After waiting for a few days, we finally got a day with winds under 10 knots. After double-checking my MYS15 outing checklist, I headed out (9:30 am) to McKie's shore in North Enmore. After launching, I started rowing north towards the Inverness Reserve in a very light tailwind. But soon, the wind was up, and I was going downwind at a good clip, even with a reef in the sail. I went by one oyster fisher, and I'm not sure what he thought of a sailboat this deep in the bay. In less than 20 minutes, I was onshore at the Inverness Reserve, fighting the horse flies. I did a quick walkabout and took a few photos. Things look a lot greener in the wetland than in May.
I was soon back on the water and heading upwind towards the McKie Reserve (about 4km). After a few tacks, I made a landing on the western shore of Percival Bay -- right across from the McKie's shore launch site. The shore here is a nice sand/gravel beach with a small inland marshy area. There were pipers on the beach, and I spotted one blue heron in the marsh pond. After a snack, walk, and some photos, I headed back to the McKie launch site to retrieve my long outdoor pants for some extra horse fly protection. Horseflies only seem to attack your feet and lower legs!
With the standing lug sail still reefed, I managed to sail upwind to the W. McKie Reserve (2 km) in about half an hour. I could have gone a bit faster, but I wanted to test the new sail rig in the reefed configuration. Again, I went ashore for a short walk and some photos. The tide was high enough to venture into the Big Barachois marsh, but it was getting late for lunch, so I decided to sail straight back (downwind) to the launch site.
In a 6-8 knot wind, the MYS15 works well with the sail reefed. The MYS15 could probably handle up to 8 knots of wind without a reef. Although, less sail area is usually best for going downwind.
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