Things happen slowly in 1.9 knots of wind, which is perfect for sailing off the anchor. It's easy to raise the main between deployed lazy jacks(we had just anchored for lunch). And the big main is able to detect the light wind. About all it did was drift us safely downwind, at any undetectable speed, safely into open water.

This was 1:30 on sunday. I've become a user of nearby NOAA buoys for data. Wind speed, gusts(14' off the water-6 miles to seaward), wave, tide, are improving my sailing. Most buoys average over several minutes and data is an hour behind the real time forecast conditions(which were quite accurate at the time-0 to 5 kts, light and variable).

Using the main like an air pry bar, I finally got the boat oriented onto a close reach on the imagined SSE wind. No go- we drifted for another 10 minutes(few people enjoy this ) Likely the growing open water between us and island finally put the mast head into a lone SSE zephyr. You could see the ribbons of wind out on open water; dark narrow canals that contrast with the glossy background of Penobscot Bay. The boat came to life -slowly- in fits and starts, and took us into open water.

1.9 knots of wind is too little for us to sail,...much. I'll file that away.

But throw in a gust or two to 3.9 SE, and the world changes. You can see the 3.9 gusts as dark texture on the water. Speeds in the 4 knot range are exhilarating now. Solid and steady but light in the flat water, the boat is responsive. She powers up in the dark spots, and coasts through the glossy spots.

Testing the mock up main(spinnaker winch for main sheet), I have easy control of traveler, sheet(s) tension, loose foot outhaul overhead. We now have perfect sailing conditions at 2:11 pm on the iPhone.

At 2:12 pm., looking aft, things look better still. The dinghy wake and GPS are reporting 5 knots of speed and the trend of the wind is clear. You can go forever now.

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The downsides of this mainsheet arrangements; A new mass of spaghetti dumped and no place to put it. And gathering up the mass of sheet of downwind jibes isn't working. A new braided slippery mainsheet, future shifting of the track-winches, maybe newer blocks, should take care of that. We achieved the goal, sailing is improved. 2 mainsheet winches are better than one.