There was something special about this sail, but I'm not sure what it was. We waited until later in the day to launch than we normally do. The weather forecast was suggesting fairly light winds of 10 kts in the afternoon hours and we didn't see any point in hurrying ourselves just to drift around in the Pacific.

We arrived at the Los Alamitos Bay ramp at around noon and had Slowdance rigged and ready to launch by 1300. It's difficult to tell what the wind is like in the open water from the ramp, so we rigged the lapper in anticipation of a 10 kt day and a casual sail.

This was also the first day to try out the new 5hp 4 cycle Honda outboard we acquired for Slowdance. The motor, of course, has a breaking-in period so we needed to take it easy on it. This turned out to be a non-issue as the motor seemed so much more powerful than the 4hp Johnson 2 cycle we have been using that half throttle was plenty for moving the P19 along. The reverse in the Honda was a welcome change from having to spin the Johnson around, too. The Alamitos Bay ramp doesn't have finger piers, so we have to do a bit more maneuvering by motor than one might normally have to do at a better ramp.

As we motored out into the open water it became apparent that the forecast was a little off in predicting wind speed for the day. My guess is it was more like 15 to 18 kts with plenty of chop and whitecaps, even inside the Long Beach break water. We saw one prudent skipper in a 16 or 18 foot day sailor coming back into the harbor under a reefed mainsail, only, and making good time. We decided to start off with reduced sail, changed to the small jib and raised the main with a single reef. This turned out to be about right for the conditions and Slowdance cheerfully made close to hull speed while tacking up towards San Pedro.

It was a fairly wet day on the water with much flying spray from the chop. There were the usual sailboat races happening and it was fun to watch the larger boats trying to carry too much sail in an attempt to fetch the next mark a little faster than the other guy. We did see one casualty from the little bit of extra wind and that was a capsized Hunter 170.

We didn't see the boat capsize and I don't know what they did wrong. It was being crewed by three fairly big guys, so it wasn't for lack of crew. The sailors were all okay, but with the boat completely capsized and the sails still raised it was a problem trying to get it righted again. The rescue boats arrived on the scene quickly and righted the boat, but apparently dismasted it in the process.

The Hunter crew, their boat and the rescue boats showed up at Davies ramp while we were getting Slowdance ready for the road.

Maybe it was the reminder that conditions at sea can be somewhat unpredictable and that there is a challenge in doing it right that made the day's sail a little different. Whatever it was, it felt great having been out on the sea even though it was a bit choppy and wet. Sometimes those days are the best and they are certainly the ones we are likely to remember the longest.

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