I swore again.I swore again. The last time I'd tried to use these things the weather had been so accursed as to make my life hell; take one up, change, change, change. I shrugged and decided to live with the smaller one. So I wouldn't move nearly as fast as I had hoped to. Until I got that Kilm jib in place I was out of luck. I hauled up on the main sail, put the keel in place and lowered the rudder. Without the jib I slowly maneuvered her to spinward and to port, trying to avoid the larger reefs surrounding Monastery Isle. After putting to open sea, I hauled out my maps and the inertial compass (what do expect on a ringworld? A sextant? Like Hell!) and plotted a course for Shipping SDisk S111. There was naught to do but wait. I tested the wind, decided on the larger jib, and was mildly pleased to note that it seemed to be sufficient for the job. I ate nuts and fruit and drank lots of water and sat under the rudderwell's canopy. Handling a ten-meter trimaran is a breeze, so long as that's all you've got for wind. Blessedly, there wasn't any weather pattern threatening either here or at my destination that would make my life difficult, and well before dark I arrived at my destination, as far as I could tell. |