After a long hard roofing project I finally got to take a bit of a break Thursday afternoon after I ran errands in town all morning. I came home to find Cindy resting in a lawn chair in the yard so I decided to join her and take a rest. In no time my little lady was asleep with her head on my chest. As we laid there like a couple of slugs I could not help but notice the wind was actually blowing. I had been texting with slip mates of ours who keep their Hunter 23 a few slips west from our girl. They were on the lake for the weekend. When Cindy finally woke up I floated the idea of running over to the lake past her. 15 mins later we were lake bound!
With all the rain Lake Monroe is running 11.5 feet above normal pool which means the pennisula where we normally park is cut off from the rest of the park.
As you can see the peninsula the slips are on are cut off from the rest of the park by about 5 feet of water over the road to it. Luckily the DNR put in a temporary dock for their pontoon and they will shuttle us back and forth. What a deal for the money!!! Can you spot the Memory Maker in her slip?
After grabbing a quick bite to eat on the way we were soon pulling in and hopping on the pontoon for the ride to the slip. Luckily the driver warned us that the power was out to the slips so there were no lights. Good to know.
Soon we were leaving slip cove and raising sails. It was a nice breeze and we were clipping right along. It was not long before we spotted Analogue with Mike and Kathy on board tacking across the lake. After a few texts back and forth with Mike we were passing each other on opposite tacks taking snapshots of each other. Here is Mike taking a pic of us from Analogue
It was fun to actually know someone else on the water who was sailing too. Mike got a nice pic of us once I finally got all the fenders pulled in LOL
The sun was sliding down the evening sky fast and Cindy wanted to get back before dark so it was not long before it was time to un tie and head off. We said our goodbyes and made plans to meet up Saturday when we got back to the lake.
Motoring back to the slip it was crazy to see how much was under water. The parking lot we normally parked in was under 2 to 3 feet of water and if you did not know it was there it would be easy to try and cut the corner only to hear a nasty sound from under the boat. We gave that point plenty of room did not have any issues getting our girl put back to bed.
It was really nice to get back on the water after a 7 day hiatus. It was our first time to raft up and Mike and Kathy are super nice. We drove home looking forward to the weekend and being back on the water again!
Friday was a long day for both of us with Cindy at the dentist and myself a work. All the more reason to look forward to the weekend and getting back on the water.
While I was flying back into Seymour I was close enough to the lake to fly over and see if I could find Analogue. Mike said they were in a cove close to where we left them the day before so I should have been able to find them pretty easy. As I came up on the cove I did not see any sailboats. On the west edge of the cove I rolled hard left to turn back and looked straight down. There they were!
They had her tucked way back into a cove further than I thought they could get. The advantage of high water. I snapped a quick pic of them and of our parking area so Cindy could see how high the water was then pointed the bird southeast for home.
It was a bit past noon Saturday before we were finally all loaded up and westbound for the lake. Quick pit stop at the junction of 446 and 50 for chicken sandwiches as we were both starving and then north to the lake. Tom, Sherry, and their daughter Lindsey had a head start on us and arrived first. From their texts the ramp at Paynetown was the only one people could launch from due to the high water so of course it was busy. Tom has even less patience than I do so he was in a chipper mood LOL! They finally got launched and parked just a few minutes before we pulled in.
Pulling in to the shuttle parking area I pulled up to the dock and unloaded Pearl then ran her up to park. Cindy had almost everything on the shuttle by the time I got back so there was minimal time lost. Tom was waiting for us by our slip in their boat and Lindsey was chomping at the bit to tube with someone. Cindy helped me get the Memory Maker ready to sail then hopped on the tube with Lindsey as I backed out of the slip. I was able to use the tiller tamer lock on the tiller with a temporary line I rigged up which allowed me to scurry forward and raise the sails. In no time I was running closed hauled in about about 5 mph of breeze. The lake was busy and the water was choppy but it was fun to be sailing again.
Tom pulled the girls around close enough I could see them while Sherry acted as spotter.
Here is Cindy one handing the tube like a pro
It did not take long to wear them out and he dropped Cindy off out in front of me about 500 feet. You know, brakes would be handy at times. I wasn't going fast but being that I was single handing I had to work to get her slowed up in time to pick up my lady floating overboard. It took a quick toss of a deck line but soon I was helping Cindy onboard.
We wound up dropping the sails and just motoring back to our cove to tie up with Tom and the girls. The lake was too busy and there really wasn't good wind to allow us to sail with any speed. The cove was hopping as there were several double decker pontoons and other boats scattered about. We found a spot and dropped both anchors to better hold our position. Soon we had Tom's bass boat tied up and the air was going in the floats and paddle board.
Starting last Friday, my first day on a large roofing job, it felt like summer had just started over night. It was hot and humid and did not take long for us to be jumping overboard to get cooled off. All summer to this point it had been cool, cloudy, with rain almost everyday. Now it just felt like someone had flipped a switch and it was hot, humid, and more like a typical summer.
The girls seemed content to float around in the chairs and boat so Tom and I untied and went to try our luck at fishing for a bit. With water this high it was anyone's guess where the fish might be. We worked along the trees north of us that were half under water and caught a few small blugills. I somehow managed to sail my lure over a small limb and then as luck would have it I caught a small fish as we went into retrieve my lure. Made things more interesting. Small fish were easy to find but the larger ones must have been laying low in the heat of the day. Time seemed to be flying by and it was not long before we decided we better head back and fire up the grill.
Lindsey was back on the paddle board while I cooked dinner. She sure seemed to enjoy playing with it. Dinner was delicious and a big thanks to Sherry for the yummy pasta dish and the delicious Oreo dirt pudding desert! Man that stuff is yummy!!!!
With dinner consumed I hopped on the paddle board with my fly rod to show everyone how real men fish LOL! It was fun fishing but I did not have a popper small enough for the baby fish that kept taking the rubbery legs of my popper and running off with it. I soon gave up and headed back to the boat.
Tom got a call from some friends who were on the lake as well. He gave them directions on how to find us. It did not take long and they were pulling in the cove with us in their pontoon boat .
We enjoyed a nice visit while Lindsey tried to help Billie try out the paddleboard. They spent a good 30 to mins trying to get Billie up on it but it just wasnt meant to be. I have to give her credit though, she gave it one heck of a try. We heard a few days later she was really sore as that board kicked her butt!
The sun was setting so Tom and Sherry headed back to load up and head home. We headed north across the lake to meet up with Mike and Kathy who were anchored in the Moores Creek cove. Cindy's paddle board made a nice float barge for our two floating chairs.
We towed the chairs behind once before but they did not like it very much. This way we did not have to bring them aboard and we hardly knew they were back there. It was probably close to 11 when we finally tied up with Mike and Kathy. After shots of Pirate rum we just sat in the cockpit of Analogue doing what all sailors do, swap sailing stories. It was about midnight when the sky and lake lit up like someone just took a flash picture. I was looking south at the time but Cindy and Kathy where looking north and had a great view of one very bright meteor! I turned around just in time to see its trail fading fast. It was really neat and I don't think any of us had ever seen one that bright before.
It was getting late and my yawns were becoming more frequent so off we went to drop anchor and catch some shut eye. I was wiped out and did not last 2 mins once we curled up in the V birth. We have always slept very well onbaord our little boat and that night was no exception. We had a nice breeze coming in through the front hatch and the bugs were not bad.
Waking up the next morning I could have swore I was up early, like 7 or so, but turns out we slept in till 9:30. Sticking our heads up out of the hatch we could see Analogue was gone but we were in the same place we were when we went to sleep. That is always good. Seems Mike and Kathy headed into town for breakfast and gas for their outboard.
I jumped into the lake to get woke up and that worked perfectly! While not cold, it was cool enough to be very refreshing. After my quick swim I went about getting breakfast started for us only to discover I did not have any cooking oil to keep the omelets from sticking. Seems I remembered our coffee maker attachment but forgot the coffee too. Luckily Cindy is very understanding and she was more than fine with Cajon pork loins and Mimosas for breakfast.
After breakfast I went about working on the boat while Cindy paddled her board around the cove. I was able to get the pad eyes and cleat installed for the tiller tamer and then dropped the bow attach points for the lifelines down from the pulpit to just inside of the rub rail on the deck. I did not like how our jib would rub and get hung up on the lifeline so dropping the lifelines down will eleminate that problem. Plus now I can step on and off the bow right behind the bow pulpit without having to drop the lifelines. Just have to male sure you don't catch your foot on the line when you step on or off there.
The next project was to install the solar powered cabin vent fan. This has been a on going project for sometime now. I think I finally had everything I needed. Drill, check, circle cutter, check, fan, check. I started drilling the hole for it and it was not long before both boats were covered in dust. Then shortly there after the drill battery went dead! Things were going just perfectly! It would take one more trip over but I would finally get the vent fan installed!
Time was just flying past and it was mid afternoon already. Sleeping in totally screws with my internal clock. While Cindy loves to sleep in I just feel like I am running behind for the whole day.
While we could feel the wind blowing but it was far from ideal sailing conditions. We raised anchors and headed out anyway as we were sailboats and that is what you are supposed to do. I think Mother nature just made enough wind blow long enough to sucker us out into the lake. Seemed like once we did it all but died. We chased Analogue across the lake a couple of times before finally catching her. Being a smaller a lighter boat Memory Maker has a bit of light wind advantage on her bigger sister. I caught a nice pic of Cindy over my shoulder as she steered us along
I am such a lucky guy to not only have a pretty boat but a beautiful fiancé to Captain that boat!!!
Even though it was cloudy the temp was really toasty so it did not take long before both Cindy and I were ready to take a dip to cool off. We heaved to and jumped in as Mike and Kathy turned around to come back at us. It was really fun chasing a each other around the lake. I think it was as much a learning experience as it was fun as I could watch Analogue and see what was working for her and what wasn't and make changes to the Memory Maker to see if would help us as well.
We both gave it our best attempts but the wind just continued to weaken. Mike threw in the towel first and as I looked over they were dropping their main and starting the motor.
It had been a really fun weekend but like all good things it too much come to an end. We motored our way back to the slip and tucked our girl in before hopping onto the shuttle for the ride back to our car. It had been a long day and several hours since breakfast so we reflected over all the fun we had while enjoying a savory Pine Room Tavern cheeseburger in Nashville IN on the way home. That sure hit the spot. While we tried to get Mike and Kathy to stop and share one with us but they had to get home. I sent them a pic of what they were missing and they agreed that next time they were stopping with us!!!
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