A two hour paddle with gale force westerlies forecast, but not really eventuating. Plugged an hour into 15kn or so of breeze to Clontarf, then hoisted the sails to check the set up & for me find out what a difference they would make for the run to Middle Head, which in the light breeze wasn't much. We then plugged away again up to Bradleys Head & ran back to Watto's Bay with the sails up to much better effect with about 12kn behind us. You can see the GPS track showing the speeds we were hitting downwind with very little paddler input except to direct the boat towards the steep part of the little runners.
I'm thinking the speed of the Taran under sail with 20kn up our clackers will make for some very technical paddling. We're sure there will be a lower top wind speed where the sails are actually safe to a more traditional sea kayak, but we'll see. They're there primarily as a safety backup, but the ride they provide even in today's small gusty breeze was a real eye opener to non-sailor me.
The final pieces are fitting together, my seat is now in the absolutely right spot, the sails are fitted & work, our hydration systems are installed, just the Onno gas pedals to fit & we're done. The boats go north with Chris' Dad on Tuesday so just in the nick of time.
I'm hoping everyone who plans a decent expedition has the same feeling as me at the moment, heaps of stuff still to do, wondering about conditioning, time flying past so fast & everything getting a bit much!
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