first day of sailing, first day of double reefing

Just a great day on the water today.  An unseasonable and very welcome 80 degrees.  Light overcast in the morning clearing to blue skies by noon.  All that warm air came in with a vengeance.  Gusts in the morning, stronger gusts late morning then double reefed kind of sailing by early afternoon.  Photo above courtesy of sailing friend Lynn, who joined me on board for a while then make a few pictures from the pier.

It felt good just to rig the boat and launch at the ramp a mile or so up the southern branch of the Elizabeth.

Cooler air moving in tomorrow.  This was an early sail for me.  No doubt it will get cold again and winter certainly isn't over yet.  But yeah, it felt good just to push off from the dock and catch the wind.