Hey can you raise and lower the mast on the water singlehanded on those?
Skill and cunning! Actually I don't think one could singlehanded. The spars and sail are pretty light but getting the clevis pin in and out of the lateen spar and the fitting in the middle of the foreward beam would be nearly impossible without the firm footing you get on the beach. My Dad and I had to hightail it to the beach to outrun a nasty summer thunder squall. It was all we could do to brail the sail and get the rig down and we took shelter in a really sleazy waterfront bar. My first time in such a place and I was so excited to try and get my Dad to buy me my first beer! It was a Doctor Pepper and a cheeseburger for me as the storm waters flowed into the place. Probably the first time that bar floor had ever been washed or at least rinsed. When the worst was over we went out to where we had left the Aqua Cat and it was not there! It had been blown way up into the dunes and the clew of the sail had loosened up and flogged the grommet out. My Dad insisted that he could hand hold the clew so we could sail back across Willowby Spit to the Navy Sailing Club facility where we had launched and the car awaited. Got the rig up and the boat in the water and it was a riot to see my Dad dancing around on the sterns attempting to be a human mainsheet and traveller! No way that was going to work. We dropped the rig and started hiking in the dark the long way around and found a payphone to call my Mom to get her to come pick us up. We were a one car family and she was furious and had already called the Coastguard to report us missing. She told up to take a bus...
Must have been hell on your knees when paddling.
