Wind was supposed to be light and from the North, but instead was medium turning to light, and from the South. Round Bay Sailing Association RC made a course from B to C to B to A to finish at B, and luckily shortened the course to finish at A. Wind declined during the race, as it does. 2nd boat to the upwind mark, just behind Himmel, and then had a nice spin run all the way back up Round Bay, past B, to finish at A, amidst the fast boats, which is not the usual finishing location for our Harbor 20. Beautiful spinnakers out, and we were able to keep ours full on both legs, though the pressure declined the further we got from the lower mouth of Round Bay. Fabulous night in that there were no thunderstorms to worry about, nor winds in the 20's, so afterwards everyone just floated around and drank their beers, not wanting the lovely evening to be over. We'll have to see how the math works out, but i'm hoping we ended up with at least a mid-fleet finish.
Century Club: Richard Turman
Beautiful evening with 5 knots of wind -- with occasional gusts of 10-ish, all from the S. Rode up Plum Creek, back around to the main basin in Valentine, and then home. Two other kayakers out -- that was it!
Our SeaRay 205 powerboat had refused to start this spring when I first tried three weeks ago, but luckily when our boat doctor mechanic made his house call today he got it running. So after work we had to go take a quick voyage. Explored Valentine and Plum creeks and then went into Round Bay and opened her up. Wonderful to skim across the water going 35 mph, and run race marks around the edges of Round Bay and back home. So delightful
Then took the sailboat out from 7 p.m through 8:15 p.m. for a beautiful evening ride in 5-7 mph of breeze from the NW moving to W. So beautiful out,with only 2-3 powerboats out to make waves.
Two boat rides in one evening -- lucky we are!
Forecast wind was 10-14 knots. Actual was more like 16-18 with gusts to 26, from the NW. Temp was 68 dropping to 60 within the hour. Luckily the water that came over the bow and soaked us was warm. Had four on-board instead of our usual three to race, and what a blessing that was. Started out downwind with a reefed main, and pretty quickly was going 7.7 mph (note hull speed is 5.9 mph). Went upwind for a bit to see how that would go, and moved along at 5.4 mph upwind with just the reefed main, no jib. Proceeded to starting line, which was further downwind and had good-sized waves and whitecaps. 9 boats came out to race; 2 retired before starting. 2 ran agound during the race, in part because the water was down due to the high NW winds, a 41-footer and my Harbor 20. The finishers were a 46, a 40, a 39, and a hardy J-27. We managed the first upwind from B to E and then flew downwind to N. Then up to A, this time with the jib up since the wind had moderated a tad, where we ran aground. Used a mix of engine and jib to get her off, and then sailed home. We persisted, and wanted to finish the race, but that was not to be.
Had a great trip out that I didn't want to end. Two hours starting at 5:30 in 8 dropping to 5 mph. Ran around Marks B and up to E and back twice around, Thence back home up Valentine Creek, but went up to the headwaters because it was such a nice 70 degree night and didn't want to head to the dock just yet. Chatted with a fellow racer who was on his dock about the previous night's race -- I love being in a water community!
Had a good ride in the early evening up Valentine Creek and over to the entrance of Plum Creek and then back home. No other boats out.
First race for my Harbor 20 crew and I in ourPHRF fleet. Actually the 2nd race of the season, but only 4 boats from the fleet of 25 went out last week, since the wind was 20-30 mph, and even the 40-footers were getting knocked about. By contrast, this was a steady Southerly in the 8 mph range -- until it faltered as we were in the 4th of a 4-leg race. Had a great initial upwind run, second boat around the mark, fabulous spin run, was first of the fleet around the mark, and then wind faltered as we neared the end of the reach leg, and died as we rounded it. Stuck in doldrums trying to get the spin up, watching other bigger boats head past us. Instead of a top-half finish will be bottom-half, but the first three legs we performed well, so there's hope for the rest of the season!
Had another beautiful evening sail on my Harbor 20, Fiona, with our racing team -- the second for this year. Wind from the West, so ran a course in Round Bay from race mark A to race mark B, hoiisted the spin, and came down, and then went back up again. Wind died as we came back down, but after a bit, filled in again, so had a chance to spin all the way to the entrance of Valentine Creek, where we dowsed it. Another Round Bay sailor came out on their center consol to visit, and later a neighbor couple came out on their whaler. We got much more proficient in our sail and line handling, and it was fabulous to meet with up friends on the water!
Wanted to sail this evening, but with a dying breeze, and a buddy reaching out to see if I was free to go kayaking this evening, that made the most sense. Left about 6:30 and got home a bit over an hour later. Went into Round Bay and around Kyle Point into the creek between Kyle and Long Point. Beautiful evening, with only 2 boats out on Round Bay the whole night, which meant negligible boat wakes. 70 degrees. Wonderful!
High winds again precluded sailing, but that's why we have a kayak. Spent 40 minutes out and did not see a single boat, which was glorious. Up to the headwaters of Valentine Creek, over to Plum and a little ways up, and then home. Beautiful 59 degrees out, with light winds (for us).