Beautiful day on the bay so we decided to take St. Jacques out for a cruise, test out the oars and spritsail.
Skipper forgot her treasure magnet on a string, I ran back inside to get it and she took a nap.
I rowed for a bit, we ducked into the bayou and then Skipper took another nap.
When she woke up worked on shifting ballast to find the best balance with various centerboard and rudder positions. The area we sailed in today was very shallow, maybe 2 feet, so the rudder and centerboard had to stay up a bit. The boat sailed better with Skipper aft and me amidships, and i could move athwartships on the center seat as needed for heel on a reach or to help roll though a tack. A small amount of movement forward could help finish a tack, but too much weight forward all the time, like sitting on the forward seat, slowed down the tacks with the rudder partially up. We also played with the sheeting angle, and found that running the sheet back to the lee side quarter knee helped limit curl in sail. Later in the day we put a belaying pin on each knee and tried running the sheet around that, control was better but the sheet could pop loose at times. We will be looking for a sheet hook or maybe different spot for the pin, keeping in mind that it is still a small open boat and we don't need to get too fancy.
I went overboard to get some video, Skipper did a great job in the shoal water swinging by for a few photo passes.
I am still surprised by the amount of room in the boat, and very pleased with the stability and versatility. A great boat to pirate about in.
Miles Rowed 1.5/Total 6.0
Complete Log of ST. JACQUES
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