Weight ratios

So I went down this weekend to clean up and finish setting up for the season.  I pulled lots of stuff off the boat that won't stay on board all year and also moved several things around, generally straightening up.  One of the big things I moved was the anchor.  I've always kept the anchor in the front compartment under the V-berth.  For this season I've moved it to the back of the boat.  You can see the difference this makes at the water line in the picture below.  I'm hoping moving the anchor will make entering and leaving the dock easier.  With the anchor in the front we keep running into a problem.  As we go forward to through off the bow lines our weight pushes down the bow and pulls the motor out of the water. The Gurgle gurgle of the motor just adds stress to the whole departure that does not need to be there.  This seems to have helped our problem although we may need to eat a few less Big Macs if we want to solve it entirely.  Weight distribution on a small sailboat is important. Hopefully, this will solve our problem and this season we will use the anchor more and do some more swimming now that it is easier to access. 

Anchor moved to stern pulls bow up.

Relaxing 

Lunch Time

Departing

Boat snacks

It's still cold here and where only one week from Memorial Day.

Out on the lake.

The wind was blowing something fierce. So we waited and waited for it to calm down a bit.  Then we got tiered of waiting.  We headed out and notice several changes to the marker locations in the harbor.  So airing on the side of caution we just motored around the harbor a bit.  With the extreme winds we didn't want to sail into a new or recently moved sandbar and get stuck.  With the new marks and all the dredging that has been going on will have to go back and take a look around during a calmer day before we sail in the lake.