The sun was out, the wind wasn’t – but no complaints.  I did have a leisurely sail through the afternoon with a light SouthWesterly blowing in from the Strait of Georgia.

These 4 were heading out as I was going in.

It’s been the first really warm weekend so far this spring.  And what a great weekend for sailing  Despite a bit of chop left over from a windy morning, we had a lovely sail in the southern Strait of Georgia, doing 5.5 knots to weather.

Madsu was perfectly balanced with the 100% jib and full main.  Despite it being a ‘warm’ day I still needed to wear a sweater as we worked to weather.

EB joined me, so that while she was away, the boys could cooked up a lovely Mothers’ Day Cake for her.

Sometimes, the signs are right.

Shot with the Hero HD mounted on a Horizon True mount.   Fabulous day in Howe Sound.

It was one of those days, on a lazy beat with the boat doing a nice steady 5 knots and very little chop.

Halfway across the Strait of Georgia, I reluctantly reminded myself that it was probably time to head back.

With a light outflow in Howe Sound, but very little chop, Madsu was doing a respectable 3.5 knots to weather.  I had to switch from the baseball cap to the knit hat though – it was a bit cold in the drizzle.

Broad reaching with the 150% jib, Madsu was doing a steady 4.5 knots.

Sailing was meant to be done barefoot.

Up until this weekend, I’ve had to keep my shoes on – just a bit too chilly for these dogs.

But today, despite the drizzle, marked the first barefoot cruise of the season.

Let there be many more.

Beating into the Strait of Georgia on a lovely spring afternoon.  That’s Point Grey and UBC on the horizon to the left.   Madsu’s under full main and the 100% jib.

This is a still pulled from video shot with my GoPro 2, mounted on a Horizon True gimballed camera mount on the pushpit (you can see the mount in action here).  The mount is awesome.

There’s a short video from this day on YouTube and also on Vimeo.

An outstanding spring day on the water.  With a westerly pushing in from the Straight of Georgia at about 12 knots, it made for a fabulous day sailing.  Warm enough to be barefoot and in short shirtsleeves.  Finally.

And what a delight too – just a mile or so off Fisherman’s Cove we encountered a sea lion, then a mile later, a pair of Dall’s Porpoise circled the boat a couple of time before disappearing into the flooding tide.  I gybed around to see if we could encourage them to play in Madsu’s bow wave, but I think we were probably going to slow for them.   By the time I thought to get my camera out, they were gone, but their visit was a delight.

I take it as a good omen for the sailing season.