Did you sail over the Memorial Day weekend?

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Jon Bastien

I was SUPPOSED to...

The local sailing club had scheduled a three-day trip to the Marquesas Keys for Memorial Day weekend, but it was cancelled due to weather. Here in Paradise it rained all day Friday, and was hot, humid, cloudy, but with NO WIND for Saturday and Sunday. Memorial day looked a little better- partly sunny with mild breezes from the east at 5-10, but by that time the list of things to do around the house had grown past the point of being able to ignore them. Maybe next weekend! --Jon Bastien H25 'Adagio'
 
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Andy Paine

SW Florida!

Hi All. No, I didn't go sailing. But I did take my Yamaha Jet Boat out to Stump Pass (to the Gulf) for a Beach party with my weekly Networking Group. As we sat in the water relaxing and talking, I saw my first "natural sighting" of manatee. There were 3 and they played around for nearly an hour in the worst spot of all - the ICW where all the "crazies" were racing thru. Fortunately a few boaters went out to herd them out of the way. Unsuccessful, theyt just flagged down approaching power boaters. We saw some lightning a few miles away and about 30m min later much smoke. We are terribly dry down here - the worst in many years. ciao andy paine Mar~i~vent
 
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Greg Fults

5 DAYS IN CATALINA

WENT TO WHITES COVE/HEN ROCK ON CATALINA ISLAND. WEATHER WAS CRUDDY AND LOTS OF BOATS, BUT WE'LL TAKE A CRUISE ANY TIME WE CAN. HAD A BLAST, AS ALWAYS! ON SATURDAY WE CHRISTENED "LEMURIA". LOTS OF FREINDS, 40 ON BOARD AND IT STILL FLOATS, WITH LOTS OF TENDERS TIED UP ALL AROUND. THE WORST WEATHERED DAY ON OUR BOAT IS MUCH BETTER THAN THE BEST DAY AT WORK! CHEERS
 
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Kelly Purinton, "Daisy Sail"

Yes!

We took our little daysailor out for her maiden voyage and had just a blast! Weather was perfect for us - no wind until we figured out how to get the sails up and the boom on, etc. Then nice enough to move with a little bit of heel without stressing the boat - or us. It's amazing - we are so careful trying to naviagte the Royal River (very narrow) and manage the rigging, but once we're out and ready, all I wanted was WIND, WIND, WIND! A lesson in living, I guess.
 
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OCEANOKIE

4 NIGHTS CAT ISL.

4 NIGHTS ANCHORED IN WHITES COVE ON CATALINA ISL. SO MANY BOATS IT LOOKED LIKED PACMAN ON THE RADAR SCREEN GOING OVER!!!
 
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Morrie

1st cruise this season......

I recently bought a Catalina 30. My first time out this season was this past Friday. I departed from Branford
 
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Peter Brennan

Long Island Sound

Went out Saturday in awful weather, though there was not that much wind. Full foulies -- hat, jacket, pants, boots. Our club was supposed to have a raft up at Cold Spring Harbor and a beach picnic the next day with another club at Center Island, Oyster Bay. Hardly any boats at all on the Sound except some big wake stink potters. Went into the Sand Hole, which we had to ourselves. Next morning could not see to the other side of it. Sunday weather was better but our club stayed close to home though the other club (Sheldrake) got fibe boats out for the raftup and picnic. Not the best way to start the season but at least we tried.
 
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jim oursler

16 mile race.. lake texoma, texas/ok border

heck yes we sailed.. Loved it.. Lousy wind on sunday.. but we drifted..
 
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Pat in NM

Memorial Day in the mountains

Mixed bag of activities -- rode narrow-gauge train with family Saturday, took son on brief day sail Sunday, rowed him out on our dinghy to see if lake had filled enough so we could use our mooring and move out of temporary space at marina. Wife and son did a bit of night fishing off our stern in marina Sunday night...rule is that one can't fish from pier but can fish from boat in marina. Had a really nice daysail with family on Monday, even with some flakiness to the mountain winds.
 
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Eric Steege

Mustard in the Sink!

First time sailing this year, as we just got wet last Thursday. I went out single handed in a nice 12-14 knot wind, and caught the grove. I got "Mustard in the Sink" as I now say. The mustard (unopened) is stored in the starboard open cupboard adjacent to the galley sink. When I was done, the mustard bottle was in the sink -- nice heel and wonderful sailing! Too much fun! Regards, Eric Steege Perfect Union, 1984 Hunter 31 Bayport, MN
 
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Rob Rich

3 For 3, and a Thunderstorm to boot!

Wow, nothing like having the wind go from 5 mph to 40 mph in less than five minutes. Thunder, lightning, stinging rain, the whole nine yards. Other than that, the rest of the weekend was great!
 
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Gene Webb

BYC Memorial Day Cruise

Baboro Yacht Club is small fun type yacht club with a good nix if sail and power boats located in St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg Florida. Each Year we plan a series of family type cruises with Memorial day being one of our premier events. The major feature of this years trip was the BYC Memorial Day Cup, a sailbpoat race from the St. Petersburg Municipal pier to the world fanous Sunshine Skyway bridge. In this case it was a sprint on one tack. As usual in Florida, the weather was great. Fleet was 8 boats (Several Hunters) Winner was a Benateu 40, but Second was a Hunter 34 and 3rd was a Hunter 35.5. What followed was weekend of partying with a great cook out and dinner at the Twin Dolfins Marina in Sarasota. This is a great Marina about 6 miles up the Manatee River. It was great weekend, safe trip and all of Sail and power boat members had a great time. Gene Webb Rear Commdore Bayboro Yacht Club
 
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Morrie Marino

First cruise this season.

This past Friday we departed from Branford
 
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Bob Pfarr

Full Gale @ night, great days

Three beautiful days of sailing, swimming and relaxing with one calm night, one night of rain storms and one truly testing night. Firmly anchored (I thought) in a protected cove Sunday night, we were all alone when the cocktail crowd left. At 11:40 we awoke to an awesome lightning show through the hatches, followed shortly by a sudden hard heel when the first line stuck. The weather service reported 65 knots. With my anchor hooked on a tree branch (now broken from the rest of the tree) skating across the bottom I learned how fast a C-42 can move sideways without sails. The wind shift put us on a imminent lee shore, but I got the engine started and in reverse in time. After getting on our life jackets my wife took the wheel and I wondered what happened. Crawling forward to retrieve the anchor, it seemed that life lines and harnesses may be nice on an inland lake. We didn’t want to risk the foredeck to clear the anchor so with it clear of the water we tried to motor for our slip. Then we learned what 45 to 50 knots of sustained wind is really about. If I used too much rudder to keep it into the wind, the boat slowed, stalled and broached for a downwind circle to build speed and try again. The maximum headway I could get at almost full power was 0.5 knots into the wind, but in neutral I could do 4.4 downwind. After a full hour of making virtually no progress I went back into the cove and got some shelter. We tightly circled in 25 to 30 knots for 45 minutes, drank a pot of coffee and wondered about going offshore some day. The hardest part was the concentration required to know where we were between lightning flashes. Without the lightning visibility wasn’t very much in the driving rain. Of course the new Nav computer and GPS system were turned off down below. When the wind in the little cove dropped to 15, we left and motored upwind in the big cove against 25 with gusts to 35 knots. We got back into our slip (3 miles away) at 2:30am. The next morning the skies were clear with 10 to 15 knot breezes. Nothing broke, no insurance claims and no one hurt (but a little sore). Lots of lessons to learn. We didn’t find out all the stories, and only know of one sailboat aground and holed (a Catalina 38) although there were a lot of power boats aground, on our end of the lake.
 
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Erik

Oh my!

I had a working sail Memorial Day. My 1974 Hunter 25 was rebuilt in Rochester NY over the winter (where I bought it)and needed to be transported to Oak Orchard about 29 miles west before the 25 dollars/day guest dock fees wiped me out. I picked Sunday as my rain free day with a chance of thunderstorms. I had a beautiful day and was having the time of my life on what was essentially my first sail on a new boat. About 2 miles from my home port the VHF spit out an all craft warning about a thunderstorm, I had been watching the sky "reef" with clouds literally rolling themselves into horizontal funnels across the sky. We got our sails down just in time to be hit with 70 mph winds. Genesis heeled over to 30 deg with bare poles and started to bob like a cork. I started my 20 year old 7.5hp Evinrude and fought like hell to keep her bow to wind. Forty Five minutes later we rounded our breakwall (Thank God the waves we're 2-4 from the Northeast, and the storm was from the southwest, so wave action was only in the 2-4 feet range head on, if they had piled any higher I was in real trouble) My fiance turned to look at me and said, "Gee that was fun." in all sincerity. I guess I picked the right girl to marry.
 
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Fred G

Went out, even in the rain

We had guests so we went out. It was drizzeling when we left. The rain got considerably harder, but of course stopped completelt once we had tied up to the dock at the end of the trip. We did manage to sail all the way back to the dock, which included hoding a course no more than 30 degrees off the wind for about half a mile. The Hunter 30 is new to me and my old boat (Westerly 26) would be doing well to get within 40 degrees of the wind so I was very impressed with the Hunter's performance.
 
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David Foster

Glorious return from Geneva

Well, we brought the Lady Lillie back yesterday evening. A great sail starting with misgivings! The Admiral was worried about a late arrival in the cold, and the possibility of some 5 foot waves. It was cold and cloudy, spitting rain occasionally when we got to the marina and boarded the boat. We made a quick departure about 1600, and found that we could just barely lay the line to Mentor as close hauled as she will practically go. Motored out for some sea room,then set sail with a reef in the main (15-25 knots was the forecast. Had some hot soup, then shook out the reef because we weren't being pushed that hard. For the next two hours, the wind freshened to the north, lifting us to a broad reach from 10 to 20 knots. Great sailing again, but with some pretty good sized (4 foot) waves breaking in white caps during the strongest winds. But the best part was watching the sky. A little patch of blue toward Canada took over the sky above the lake, revealing the sun, sparkling off the water, and brightening the green shoreline to port. There is something wonderful about watching a big change like that with the play of the light on the water and the clouds. Also, consistently making 5-6 knots meant arrival in daylight, and even in the high 50's, the sun can really warm things up! As we cleared the Fairport light, glistening white in the sun, the wind had died down some, with the remaining swell slatting the sails pretty hard, so we motored in the last five miles. We docked in a glorious sunset, glad that we had risked the run, and thankful for a great evening together on the lake, pretty much alone. (We saw one freighter pulling out of Fairport Harbor, one fisherman, and one motorboat along the shore.) David Lady Lillie
 
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Rick

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Oct 5, 2004
1,098
Hunter 420 Passage San Diego
4 Days ,Wait 20 minutes, Lake Erie changes

Great mini cruse - About 70 miles round trip with over nites at Cedar Point, Huron,Vermilion and home Monday. Out in two storms but they didn't last long. All in all - Great time. Rick, "1983 Hunter 30"
 
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Terry Cox

Poulsbo or Bust

Had a wonderful trip to Poulsbo, WA this weekend. Motored down because of the lack of wind. Uneventful. We got in early enough to get a slip, just in time. That night there were maybe 70 boats anchored out because of no available guest moorage. Nice weather during the weekend. Patti shopped herself out while I spent most of the time sitting on street benches snoozing and sunning. The town was pretty busy, partly because of the Holiday weekend, but also because of soccer tournaments. Slept on the boat Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Purchased a small nine inch TV/VCR combo for the boat, so we watched movies and played board games in the evening. Coming back was a special treat. Motored just enough to get out of Liberty Bay. Had a fresh south breeze 20-35 MPH, so raised the jib and sailed all the way to the marina on a broad reach. Seas were pretty rough, but to our stern. Still lots of white water with five to six foot swells. Most of the time we were doing eight plus knots, and at times nine and nine and a half. What a blast. Patti did just fine even as rough as it was. Things got a little dicey coming into Port Gardner because of the rip caused by the out coming Snohomish River tide current, and the deep water south swells hitting the Jetty Island south shoal. I'm ready to hit the water again. The boat did just great. We took enough provisions for a month. Fired up the BBQ Saturday for the first time and had steaks for dinner. Delicious! Terry
 
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Stanley J. Rogacevicz

Why sail when I could...........

Finish the installation of my TV through the bulkhead, wire up a 12v outlet to power it. Discover and after much tinkering fix the problem of the inner valve of my propane tank screwing itself almost all of the way out sometime during the refill process Sat. Installing a Snake River holding tank monitor on Sun. Change both fuel filters after having dodge the Memorial day parade to go buy a second filter wrench to unscrew the water bowl from the Racor filter because it seems it must have been screwed on with a 2' breaker bar. Then finish up my engine compartment sound insulation to round out my Monday festivities. Yup, a fun weekend of work. Stan "Christy Leigh" c320 #656
 
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