I drove past the marina at 7 on the way home from work last night and noticed the wind still blowing hard from the southwest. Most of the time the wind basically shuts off with the sun in the summer but sometimes, if it is hot enough, the wind will continue to blow well past sundown and last night had that feel. So hustled to get back to the boat for a rare opportunity after a long day at work.
Reaching back and forth to the north end of the lake, it seemed like the wind was dropping as the sun was going down. I find that I like the hiss of the water at 4 knots when there are few other boats to make wakes. As the sun was setting, 4 knots was easily as enjoyable as booming along at 6.5 knots.
Running out of room at the north end, it was dusk and time to head home. I thought about dropping sails, going for a swim and motoring home, but I decided to turn around and sail upwind for a bit. Apparent wind was 9 knots and I was easily making 4.5 to 5 knots so I kept going. Before long, after clearing one of the points, I was in 12 knots apparent and making way at 6 knots with main and 150 genny. By this time, I had to be very watchful for the red and green bow lights of the few boats that were out cruising around in the dark.
The wind was from just the right direction that I could make it back to harbor on just 3 long upwind tacks. The first one was on stbd tack, but with no other sailboats out previously, I wasn't very concerned about crossing any sailboats, but I was concerned about the pontoon boats that would look at my port running light and think they should hold course (not give way to a sailboat). Just such an example was on a collision course as I was booming along and they were at the same speed (being as there is a speed limit on the lake after dark). Just as it got uncomfortably apparent that we were closing and somebody should adapt, they sped up to cross in front. They were headed towards the restaraunt I was passing and they turned again (once they cleared the point of land that we were both trying to clear) to cross my bow a second time to make their way into the docks. It wasn't a big deal, it just added a little interest to the evening. I imagine they were wondering just how fast is that sailboat going out here in the dark? I have to admit, it was a bit of an adrenilin rush!
Up until the end, the dusk was enough for visibility, but I don't think there was a moon out last night (either that or haze and cloud cover obstructed it) because it was very dark by the time I had the sails put away and the boat in the slip. It was 10:15 when I got back home to have a snack for dinner. I would have liked to stay out for another hour or so because the wind was still very fresh, but that 6 am alarm comes way to fast.
Reaching back and forth to the north end of the lake, it seemed like the wind was dropping as the sun was going down. I find that I like the hiss of the water at 4 knots when there are few other boats to make wakes. As the sun was setting, 4 knots was easily as enjoyable as booming along at 6.5 knots.
Running out of room at the north end, it was dusk and time to head home. I thought about dropping sails, going for a swim and motoring home, but I decided to turn around and sail upwind for a bit. Apparent wind was 9 knots and I was easily making 4.5 to 5 knots so I kept going. Before long, after clearing one of the points, I was in 12 knots apparent and making way at 6 knots with main and 150 genny. By this time, I had to be very watchful for the red and green bow lights of the few boats that were out cruising around in the dark.
The wind was from just the right direction that I could make it back to harbor on just 3 long upwind tacks. The first one was on stbd tack, but with no other sailboats out previously, I wasn't very concerned about crossing any sailboats, but I was concerned about the pontoon boats that would look at my port running light and think they should hold course (not give way to a sailboat). Just such an example was on a collision course as I was booming along and they were at the same speed (being as there is a speed limit on the lake after dark). Just as it got uncomfortably apparent that we were closing and somebody should adapt, they sped up to cross in front. They were headed towards the restaraunt I was passing and they turned again (once they cleared the point of land that we were both trying to clear) to cross my bow a second time to make their way into the docks. It wasn't a big deal, it just added a little interest to the evening. I imagine they were wondering just how fast is that sailboat going out here in the dark? I have to admit, it was a bit of an adrenilin rush!
Up until the end, the dusk was enough for visibility, but I don't think there was a moon out last night (either that or haze and cloud cover obstructed it) because it was very dark by the time I had the sails put away and the boat in the slip. It was 10:15 when I got back home to have a snack for dinner. I would have liked to stay out for another hour or so because the wind was still very fresh, but that 6 am alarm comes way to fast.
