As soon as New Years Day was 10 days out, I began intently checking the extended weather reports. Day after day the report stayed virtually identical. I spent that period lusting for a New Years Day sail in the predicted 5 to 10 knot winds of wind on the predicted partly sunny, 50 degree day. Even as late as New Year's Eve Day, the weather still looked promising.
But New Years Day, I woke up with a sore throat and a body that felt like the dog that chased a parked car. Outside, there was not a gap in the clouds, and the air was filled with a mist that was punctuated by an intermittent cold drizzle which quickly soaked through my clothing and chilled me.
My hopes of getting out on the water seemed dashed so I piddled around doing small chores on the boat and around the house, before settling down to watch a movie on cable with my wife Barbara.
As is often case, from the sofa, I kept an errant eye on the creek and noticed that the catamaran that lives at the next dock upstream was trying to beat up the creek. I knew that he never sailed that boat up into the creek, let alone tried bring her into dock her under sail, so I walked to the windows to take a look.
The wind and current were against them. Each pair of their frequent tacks in the narrowing portion of creek set the boat back further than the progress made on each pair of tacks.
I suited up and went down to the dock, and shouted out to them to see if they were okay. Sure enough, as I suspected, a furler line had gone over the side and got wrapped up in the prop so they didn't have an operating engine. Standing there on the dock, watching their backwards progress, it looked pretty unlikely that they would make it into the slip under sail.
At their request, I un-winterized Synergy's engine and motored out to retrieve them. By the time I reached them, they were further back down the creek. A failed tack left them stuck with one bow on either side of a piling of a dock on the opposite side of the creek.
Pulling them out, getting them turned around, with sails down, didn't take long. Getting them lined up with enough speed to make a dead stick landing worked the first pass. I was able to spin Synergy out of the way without colliding with the catamaran, her dock, or my dock next door. The crew of the cat were able to grab a dock line and walk her into the slip. Before I knew it, I was back in my living room in dry clothing and watching the end of the movie.
So while I didn't get to make my longed for New Year's Day daysail, I at least had a little time on the water....