10-16-2016, 07:06 PM
Last Thursday I took possibly my last sail with Duckie for the year. I took her up to my usual lake with the intent of having a nice fun sail for maybe the last time this year. I got what I wanted. This particular outing had a little of everything. Sailing away from the landing took some doing because it was into the wind and because of the pot hole the landing is in. Once I got out into the main part of the lake the wind was pretty reliable and just the right speed. After a couple tacks the wind started to pick up and with some light gusts that made me adjust for them. The wind kept building until it was ( I found out later 13 to 15 and gusting to around 20) just right for a weekender.Â
It is Autumn now so the lake is kind of cold and the air was in the 40's. Because of that I wore my dry suit and brought a thermos of coffee. It turned out that I was too busy for the coffee until I was back on the trailer. Also because it was cold, I figured I would sail conservatively so as to not take a chance on swimming in an empty cold lake. I also didn't have anywhere to go, so I took my time with everything. I left my motor at home for the same reason.Â
It took a while to get out the pot hole, but out on the main part of the lake I was able to go sailing. Duckie handled everything easily and I was enjoying the ride completely. After a couple tacks the wind and waves made for some great sailing. I made a couple tacks back and forth across the widest part before the wind started to let up and I decided to head back before I might need to break out the oars. I got a nice push back to the landing with some of the best speed of the day when a gust picked me up.Â
I don't know if I have had a better day on the water. I took a video of it and posted one part of it to Youtube. You can find it by doing a search on youtube for Weekender sailing Island Lake. I would put the link here, but I don't know how to do that yet. The video is kind of long, but there is a lot happening. I hope you all enjoy it.
Al
Â
It is Autumn now so the lake is kind of cold and the air was in the 40's. Because of that I wore my dry suit and brought a thermos of coffee. It turned out that I was too busy for the coffee until I was back on the trailer. Also because it was cold, I figured I would sail conservatively so as to not take a chance on swimming in an empty cold lake. I also didn't have anywhere to go, so I took my time with everything. I left my motor at home for the same reason.Â
It took a while to get out the pot hole, but out on the main part of the lake I was able to go sailing. Duckie handled everything easily and I was enjoying the ride completely. After a couple tacks the wind and waves made for some great sailing. I made a couple tacks back and forth across the widest part before the wind started to let up and I decided to head back before I might need to break out the oars. I got a nice push back to the landing with some of the best speed of the day when a gust picked me up.Â
I don't know if I have had a better day on the water. I took a video of it and posted one part of it to Youtube. You can find it by doing a search on youtube for Weekender sailing Island Lake. I would put the link here, but I don't know how to do that yet. The video is kind of long, but there is a lot happening. I hope you all enjoy it.
Al
Â