Our First Weekend Sailing on Poetry

We sailed our new acquisition, Poetry, a 1988 Sabre 38 both days this weekend. On Saturday, we had 18 kts gusting to 23. With a single reef and a reduced headsail, she handled beautifully and we had her up to 7.8 kts. On Sunday, the winds were even stronger. We headed East with 15 kts on our stern. Our friend's Phil and Joy joined us for the second outing. Joy was at the helm and pointed out the at the wind was up to steady 25kts and gusting up from there. It was an interesting ride home to windward. We tried putting in the #2 reef on the main but the shackle holding the bock to the foot of the mast exploded. At this point we dropped sails and motored home. Thankfully and touching wood, the 33HP Westerbeke worked well. Somehow I cut myself in the excitement and dropped blood all over the place - Appropriate for Halloween. You could say we really blooded Poetry. Below are various photos of Poetry, yours truly, the missus and our friends. If you look carefully, you can see blood on the binnacle.