Well I finally got the chance to cross Corpus Christi Bay. I have been doing "little" backyard sails 2-3 times a month for the last year. Checking the rigging and tuning sails, at most 2 hour mini-sails. So I decided to cross the bay to "La Bahia" marina in Ingleside-on-the-Bay, roughly a 20+ mile upwind sail in a Bay that averages 12-14 feet in depth. Not to mention a 45' deep Port channel that leads out to the Gulf of Mexico, busy with large tanker and barge traffic. It started out with a motorsail in 5 knot winds, did this for the first hour and I got almost 1/2 way out when the wind picked up to 15 knots. I was ok but soon spotted a line of ominous clouds gathering behind me and coming my way. Trying to avoid a panic later on, I diligently thought I should reef before I needed to. After about 3 accidental jibes I finally was able to get her to hove to, only she was abreast to the waves at about a 90 degree angle to the wind. Of course I couldn't reach the reef points so I fired up the motor and plowed her into the wind. I was then able to reef the main and settle down for the wind increase. It was 96 degrees in the shade, problem was there was no shade. That was a big concern since without a bimini top you just broil big time. It took me two hours to beat up the channel the last hour with motor support since the traffic increased as I got closer to the turn off channel. I was using paper charts and a gps (meridian marine w/ navcharts) you really cant use those tiny screens, they are ok for general purpose but if you are single handing in a strange place and concentrating on boat traffic, you need a chart where you can see the big picture at a glance. I finally got to the marina where upon docking a beautiful girl on a "Dolphin Tour" boat greeted me with a "That's a nice boat". "This old thing" I replied modestly. I gratefully took my cooler and sat in the shade. Now I could concentrate on the charts and see where I had just come from. Finishing my lunch, Jim Johnson a local liveaboard came over to say hello and point out a couple of short cuts. I felt very good that I had finally made a "big" voyage. After another half hour of visiting it was time to go. The wind was now a steady 17 knots luckily it was now coming off my stern. I took the short cuts and when I was once again in open waters, the next adventure began. The wind was to overpowering to sail anything other than a very close haul or a broad reach, not to bad except for the 3-4 ft waves that would push you into the wind and then heel you over so bad the rudder would loose its bite for a split second. That went on for a long time until I got my rhumb line to point me in the direction of my home port than I was running for about 10 miles, finally I could relax my grip on the tiller and get circulation back into my fingers. I made it home but was shell shocked the rest of the evening. Next morning I felt like I had been run over by a truck and the truck backed up and ran me over again. I decided I did not like going out with this boat in these conditions, problem is that this were normal condition here. The boat handled beautifully and my confidence level for its capabilities have increased. She could have taken on more wind and waves and I would still have still felt safe. Gilbert Landin Montgomery 17 Sagita #49