Nexus - Loosey Goosey

On the late watch last night, Laurie and I were playing scrabble back and forth on her IPad, while I tried to work our asymmetric into a good set. The wind was up to 15kts and down to 8kts and swinging a bit side to side in transition to somewhere. So I'm tweaking and tuning the lines on the sail trying to get the boat into a a smooth rhythm between the flukier winds and regular swells. It seemed that every time I got it settled down, the wind would either shift or lighten up, and I would have to readjust. I'm getting frustrated as the wind is dropping and our boat speed is down to 5-6kts, just above my threshold for firing up the motor which hasn't seen action in 10 days. Just then, a bleary eyed Sailing Master Sheldon emerges from his den, and asks why the sail is so tight? I explain my dilemma. He turns the boat TWO degrees to starboard, blows some science on the sail trim, the wind responds and becomes a steady 13kts, and we're chugging along calmly at 7kts. He says "loosey goosey" over his shoulder as he heads back to bed. Laurie and I look at each other and shake our heads as we write "loosey goosey" on our palms to remember yet another pearl of wisdom. There is much to learn...

Russ and Laurie on NEXUS at 10:20 9 25.'S;128 33.'W