Introduction to Kayak Sailing - Columbia River: Sandy Island

All arrived at the launch early. We packed and rigged the sails without any rain. On the water by 10:30am
We kept the sails on the deck as we crossed the Columbia River from the launch and then paddled around and behind (downstream of) the wing dam at the south end of Sandy Island. In the shallows we practiced setting the sail and furling it several times and then we reached across to the Oregon shore. Here we spent time shortening Lori's shrouds as they were too loose and repairing Jerry's neck gasket with Tear-Aid tape. We decided to eat lunch also as we were doing adjustments/repairs.
After lunch we practiced reaching in both directions, coming about into the wind at each end of th reaches and staying on the Oregon side of the channel between Oregon and Sandy Island. Once a level of comfort was achieved with reaching and coming about, I demonstrated jibing and we practiced jibing in both directions along the Oregon shore where the wind was quite mild (2-3kt). We then practice tacking up wind back to our lunch spot and then did a longer downwind run for about 1/2 mile, jibing occasionally in light wind. We then tacked upwind back to our lunch spot and practiced sail handling while doin circles in both directions in light wind again.
I judged a fair comfort level at this point, so we reached across to the south tip of Sandy where the wind was stronger (~5-6kt) and practiced sail handling circles again. We then started rescue practice, beginning with self rescue. Both Lori and Jerry elected to do paddle float reentries for this. Lori started and unfortunately the "fuse" loops at the shroud attachment points were too weak and both failed upon capsize. The complicated the recovery as the sail then came off the mast base. One of Jerry's fuse loops also failed upon capsize. Both reentered successfully and we went to the beach to jury rig repairs to the shroud attachments so we could proceed with assisted rescues while sailing. The assisted rescues went well and after tightening Lori's shrouds again, we decided to head back to the launch. I judged that both Lori and Jerry had enough experience and comfort to sail back across the Columbia River shipping channel safely and we had a great reach as the wind picked up to and estimated 7-12kt wind speed with 1' wind waves.
This actually turned out to be a great venue for beginning sailing as there is little boat traffic, and no shipping traffic due to being relatively shallow. There are good sandy beaches on both sides (Sandy Island and the Oregon shore) to stop, regroup and have breaks on. A southerly wind is best for this location.