Well they are wrong! Clay, who I met via SailboatOwners.com owns a Beneteau First 260 and is still on the lake. Same lake as me but at a different marina. So last Thursday I texted him and asked if he was still sailing or had he hauled yet. Well, he still had Blue J in the water and I was invited to come along. We would sail from Wayzata Bay to a local lake institution known as Maynard's on Excelsior Bay, where I had kept Papillon this past season, have a few apps and a beer and then head back.
So the night before it rained and then got nice and cold, below freezing cold. Also, on the way to the marina it was sleeting, drizzly, and a little bit of snow. The winds were 15-20kts and gusting to 25kts with an air temp between 30F and 35F. So yeah, perfect day for sailing. After getting the boat ready we headed out and damn, that was a spirited sail up the lake. I had the helm and Clay trimmed the main. Was some of the most fun I had on a sailboat in a long time. Was a lot of work too as I was not used to basically being in a race, there was another boat we were sailing with but we passed them of course.... She was a Santana 23 named Cyclone.
At the dock at Maynard's with the wind direction it was a little bit of work to get Blue J tied up and Clays GF Pia was already on the dock and helped us alot. I almost went in the lake but waited until I was on the dock to slip on the ice and eat it..... After I got up my $60 Spyderco decided to go for a swim and lept off my PFD and in to the lake.
Met some great guys from Wayzata Yacht Club that sailed up there with us and I am really hoping to be a member there next season. Was a great time at Maynard's. Got to see the rest of the Vike's game and a nice win over the Lions.
Pia joined us for the sail back and all I had to do was be rail meat. Clay and Pia race together on Minnetonka and Superior and they worked that boat like a well oiled machine. Was even better on the way back and we hit 8kts boat speed. Was a blast of a day and I can't wait to do it again. Below are pics and a vid of the awesomenes.
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| Snowy & icey dock. |
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| Sweeping the snow off the deck. |
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| My view |
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| Doesn't it look fun? |
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| Me at the helm and Clay on the main. |
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| See ya! |
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| Check those speeds!! |
Looks like fun- IF you have the right clothing! Hope you stayed warm and glad you had a good sail.
ReplyDeleteFun! You're right; sailing racing is a full-time job. But you can learn more in a single day of racing than your would in a season of just bopping around.
ReplyDeleteToo bad the vid in the post is so low quality, the original YouTube is in HD. Is that a blogspot setting?
Yep, that is the setting on here. Don't think I can change that either. Next time I will probably just post a link to any videos.
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