1st sail, 2011... dude where's my mast

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This afternoon, after battling Hwy 70 traffic on land, the New Bern NJROTC sailors got underway. The coaches had the boats already launched, to save time (don't get too accustomed to this) and we only had about 45 minutes of sailing time on the river. However, in that short time frame, every sailing cadet had the chance to take the helm.... everybody learned a bit more about all those ropes & stuff too.

(Our Javelin #2 w Coach Hittner, nice background of New Bern landmarks)


This is the first time both Javelins hit the water together. These boats are a little bigger (less than a foot longer) than the FJs but much beamier & heavier. 3 cadets and a coach filled up these boats, but they move right along & really sail... until the mast falls down, anyway! Javelin #2 had a side-stay pin fall out, splashing the whole rig in the water. No major damage though, and at least it waited until the end of the day!





We put 5 of our Flying Juniors in the water, 2 with qualified cadet skippers from previous semesters, and 3 with coaches skippering... although the cadets got a chance to swap places and take the helm themselves!


Could we use a little more wind?







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Here's Javelin #1, the "USS Craig-Bob," with Coach Murphy and cadets getting the jib sheets right.
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FJ #2 with a cadet at the helm... holding a good course, sails set correctly for their point of sail... still, there's something wrong with this picture... umm, wait, I know! They are too close to the railroad bridge!! Does anybody remember any of the coaches saying something about that? Weren't there some buoys or something out there??!?








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Here's our two qualified cadet skippers, looking pretty good. You can see from the bow wave that the FJs move right along even in relatively light winds. They'd go even better if the crews eased the jibs to match the mainsails (hint). The two Javelins are in the background, close in to the Bridgeton shore.


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Here's a good shot of the two Javelins, with our base Bridgeton Harbor Marina in the background. The cadets have these boats moving well, on a close-hauled point of sail. In this photo, we are looking almost straight upwind.

Next week will be a break due to the half-day of school.

Now... how many are looking forward to the next sailing day?

... posted by Assistant Coach Douglas King