Finally used the spinnaker!

Yesterday LeeAnne, Dean, and I made our second attempt at using our asymmetrical (cruising) spinnaker... only this time we remembered to bring the spinnaker sheets! It was a beautiful cloudless day with 8-10 knot winds from the west and 2-3 foot swells. We sailed out to about 1/2 mile west of oil platform Gina using the Genoa and main at 4-5 knots. We then tacked and headed back towards Channel Islands harbor on a close reach while I rigged the spinnaker. It took me longer than expected to rig the spinnaker since it had been almost 20 years since I had last done it. This was the first time that LeeAnne and Dean and helped crew with a spinnaker. Once everything was rigged, we altered our course towards Pt. Mugu on a broad reach with LeeAnne at the tiller, Dean tending the spinnaker sheet, and me shifting between hoisting the halyard and moving to the foredeck to observe and orchestrate.

Unfortunately, the sail twisted on itself during our first attempt at raising it. We lowered it down about 2/3 the way and I un-clipped the tack and unwrapped the twist. It was kind of like a one-man band with me simultaneously trying to hold the clew in one hand, the tack in the other, while unwrapping the twist and trying to keep the foot out of the water without falling overboard! I took the precaution of wearing my inflatable life vest and gave LeeAnne instructions on using the Lifesling just in case. I didn't use the safety harness or jack lines since I wanted to avoid getting tangled up. After freeing the twist we hoisted the halyard again. The sail immediately filled with air and the Julianne started to accelerate! The spinnaker, which I bought used on eBay, seemed to fit Julianne beautifully. The tack was just above the bow pulpit, the head raised to the top of the mast, the clew far enough out for a nice full sail. We forgot to bring a camera so LeeAnne took the pics below with her cellphone. The spinnaker looked better than I expected and we all enjoyed flying it! We sailed on a broad reach back towards the coast with smiles on our faces. All too soon we had to lower the sail... which was another challenge since we didn't have a dousing sock and the wind had picked up a bit. With good teamwork we were able to lower the sail without me or the sail going overboard. I'll re-pack the spinnaker at home and be more careful to aviod any twists! It was a great first experience and we hope we get to do it again soon.