How to set up the Windglider
(click on the photos below to see larger images)
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Click on the photos to see larger images. The contents of the windglider bag. You will find it in the bedroom off the kitchen. It must live in the house (and not in the basement) because otherwise the mice will eat it up. Yes, it all fits. |
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To set up the sail, lay it out as you see here. The mast is in 3 sections. I believe the tops and bottoms of the 3 pieces are marked Bottom/Bottom (BB) and Top/Bottom (TB) for the bottom section, Bottom/Middle and Top/Middle for the middle section and so on. Or something like that! |
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This is the bottom of the boom. It shows the 3 sets of holes that allow you to make the boom longer or shorter depending on how big the sail is. There are two sails, the big one for adults and a smaller one for kids. |
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The smaller sail that is made for kids has a strap and cap that slides over the top of the mast as shown here. This sail can be identified by finding "2.2" on the bottom of the sail. |
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There is only one tricky part to setting up the Windglider. It has to do with the placement of the black rings on the mast below and above the boom. These two rings keep the boom from sliding up or down once you are sailing. |
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Slide the bottom section of the mast up through the sail with the black O ring visible. Slide the boom over the bottom section of the mast. Make sure that the boom is placed so that the holes on the end of the boom are facing down (so that the water will drain out). |
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Next, slide the middle section of the mast into the bottom section until it stops so it looks like this with one O ring above and one O ring below the mast. |
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Slide the square cupped webbing universal joint on to the bottom of the mast and tension it like you see here. Get it as tight as you can without breaking the black plastic buckle. Tuck the uphaul rope that comes off the front of the boom through and around the bottom of the mast. |
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Adjust the length of the boom so it closely matches the width of the sail then tension it with the cam buckle. |
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This is how the sail should look when you are done. The front of the boom should be right around chest height when a person is sailing. The boom height is adjusted by raising or lowering the black O rings. This sail says "2.2" on the bottom. It's the kids sail. |
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To inflate the windglider, unscrew the valve next to "2". Reverse the hose on the vaccum cleaner in the living room closet so that the air blows out of the vaccum cleaner and use it to fill the "2" hole. Inflate it until it is very firm. To inflate the rim do the same with hole "1" except push the white plastic tube (found in the blue bag) into hole "1" first. |
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Don't inflate the red valve. The windglider will deflate some after you blow it up as the air inside it cools. You can inflate it more with your mouth by unscrewing only the top of the "2" valve. This makes it a one way valve. If you have no vaccum cleaner, use the foot pump. |
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Turn the windglider over and insert the fins. Make sure you wet the holes and the posts on the fins with water first so that the fins slide in easily. Pass the black line through the white ring on the bottom of the windglider and tie the two fins together. |
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To attach the mast and sail to the windglider, set the windglider on it's side. Take the universal joint on the bottom of the mast, push in into the hole on the windglider and turn it clockwise until it won't go in any further. It will continue to turn, it just won't go in any further. |
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Pass the black webbing through one of the 4 holes on the windglider then back through the buckle. The purple, blue and red line you see here is used to make carrying the windglider under your arm easier when it's not attached to the sail. |
The Windglider can take a lot of abuse but only when it's on the water.
It's important to remember that it's an inflatable raft and can be punctured.
Because of this, treat the raft portion with care. Don't drag it over
the ground, sail it into the dock, rocks or sharp objects. When you carry
it, don't drag it.
If you
are using the Windglider in Stetson's Cove and then are done with it for
the day, separate the mast and sail from the raft, move the raft to near
where the trail opens up near the dock, turn the raft over so the fins
are facing up and leave it down there in the marsh grass. Just be sure
you don't leave it somewhere where it will drift away at high
tide.
As far as the sail is concerned, I have left the sail down in the trees near the dock and even up by the house but found it quickly got covered with bird poop. Also, the sun will wear out the sail if you leave it laying around on the ground. So take the sail and bring it up to the house and put it in the garage whenever you are not using it.
If you don't mind using the foot pump to blow up the windglider, you can pack the whole thing up into the bag, put it in the boat and take it out to Monomoy. Sailing out there on the windglider is really cool, especially around the seals.
Because
you are so quiet on the windglider, the seals will come right up to you.
You can also just paddle it out to where the seals are without the sail,
sit there and watch them come up to you.