First Single Hand Trip

Dec. 7, 2008 -- On the same day that was supposed to live in infamy, I didn't purposely start out trying to singlehand Scarlette.

But, that's how it worked out.

The plan was to have three people join me for a three to four hour cruise along the coast of Chatan, Okinawa on the East China Sea. I had been using this as my area to learn how to sail Scarlette -- like a 15-year-old uses an empty mall parking lot to learn how to drive.

Although initial plans called for a crew of four, those plans were scuttled when -- by 7 a.m. after waiting from the 5:45 a.m. showtime -- my car was the lone car in the Kadena Marina parking lot.

So what to do?

I checked Buoy weather one last time and here's what the buoy @ 27.0 N and 127.5 E (I call this the north buoy) had for weather:

Breezy whitecapping conditions with moderate choppy seas. Moderate short period waves. Winds from North East from 13 to 18 knots. Seas North North West from 9 feet at 9 second interverals.

So I rigged up Scarlette and headed South along the Sunabe sea wall.

The trip was a real confidence builder for me and showed me how much my sailing skills have improved. I'm ready to single-hand in mild weather, easily.

Trip Statistics
Trip Started: 7:13:33 am
Length of trip: 9.4 miles
Area: 0.5 sq mi
Elapsed Time: 2:48:41 hours
Avg. Speed: 3 mph
Top Speed: 8 mph