The Kiddo's First Sailing Day

going sailing sunday

Sunday, I took a stab at going sailing with my wife and four-year-old on my 16' Wa'apa outrigger canoe. We put in at the boat ramp close to Moonshine Beach on Table Rock Lake, sailed around for a bit, then played in the water along the sandy beach area. It was way more work than fun, but it's good to know my daughter isn't afraid of the water even in a small sailing craft. If and when I bump up to a family friendly sailboat this summer or next spring, I'll know she's fully game for going out again. I just have to squeeze in some fishing, as well. She was a little disappointed that we didn't have time for it, like we did Saturday afternoon.

sun perch

The open area down by the dam is a decent place to sail. If you get rid of the jet skis, it'd be even better. Aside from us, we saw one large-ish monohull sailboat and a very fast trimaran. We also saw the Branson Bell paddle wheeler and had a great dinner at The Farmhouse Restaurant in the old downtown Branson area, on the way home.

Comments

Sickboy said…
Maybe you could add the 8ft centre section, shouldn't be too much bother and would give you more space for the family.
How well does she go up wind with the rig you have? (lateen?)
Great blog
Trevor said…
I've thought about that, but honestly, it's the setup time that gets me more than the weight capacity. My four year old daughter doesn't have the patience for 45 minutes of waiting on dad to put the sailboat together.

I love the boat, it sails very fast with just the 54sqft oceanic lateen rig. Upwind is not as good as a higher aspect Burmuda rig, but I make up for it in speed at a lower angle climb. It would probably point much better with a better foiled leeboard and a professionally made sail. Mine is slapped together with a blue polytarp, duct tape and a grommet kit for about $25. I take the hit on performance for cheapness.

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