great and speed control is a feature that amazed me.
The wing is large and cumbersome to handle but I do feel trailer
renovations and a small dolly will help with that aspect of the
operation.
A big thankyou to Mike, Bonnie, Larry, Robbie, and
Travis(contributor of aluminum) for spending their weekends,
storm days and off time working on the wing project. Without their
involvement in the project it would have never been ready for the
ice this season. Though we are not a club and have no credentials
we do have the first wing to ever sail Walker Pond. Nice job guys!!

And a special thanks to Jonh Eisenlohr for sharing his ideas, plans
and most helpfull advice with us.