Slowly sailing my 2010 Precision 18 sailboat in late morning light winds on a beautiful Rocky Mountain lake. This episode features light wind sailing in a beautiful cove and I share some tips and thou

My third sail of the new-to-me 1987 Precision 16 sailing dinghy I purchased locally for $650 at Cherry Creek Reservoir in Aurora, Colorado. The Precision 16 is a lightweight Stephen Seaton-designed u

This episode discusses the tacking technique I often use when sailing in heavy weather with a reefed mainsail. The traditional method of tacking most sailors learn in sailing courses is to tack from a

Sailing my 2010 Precision 18 sailboat early in the morning on a beautiful Rocky Mountain lake. This episode shows the process of raising sails, adjusting the vang and mainsail twist, sailing wing-on-w

Continuing my rehabilitation of a 1987 Precision 16 sailing dinghy by replacing the old rusty motor mount with HDPE boards. The Precision 16 is a lightweight Stephen Seaton-designed un-ballasted cent

Sailing my 2010 Precision 18 sailboat under a full mainsail in ideal winds waiting for a beautiful Rocky Mountain sunset. And of course, as soon as the sun goes down, the winds pick up. Throughout the

Sailing my 2010 Precision 18 sailboat on a high-altitude (8,601 ft) Colorado lake under gloomy skies on a Sunday afternoon in August. The morning started out sunny and with clear skies, so I did some minor maintenance on the boat at the marina. By the time I got on the lake, afternoon thunderstorms were closing in. I stayed very close to the marina and only sailed for about 90 minutes. Eventually, rain and lightning drove me off the lake. But the sailing winds while I was out were ideal, and I'm so glad I went for it! Subscribe and follow @ColoradoSailing on YouTube for more original sailing videos, gear, boat maintenance, sailing tips and travel content as I sail my Precision 18 trailer sailer and Precision 16 sailing dinghy in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota. #lakesailing #mountainsailing #fastsailing #heavyweather #sailing #extremesports

In this episode I'm sailing my 2010 Precision 18 sailboat on a high-altitude Rocky Mountain lake under a full mainsail and #4 (80%) severe weather jib in very gusty conditions. When faced with gusty conditions, I prefer not to point too high into the wind to avoid the excessive heeling that comes with close-hauled sailing. I also frequently loosen the vang to add a bit of twist to the top of the sail which keeps my relatively light displacement boat better mannered. Shortly after tucking in a double reef, I got hit by a heavy gust while sailing on the south end of the lake. The south end is closely surrounded by mountains that channel winds and the area is known to develop challenging wind conditions. Subscribe and follow @ColoradoSailing on YouTube for more original sailing videos, gear, boat maintenance, sailing tips and travel content as I sail my Precision 18 trailer sailer and Precision 16 sailing dinghy in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota. #sailingchannel #coloradosailing #extremesports #sailing #mainsailonly

My second sail of the new-to-me 1987 Precision 16 sailing dinghy I purchased locally for $650 and have been slowly rehabilitating. Upgrades and repairs I've done so far to the Precision 16 sailing dinghy: - Sails: New sails custom made by Point Sails of San Diego including a mainsail with retro P-16 logo, hull numbers and a deep 20% reef and a 120% jib. Check them out at: www.pointsails.com. - Vang: added Dwyer bails to the boom and mast and a P-18 vang with Harken Carbo Air blocks purchased from Precision Boat Works. - Drain Plug: Repaired underlying fiberglass with MarineTex epoxy and installed a new SeaChoice drain plug using 3M 5200. - Standing Rigging: All new stainless steel standing rigging (forestay, turnbuckle, side shrouds and blade adjusters) from Precision Boat Works. - Running Rigging: Installed "hand me down" halyards, sheets, outhaul, downhaul and topping lift from my P-18. - Jiffy Reef: The P-16 does not come with a reefing system, so I added the necessary eye strap, horn cleat, Harken cheek block and Dwyer reefing hook. - Mast, boom and mainsheet hardware: replaced all blocks, pins, and ring-dings on the boat with new hardware from Harken. - Bow eye: removed the old bow eye, sealed up the original holes and installed a new bow eye from Sea Dog Line at a lower location in the bow. - Chain Plates: Removed the chain plates and reinforced the hull and deck where they are installed with two additional layers of fiberglass and resin to eliminate flex in the deck. The Precision 16 is a lightweight Stephen Seaton-designed un-ballasted centerboard sailing dinghy with a planing hull manufactured from 1982 until the mid 90s. It was superseded in 1995 by the smaller Jim Taylor-designed Precision 15 (P-15CB and P-15K). #sailing #sailingdinghy #usedboat #boatrepair #projectboat

Sailing my 2010 Precision 18 sailboat upwind on a high-altitude Rocky Mountain lake under a double-reefed mainsail only in heavy winds. My preference when sailing upwind in heavy air is to keep the centerboard fully down to minimize leeway, but the north end of the lake is shallow and has a lot of Eurasian Millfoil which will foul the centerboard, rudder and propeller...so I sailed with the centerboard fully up. Luckily for me, the Jim Taylor designed line of Precision boats all have a reputation for sailing really well on mainsail only. Some other brands of sailboats struggle making progress to windward on mainsail only, but the Precision boats point very well with just the main. Subscribe and follow @ColoradoSailing on YouTube for more original sailing videos, gear, boat maintenance, sailing tips and travel content as I sail my Precision 18 trailer sailer and Precision 16 sailing dinghy in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota. #sailingchannel #coloradosailing #extremesports #sailing #mainsailonly

Sailing my 2010 Precision 18 sailboat downwind on a high-altitude Rocky Mountain lake under a double-reefed mainsail in heavy winds. My preference when sailing downwind in heavy air is to reef the mainsail and keep the wind on the port or starboard quarter. On this particular day, the winds were frequently shifting by up to 40 degrees, so keeping the wind on the quarter reduced the chances of the wind shifting behind the stern and causing an unintended or crash gybe. I don't use a boom preventer on my boat because my lake is very small and it's just another line to get fouled on the boat--just my personal preference for my sailing situation. Subscribe and follow @ColoradoSailing on YouTube for more original sailing videos, gear, boat maintenance, sailing tips and travel content as I sail my Precision 18 trailer sailer and Precision 16 sailing dinghy in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota. #sailingchannel #coloradosailing #extremesports #sailing #mainsailonly

Preparing my 2010 Precision 18 sailboat for the upcoming sailing season in Colorado. I noticed my stern horn cleats were loose, the sealant at the deck had been broken, and they needed to be re-bedded. All boats require regular maintenance and re-bedding horn cleats, chain plates and other deck hardware is just a normal part of sailboat maintenance and ownership. Since the factory installation of the horn cleats only used stainless steel washers as backing, I decided to add a 1/2" HDPE board as a backing block to help strengthen the mounting location. I used JB Marine Weld epoxy and 3M 5200 sealant along with new stainless bolts, washers and lock nuts for this project. Subscribe and follow @ColoradoSailing on YouTube for more original sailing videos, gear, boat maintenance, sailing tips and travel content as I sail my Precision 18 trailer sailer and Precision 16 sailing dinghy in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota. #lakesailing #mountainsailing #sailing #boatmaintenance #howto #boatrepair

Spent two days sailing Navajo Lake on the Colorado/New Mexico border on my 2010 Precision 18 sailboat "Mandatory Fun." Navajo Lake is a 15,600 acre (24.3 sq mi) reservoir and is the largest body of water accessible from Colorado. The reservoir sits at an elevation of 6,089 feet above sea level. This was our second attempt to sail this lake. The year before, we tried it in the Spring, but un-forecasted severe winds prevented us from sailing. This time we went in early October and conditions were excellent. We entered the lake from the boat ramp at Navajo State Park near Arboles, Colorado and rented an overnight slip at Two Rivers marina. Being a regular Colorado high mountain sailor, this was one of the few days of the season I did not have to put a reef in my sails. Winds on Navajo Lake can be treacherous, and high winds and large waves are known to come up the lake fast. On this late October trip, we were able to enjoy sailing the entire two days under full sails. Fall sailing in the "West" (Western United States) is usually very pleasant and I do most of my long-distance trailer sailing trips each year in the Fall. Music was used under license provided by YouTube Creator Music: - "Guide You Home" by the Diviners #lakesailing #mountainsailing #sailing #coloradosailing #sailadventure #trailersailing

Sailing my 2010 Precision 18 on one of Colorado's high-altitude Rocky Mountain lakes in mid-August. The day starts out calm with light winds, but quickly becomes dangerous as afternoon storms move in bringing gusty winds, rain and lightning. I end up motoring back to the marina with my Torqeedo Travel 1103CL electric outboard, taking down sails and preparing the boat for the slip as I go. As they say, "Discretion is the better part of valor." Subscribe and follow @ColoradoSailing on YouTube for more original sailing videos, gear, boat maintenance, sailing tips and travel content as I sail my Precision 18 trailer sailer and Precision 16 sailing dinghy in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota. #lakesailing #mountainsailing #fastsailing #heavyweather #sailing #extremesports

A quick tutorial on how to go hove-to (heaving to) in a sailboat. Heaving to is an important technique for stopping and temporarily "parking" a sailboat--with just a bit of drift to leeward. Heaving to can be used to ride out a storm, tuck in a reef, take a lunch break, repair something that's broken, or whenever you need to temporarily stop sailing the boat. The proper heaving to technique involves backwinding the headsail, tacking the bow through the wind, then slowing the boat by sailing into the wind with the headsail backwinded and bleeding off the momentum of the boat, and then tying off the tiller to counteract the backwinded headsail once steering control is lost. The boat will quickly stabilize in the hove-to position. Subscribe and follow @ColoradoSailing on YouTube for more original sailing videos, gear, boat maintenance, sailing tips and travel content as I sail my Precision 18 trailer sailer and Precision 16 sailing dinghy in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota. #sailingchannel #coloradosailing #sailing #mountainsailing #heavingto, #heavyweather

Sailing my beautiful 2010 Precision 18 sailboat under a full mainsail in ideal winds in the mountains of Colorado. In this video, I sail for 9 glorious minutes uncut on a beautiful August morning. There is a nice light air gybe demonstrated at 6:56 as I transition to sailing dead downwind wing-on-wing. Throughout the video, the boat is moving very nicely and you can hear the water rushing by the hull, making this a nice ASMR video as well. #sailing #lakesailing #mountainsailing #saillife #sailingchannel #coloradosailing #asmr

A quick and easy hack for taming the anchor locker lid when working in the locker with waves or wind. While trying to anchor my boat in heavy wind and waves, I discovered the hatch does not stay open and can slam down on your hand. Simply placing a tether with a small latch or carabiner will secure the anchor locker lid and keep it from closing while you work. Here's the link to the video on the@CarvingAPathchannel where I originally saw this hack: https://youtu.be/h2BVwn1kNAA?si=FtLkrf4Bw-qNM-um Subscribe and follow @ColoradoSailing on YouTube for more original sailing videos, gear, boat maintenance, sailing tips and travel content as I sail my Precision 18 trailer sailer and Precision 16 sailing dinghy in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota. #coloradosailing #sailing #howto #hack #simplehacks #boathack #sailingtips

Sailing my beautiful 2010 Precision 18 sailboat in light winds under a full mainsail and 100% jib in the mountains of Colorado. In this video, I take advantage of the light winds and clear water, raise my centerboard, and sail in close to shore where you can see numerous rocks and large boulders in the clear alpine lake water below. For more information on P-18 centerboard operation, check out this video: https://youtu.be/DLe0KR-tsIY?si=fMpVd-ero6x5QhlE #lakesailing #mountainsailing #slowsailing #sailing #extremesports

A quick introduction to personal tethering systems on small trailerable sailboats. Tethers are most commonly associated with offshore sailing, but can be useful on small boats as well. A proper tethering system requires a strong anchor point such as a mounted D-ring or jackline, a single or double line tether that meets ORC, ISAF or ISO 12401 standards, and a properly worn harness. Subscribe and follow @ColoradoSailing on YouTube for more original sailing videos, gear, boat maintenance, sailing tips and travel content as I sail my Precision 18 trailer sailer and Precision 16 sailing dinghy in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota. #sailingchannel #coloradosailing #sailing #mountainsailing #extremesports

The second and final day of a 2-day solo sail camping trip with my trailerable 2010 Precision 18 sailboat at the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area and on Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Utah. This episode covers weighing anchor and sailing across the reservoir in light winds in the morning, then motoring with my Torqeedo electric outboard the last stretch into the mouth of the Gorge as the wind dies. Once in the Gorge, the winds were ideal, and I spent the rest of the afternoon sailing below the sheer red cliffs of the Flaming Gorge. It was a truly wonderful sailing adventure! Being a regular Colorado high mountain sailor, this was one of the few days of the season I did not have to put a reef in my sails. Winds on the Flaming Gorge can be treacherous, and storms are known to come up fast--the forecast and weather should always be watched closely. On this late September trip, I was able to enjoy sailing the entire two days under full sails. Fall sailing in the "West" (Western United States) is usually very pleasant and I do most of my long-distance trailer sailing trips each year in the Fall. Songs (in order) are used under license provided by YouTube Creator Music: - "Can I Stay" by Ira Wolf - "Positive Fuse" by French Fuse - "Know Myself" by Patrick Patrikios #lakesailing #mountainsailing #sailcamping #sailing #coloradosailing #sailadventure #utahsailing