My First sail

Well, my Wave arrived a few weeks ago, and I just got it in the water this past weekend.

It was great fun, with the hardest part putting it together for the first time - I bought it used so it was mostly together. I just needed to attach the mast and raise the sail - but for never seeing it done before...

I was sailing on the Atlantic off Florida and had a blast. There was a good wind that day and small swell - about 2 feet. The Wave was smooth and took the ocean waves easy enough. By adjusting my direction I could either take the waves gently or crash into them

So, now I have a few questions. First, as I mentioned it was gently used - a 2005 model. All the components had wear signs where things were hooked up - so I just used those spots for all the cables. As I was sailing, I noticed that the mast rotated a bit in either direction...maybe up to 60 degrees in either direction. Is this normal? Perpahs I need to tighten the line?

Thanks, and I'll keep you updated on my progress. I plan on sailing to a few of the islands in the Jacksonville area.

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Dreaming of the islands

Mast rotation? That is normal and a performance feature of this type of sailboat. The wires should be taut enough to keep the wires from going slack at all while on the beach. The lee shroud will always go a bit slack while sailing.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

So, I got back to the beach this weekend and was ready for my next sailing adventure. The seas off the north coast of Florida were a bit rough, but I was ready for a sail.

Second time rigging the boat was a bit easier than the first time. Now I just had to get out past the breakers.

As I mentioned, the Atlantic was rough with the wave period pretty short, maybe 3-4 seconds with 4ft chop. I struggled to get out past the first set of breakers - the waves were breaking twice - and was almost free and clear. Then, rising out of the ocean, came a huge wall of water. It must have been a 5-6 foot breaker. As I could not back up fast enough, I attempted to race towards it to get over the wave before it crested. Then, I had my own personal version of Cast Away as the wave was too strong and turtled my Wave and sent me flying.

It didn't take too long to right the boat, but I knew I was defeated for the weekend as the surf was to continue to be high/rough the rest of the weekend.

I'll try again in June if....

Do I need to get anything repaired after a turtle? Well actually, the boat flipped and the mast slammed into the sand - I was in chest high water....I assume it hit the sand after it flipped.

The mast pin is bent and the ball a little worse for wear, but the rest "appears" to be fine.

Andy

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Dreaming of the islands

Did ya get any pictures? That must have been a wild scene.

Good luck with the boat and I would have someone check out the mast base ball would hate to have it break off during another wild day off Florida's coast. Just my 2 cents.

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There's no motor?

Pictures....that is funny. The only pictures I have is the slo-mo of the wave coming at me and the silly attempt to out run it....then the final straw of me going one way and the Wave going turtle....

I won't forget that picture - ever.

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Dreaming of the islands

My first sail this year was in very light wind and a very low roll on Lake Michigan. The second day provided a true drifting experience, I was moving and had steerage but it was very very slow.

Anyway headed back to the beach this weekend and there may be a system to make some wind. Water is in the 60s yeah!!

Have a great summer of sailing.

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There's no motor?