Man! What a weekend!

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May 5, 2006
1,140
Knutson K-35 Yawl Bellingham
Took Momma and the boat camping and sailing the whole weekend. Sat: I get to the campground and go to launch the boat. What's this? A tree over the ramp? Nice, launch the boat and rig it in the water, not recommended. Ok, now I just need to sail her 200' to windward and beach her (no motor). Nice, wind 15-20 directly from where I need to go, no problem. I get her out in the channel, drop the keel and set the rudder, go for'ard to make sail. Uh oh, the clevis clip is missing from the jib so I can't anchor the tack so, no jib. The main gets stuck halfway up and off we go (me and the recaltrant boat) downwind. Ok, so I'll sail a mile around that headland and get out of the wind. I manage to get there and hide so I can rig a piece of wire for the jib and get the main up. Cool, Momma's calling my cell wondering where I am. "On the way Dear". I sail out of the hole, get hard over to 30* and haul butt. It turns out to be a half dozen tacks at hull speed on a wild ride to get her back (sorry about the wake in the no wake zone guys...) but I spin her to windward as I get right to the beach for a perfect docking. So, we do Dinner, very nice, good fire and go freeze out butts off until morning while it rains (where'd that come from). Sun: I wake up and two boats are gone from our little storm but mine's sitting there patiently. We run off to IHOP (To wet and cold to cook) and get a nice thick blanket to supplement the thin ones. One of my Daughters, a Son and two grandkids show up at Noon and wanna go sailing. The wind is up around 20-30 again out of the SW which means a downhill run out of the bay. Off we go for one of the best and fastest sails I've had in a while. The waves on the lake were up to 2-3 feet (big lake) and we where surfing on them as they came in off the quarter. We were very fast and the jet skis just slowly went by as they passed instead of blasting by. Halfway down we decided to head back and literally beat hard all the way back. Another perfect docking and the chillin's were off. Two of the nicest T-Bone's later, chased by some good Kauai coffee and it was off to a warm, toasty sleep. Mon: After cooking our breakfast (yes, I can cook) I'm eyeballing the boat and the wind thinking it'd be more fun to take the truck and trailer to the other end of the lake and sail her there (no trees on the ramp). I manage to talk Momma into it and we take my rig over, drop it and come back. Leaving her rig at the camp, we pile on and launch. The nice SW wind pushes us gently out into the middle of South Bay and leaves us there, no wind, nada, zip. The sun comes out as we bob along and we start pealing off rain gear, sweats etc. Finally, Momma snags a paddle and starts paddling. We see some wind coming as it has changed direction and we keep paddling in that direction. Finally! Wind its and we're off but now the wind is dead on the nose from where we wanna go. We shoot through the channel between some islands and hit a BIG hole again. So, for 30 miles we slogged and beat in 3-10 knots winds. A couple of nice, fast looking race boats came out to play and got schooled by my little old boat. We beat them up and down, no matter the wind, they just couln't hang. I figured they'd kick my butt as nice and fast as they looked with their new kevlar sails. So, eight hours and probably 60 miles later, we pull up to the dock as the wind dies, recover and derig the boat, snatch her rig and go home. Synopsis: Man! I need a vacation from my vacation. I'm sore all over, must be gettin' old or somethin'. PS: The race boats were 24-27 footers with frac rigs and the Omega symbol on their mains. I don't know what they were but they were pretty. Ok, just found out they were International Soling 27' that rate PHRF 150.
 
Oct 17, 2005
119
Catalina 30 Edmonton
I love it when we have to go to work to recuperate

Are you complaining or bragging about your weekend of fun? Sounds great to me and sure beats working.
 
May 5, 2006
1,140
Knutson K-35 Yawl Bellingham
No complaints here...

Just a wild and wacky holiday weekend with some interesting events I thought to share. Beating the two Solings was a highlight as I caught them in perfect conditions for my boat. Add 10 knots and I'm looking at their transoms as they pull away I'm thinking. Either way, it was a weekend to remember.
 
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