Learning the Fundamentals of Sailing and Furling

Had the opportunity to get out on the water and test the new sail and furl system that I've been working on for my Revo. My wife actually gave me two hours to have fun this last Sunday and really see and feel what it's like to sail on a kayak. During these last two weeks, I've been in company training and have not had much of an opportunity to kayak fish. I really haven't missed much in the action as my fishing buddies have been getting big zeros in bringing in the fish. So again I want to apologize for not having much news on kayak fishing. Man it would be great to land a fish in this coming weekend Yak-Attack fishing tournament if I decide to enter it providing I have the time.

Nonetheless, I want to share my first experience with kayak sailing from my Hobie Revo. It was fantastic. It was like getting a new toy to play with and made my kayak feel brand new again. Now I have a new addiction to satisfy.

Testing the sail system and furl system before I attempt to fish from my kayak made me aware of my obstacles that I may face while fishing. I started with baby steps with wind speeds slightly blowing from 4 to 6 miles per hour. Not what I truly expected with light winds, but I think I will need at least 10 to 15 mph to maximize the potential of sailing from a kayak. It was nice to get from one point to the other and I really forgot what it was like to kayak without all my fishing equipment.

The furl system I made worked smoothly and I used the turbo fins as my daggerboard. It was effortless to bring in the sail only taking 7 wraps around the mast to bring it in with one pull. The mainsheet line worked great with the Harkin blocks as roller guides. I will post close up photos in the next week in the members only section of all operating pieces used in my engineering of the furl system. If anyone has any questions, just post a discussion at the end of this article and I will answer your question as best as I can about the system. It was easy to setup and extremely easy to tear down. The sail brought out curious questions from onlookers as I returned to shore. Now the next test will be to land a fish with it in stronger wind conditions and how I react with a sail. Gliding on the water is an incredible sensation and I wished I would have done it sooner, but at least I'm doing it now. Now I'm really curious on what a Hobie Adventure Island can do.  Stay tuned for more details! Aloha.  {mos_fb_discuss:17}