Fresh Friends in a Fresh Breeze

Weather: Winds SW at 10-17 knots with gusts to 24 knots, Temp: 77F, Skies: Partly Cloudy, Sea-State: 1-2 foot

chop, Pressure: 1012mb. Time: 10:00-1600

Crew: Sparkles, Pom Pom, Sophia Pang, Derek, James Monico.

The day started early with a transfer of the boat from its prior lodging to Hoover Sailing club. I finished getting the boat settled, raised the mast, and prepared to launch the boat from her new home. I had been warned that the Hoover ramp was steep and slippery, but I was not prepared for what could only be described as a Teflon slip and slide pre-greased with lard. I could barely climb out of the ankle deep water. The car, however, was still on dry ramp and the boat was launched without difficulty and transferred over to a separate doc while I waited for the crew to arrive.

I found out the rest of my crew was running late and decided that I would try to take the boat out single handed (sailing alone). As anyone who goes out single handed for the first time (even on short round about the lake) will tell you, the first single handed sail is a big step and by the time I resolved to embark the winds were already up to a steady 10 knots with gusts to 20 knots. I started with a full main sail and no jib, but quickly scaled back to a reefed main sail as my weight alone was insufficient to counteract the heeling forces.

After my solo sailing adventure I was joined by Ponnila, Sophia, and Derek. Sophia has sailed with us once before but Derek, who was visiting from China, had never sailed. At 6 foot he would make excellent rail meat (counter ballast for when the boat is leaning over too much) and though broken English picked up on his new role quickly.

We departed just as the fleets were getting lined up for a regatta and got to enjoy watching them dart around the marks as we sailed north on a broad reach. We made quick progress when we received a call that James was on his way to join us. We turned the boat around and started tacking into a fresh breeze that had shifted to the south. Having 4 people on the boat made for tight quarters during the frequent tacks needed to make our way around and thereby avoiding the race course. We did make it back with only Sophia's hat as an offering to the great lake gods. Other boats out on the course were not as lucky with frequent capsizes and one boat suffering a broken mast.

We joined James on shore for a second lunch and chatted with some of the club members. Afterwards James, Derek, I went for a quick spin. By this time a couple squalls were starting to move through and the wind speed started picking up. We opted not to stray too far from the club, but as the squalls started coming in we found ourselves alone with just one other sailboat for companionship.

We both made at least one unsuccessful docking attempt before making it in and just missing the worst of the wind. All in all, an excellent and fast day of sailing.