After several trips over to the lake(one in which I forgot my boat keys, ARGH!) to work on the small leaks in the keel trunk area this week we more than ready to get back on the water when Saturday finally rolled around. Work has been crazy busy for me doing the annual inspection on the plane so I had to work Saturday morning till noon to make sure I was able to get the motor on the plane all back together in time for our next scheduled flights.
After leaving work I raced home and whacked the grass as fast as I could while Cindy made a yummy corn chowder for this evening Lobster boil pitch in at the sailing association. Dottie came over to pick us up and off to the lake we all went. Not that it took the lure of a fresh lobster to con Dottie into being our first passenger aboard the Memory Maker but it probably helped LOL! We arrived at the lake and loaded everything up under a blazing hot summer sun. Man was it stinking hot. Not much air moving either which is never a good thing when sailing. After installing the sails and loading the coolers off to the launch ramp we went. As I went to get onto the boat so Cindy could back me down in the water another sailor who was launching his large fixed keel boat asked me how deep the ramp was there. In the process of tell him I had no real idea but that with a boat that tall his truck was going to get wet launching there I forgot to un hook the winch line to the bow. So after starting the motor I had Cindy back my further back so we could float off the trailer. Well the rear end floated up but instead of backing away I just sat there. I ran up the motor a bit but nothing. Then it dawned on me, I forgot to undo the winch line from the boat. Argh! Back up front to undo that then I was off.
I met Cindy and Dottie at the clubs dock and picked them up with no real issues. I was cooking in the sun while I waited on their arrival as there still was not much wind. Even with my Pray for Wind shirt on I was not feeling so lucky. There were a few sailboats out on the lake they all had larger head sails that we do. With the girls on board we headed out through the buoy field with Capt Cindy at the helm. I went below to check on leaks and lower the keel. The leaks were a 100% better so that was good news. There was still a bit of water from all we took on the previous week that we could not get out but the leak by the keel lock pin and keel window were much better.
Once we cleared the buoy field up the sails went and off with the motor power. Then we just sat there... The wind was very light, less than 5 mph most of the time, which meant the sails just luffed from side to side. We tried adjusting the sails and heading, even turning all the way around but we were unable to find any sustainable wind. So we just bobbed in the water and enjoyed the day and a cold beverage. Dottie said she was enjoying the whole experience even though we were missing out on the best part, actually sailing! It was not long before we had to motor back in to get ready for the lobster boil dinner. Cindy did a great job of bringing the boat to the trailer and in no time we were loaded and headed back to put the boat to bed.
We arrived at the shelter house right on time and staked our claim to a table and got our lobster numbers. I had never had a whole lobster before so this was going to be interesting. They were boiling water under wood fires and using a leaf blower with a long flexible car exhaust pipe ran into the coals to stoke the fires to get the water good and hot. Seeing how it was already hot as blazes they guys cooking must have been even hotter. After getting our lobster numbers we hit the pitch in items and loaded up our plates on all sorts of tasty eats. Which, is just what you want to do before eating a 3 lb lobster! It was not long before they pulling our lobsters out of the boiling water and we went up to retrieve them. Let's just say they were quite large! Dottie had brought three sets of crackers so we all got going on braking open claws, ripping off tails, and digging out meat. Cindy had been worried from the start that they might not have melted butter to dip the meat in so we brought our own stick of butter and had a plan on how to melt it if needed but not to fear, they had a crockpot full of melted butter so all was right in the world. I have to say the meat was very tasty but I can't say it is my favorite seafood. Cindy really enjoyed hers but Dottie, well, she was an animal!!! She was ripping, cracking, digging, and sucking at that poor carcass trying to get every last morsel of meat out of it. It was a sight to see. You just did not want to get to close as you were probably going to get sprayed, like I did a time or two. It was great to see her enjoy it like she did. While she worked on getting more meat out of the shell she would tell us about her and her late husband's trips to Maine to get fresh lobster and how good they were. Over I think we can all say we really enjoyed the lobster boil and will defiantly be repeat attendees at next year's event. I probably did this in the wrong order but the next day I watched a video on how to eat a lobster. I really should have watched that first now that I think about it LOL!
Now here is the bad part of the whole outing. Somehow, we managed to not take one single picture! Not one of our first passenger on board, not one of the lobsters boiling, not one of Dottie acting like some sort of wild carnivore eating her lobster. I think between the heat and the mess of the lobsters none of us thought of it. But one thing we did decided we needed to get was a sailing log or journal to keep aboard and fill out for each sail and have our guest sign. Even without the wind we all still had a really fun time.
Sail #5 June 22nd, 2014
We woke up Sunday morning to find the weather was still holding out but the winds were forecasted to still be very light. Off to work I went in hopes of getting the rest of the plane's motor back together before I left to go sail. Things went pretty well at work and I was heading out a lil earlier than I had thought I might be able to. The best part was that the wind had picked up and was blowing 8-12 mph out of the south here at the airport. Our hopes were that it held out and was the same at the lake.
We were taking a good friend of ours with us today and we were excited that we might actually get to share some real sailing with our passenger today. Libby met us at the lodge and off we went in Juicy the Jeep. Funny how now that we have a sailboat we watch the tree tops as we drive to see if there is any wind making them sway back and forth. All the way to the lake the tree tops were moving so we were holding out hope for enough wind to sail.
Once we arrived at the boat it was a quick set up to get her ready to head out. We had left the main sail on and just bagged it around the boom and mast so we just had to uncover it and install the jib. Cindy is really doing great learning everything she needs to know and can now install the jib sail herself and has learned how to tie the figure 8 knots in the end of the jib sheets. It was not long and we were headed over to launch her again for today's adventure. Again the launch went smoothly and I picked the girls up at the dock. With Cindy at the helm down went the keel and up went the sails just as soon as we were outside of the buoys. Once the sails were up and cleated off Cindy fell off to the port side and the sails filled with wind. We were SAILING AGAIN!!!!
Libby was really enjoying the sailing. She was full of questions that we did our best to answer and we all enjoyed the peace and quite of sailing as we carried on a conversation without having to scream over a loud motor. We did a better job of documenting this adventure and took several pics starting with 3 way selfie
One nice thing about having a curious passenger is that it does not take much coaxing to get them to take the helm and try out steering the boat. I assured Libby she could do it so she took my place and after a few quick tips was steering our Memory Maker across the lake like a pro!
One thing we are learning is that sailing on small lakes is probably nothing like blue water sailing. Surface friction between the wind and all the trees and hills is constantly changing the wind direction and speed. After a tack you might pick a heading as close to the wind as you can sail only to find out half across the lake you either have to fall off to keep pressure on the sails or you can turn more into the wind, but it usually seems like we are falling off. We were joking about what lays beyond the point at Allen's Creek cove as we have not made it past that point yet. We learned Monday night that is called the Narrows as the lake chokes down there and the winds tend to get really confused. A local sailor told us it takes patience to get through there under sail.
I digress. We sailed quite a while before the girls decided they ready to get wet again. So I had Libby point us towards the cove we spent our overnight trip at so we could drop anchor and let the girls get wet. We were able to sail, all be it slowly as the wind was on our stern, into the cove. It was the first time we had sailed to our anchorage which was kinda neat. After dropping anchor I blew up a couple of rafts for the girls to lay on then convinced Cindy I should tie them off to the boat. That turned out to be good idea as they were able to float without worry of drifting off.
While the girls floated around and enjoyed their beverages I did some house keeping aboard and surveyed the leaks. There was just barely enough water to get the bottom of the sponge wet so I really thing we are getting there. I took a few pics of the boat with it all opened up
If you look at the end of the tiller handle you will see our "tiller silencer". On our over night trip we quickly figured out that waves make everything move. The tiller kept bumping into the cockpit side as it went back and forth. So I tied it off to the rear pulpit which helped but it still banged on the side walls so the shoe idea was born. It actually works quite well but I need to come up with a replacement as at some point I will probably want my shoe on while tiller is tied LOL.
As the sun started down I fired up the grill and cooked us a tasty lil dinner of swamp tators and pork tenderloins. Each time we go out we learn something new. We all sat down at our table to eat and discovered that with all of us at the table it makes the boat list to starboard about 7 degrees. Now I know why they sell special plates for boats that have rubber on the bottom. We spent our dinner chasing our sliding plates back from the starboard side of the table. It was a good laugh but I will be modifying our boat plates so they don't slide like that anymore. We finished dinner off with more strawberries over twinkies with whip cream on top. Libby was thoroughly enjoying the whole sailing experience and Cindy and I were really enjoying sharing our lil boat with our dear friend.
It was during dinner I noticed that a weed bed that I thought looked like a good fishing spot earlier when I was fishing off the bow seemed like it was a lot closer now. Turns out it was as the small mushroom anchor I got from Dottie was not holding. So I swapped it out for our Danforth anchor and we held firm. I really like the mushroom style so I might look into getting a larger one so we can use it for lunch breaks. The Danforth really holds well so it will be our overnight anchor.
As the sunset behind the trees on the northwest side of the lake we sadly had to head back in. The wind was all but gone so we just fired up our lil 3.5 HP Nissan 4 stroke and puttered across the lake back to the dock. Cindy dropped Libby and I off so we could bring the trailer around to retrieve her and our Memory Maker. Libby was just so impressed with how awesome of a job Cindy does on the boat. Cindy has really been a quick study and does a great job handling the boat even though she thinks she doesn't and that she always screws things up. That could not be further from the truth. For two people who had almost zero sailing experience to be doing as well as we are doing on only our fifth sail I think we are doing awesome. I would not have attempted this with anyone other than Cindy. She has never said she could not do something. She does exactly what I tell her to do so if it is wrong it is my fault. Together we make it work and almost make it seem like we have half a clue as to what we are supposed to be doing LOL!
It was after dark by the time we got Memory Maker put to bed and everything loaded up. I think we all had a really fun time and Libby got to make a passenger's entry in our new sailing journal. It was late when we got home but it had been a super fun day and we all could not wait to do it again!!!!
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