OK, I took my Hobie Wave down to Biloxi for some Mississippi Sound sailing. The plan was for me to sail to Ship Island (12 miles off the Mississippi Gulf Coast) and the wife and kid would take the ferry to the island (the island is sort of a tourist spot with nice beaches and an old fort).
My father-in-law decided to come along too. I parked the truck as close to the beach as I could and together we carried the Wave 150 yards to the water - Wave is light and this was no problem (+1 for Wave). As we were leaving, my wife happened to drive by and snap a picture.
This was to be my first salt water sailing - could not sleep the night before. I was worried about the weather forecast, too much wind, not enough wind, too much chop, etc. Winds were ESE 15-25. This made for a close reach out to the island. We were sailing heavy - I am 225 lbs, my father in law is heavier than I am. We made the island with an average speed of 6.5 mph. The waves were gnarly - most of them were 3 footish but we had plenty of 5 footers. The Hobie took the waves like a champion! It was a rough ride for sure. Once we were in the wave-shelter of the island and the water got flat, it was sailing heaven and we were hauling butt!
Previous to this, I had only taken my father-in-law sailing once. I had just started sailing and we were in my old sailing dinghy - a thunderstorm popped up and I flipped us. I think he was a little worried about my skippering abilities. Watching him on the Hobie was like watching a dog on a slippery kitchen floor. He was tense the whole time - but did not complain once. What a trooper.
We spent the rest of the day exploring the island with my wife and kid - they took the ferry out. This is me with the fort in the background.
We left the island on a broad reach headed for Biloxi. We did an average of 8mph on the way back to mainland. There was much hauling butt and wave surfing on the way home. We hit a peak speed of 13.5 mph on this leg - quite nice for 500+ lbs on a Hobie Wave.
All in all I should do this kind of crap more often. Coastal wind is so nice - no sudden gusts or crazy 45 degree wind shifts like you get in lake sailing. The Wave is a great boat - it handled rough conditions with ease, it feels great to sail. What a great trip.