Last night was a wild ride. Today was just the opposite, virtually no wind. This afternoon I figured I'd motor for a while, charge the batteries and make water.

About 5, I had my afternoon beer. About 6 after enjoying the late afternoon and because the wind was so light about 7 to 10 kts and the jib was flopping around I decided to roll it up. As I prepared to get everything ready I noticed the travler track on the port side was lifting off the deck. I pulled the mainsail car to starboard to take the load off the 2 bolts that had come loose. And got out my boxes of hardware to get a couple of nuts to bolt the track back down. Just as I was getting ready to work on the track the wind picked up into the mid to high 20s. The boat rounded up and my boxes of hardware crashed to the floor spilling nuts and bolts everywhere. At that point I was more concerned about a run away boat in 28 kts of wind with gusts well over 30. Oh yeah it was raining sideways.

I did get the boat under some semblance of control, at least enough that I could turn my attention back to bolting down the travler track.

What started out as maybe a half hour replacing a couple of nuts turned into 2 1/2 hours of tying in a second reef in the main, rolling up the jib, adjusting and re adjusting my course, and fixing the travler track all in winds that would be a challenge to just sail in. Then picking up the few hundred nuts, bolts, and other hardware that wea strewn all over the salon floor. And getting a chance to dry off and get out of the soaking wet clothes I was wearing.

I love sailing and the challenges it brings as well as the rewards for overcoming those challenges. Today, although a rather frantic few hours was one of those days I wouldn't trade for anything. 😊