Starcatcher & Moldy Duck

By Kaitlyn & John Herr #112 "Starcatcher" (2es 1eo 1ea 1ad 1ar)

Saturday the winds were light , the air was crisp, and Starcatcher (#112) was finally complete. Kaitlyn, her friend and I headed out to the lake for the first sail in her new PDRacer. I told them I would help them learn at first and then let them go on their own.

These words would come back to haunt me. As usual things conspired against us and instead of getting to the lake at 9:00AM we got there about 10:30 but we quickly set up and launched. It was a blast. The light winds made sailing easy and both kids were quick learners; maybe a little to quick. We sailed from the dock to about half way across the lake and turned around. At this point Captain Kaitlyn announces that she is heading for the dock where I am to going get out. So much for instruction. My total time on the water was about 10 minutes. I do a quick inventory of the situation: light wind, small lake, life vests, and an extremely stable boat.

Alright, I won't invoke the "I'm the Daddy so you can't through me out" clause. I abandoned ship at the dock and they took off. It was amazing to see them out there sailing along under control and just enjoying the day on the lake. . The time to leave came up to quickly for both of them but both Kaitlyn and her friend had a great time and expressed great interest in doing it again. They sailed back to the dock without any help. I am still amazed at how fast they both learned. The attached picture was taken just moments after they left the dock for the first time on their own.

I still have a few things to do like attaching a block to the rudder for the sheet and a cleat to the boom for the rope that secures it to the mast. I may get to them this week but there is no rush as the next two weekends are full of previous commitments. Thanks for a great design and your encouragement. We plan on many more days sailing in the coming years.

This is Karl sailing in Moldy Duck with his friends for the first time on his own (I got kicked out again). Starcatcher PDRacer #112 is in the background. I can't believe that both kids were able to sail with only 10 minutes of instruction. It was a blast seeing them chase each other across the lake. I still have some issues with the sail to overcome and a Harbor Freight trailer to build but everything else is working great.

John Herr