Shifts and Squalls

Weather: Winds SW at 10-17 knots shifting to NW at 5 knots, Temp: 8FF, Skies: Partly Cloudy, Sea-State: light chop, Pressure: 1012 dropping to 1008mb. Time: 1200-1500.

Crew: Sparkles, Pom Pom.

We started the day driving up to the Galena for breakfast at the Galena diner. The diner is a favorite stopping location by cyclists for water and a quick meal. Afterwards we headed up to the sailing club for some dock building. The growing popularity of adult sailing classes has meant that the sailing club has had to purchase more boats which require more dock space.

As much fun as building floating pontoons are, we were excited to get out onto the water. Ponnila did most of the helming, although it took her some time to get back in the groove. The mainsail had to be rehoisted mid-sail due to a weakly secured halyard. However, we eventually unfurled the jib and had some fun sailing alongside the racing boats. They asked if we wanted to join in, but I think I would like some more experience crewing some of the other boats before I enter Equuleus in the races.

By 14:30 we were getting hot and the centerboard was again giving us trouble, so we decided to head in. The centerboard is the part of the boat that transfers the lateral motion from the wind into forward motion when sailing upwind (see explanation to right). It is also the part that had snapped in half when we beached the boat at the end of last season. The breaking mechanism that helps secure the centerboard at the appropriate depth had become loose, causing the centerboard to rise out of the water periodically. One of the advantages of being at Hoover Sailing club is the presence of a crane which we could use to raise the boat and access the centerboard mechanism. Fortunately, I was able to tighten the screws without having to lift the boat off the trailer and hopefully this will be the last of our centerboard worries.

We ended up heading in just at the right time. Shortly after we got the boat stored away, thunder could be heard in the distance and a large menacing cloud was creeping up on the lake. The races were quickly called off and within 20 minutes a big squall came though with near gale force winds. All the boats headed in before the winds really picked up, but several lasers were left tied to the dock and knocked over unable to be brought in with the high winds.

As is true with all squalls, storms that pop up quickly, leave quickly, and this was no exception; but before moving out, it certainly provided quite a show.