Missing My Crew

I didn't have crew for last week's race. Meg was out of town, and Matt was playing soccer. I was on my own, and it wasn't real pretty. You can see from this picture that my sail was not properly trimmed at this point. But I did finish. Eventually

Race Called on Account of Fog

My fair weather crew had bailed on me Saturday, so I showed up to crew on Fast Idle. Unfortunately, a thick fog was over the lake. Visibility was two boat lengths. We sailed around for a bit, waiting to see if things would clear up. By 12:30, we were still fogged in, so the Commodore called off the race. The make up date is 1/26. The picture below is from another day that I was crewing on Fast Idle.

Getting More Serious About Sailing

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We've gotten a PHRF rating for Bliss, and we're getting ready to race with the Corinthian Sailing Association on the Northshore. Although Bliss will never be a speed queen, the competition is not what it's really about. I have learned more about sailing in the past few months just by being on Fast Idle's crew than I learned in the last few years combined. When you can see a bunch of boats around you, watch what they're doing, and see how you're doing in relation, you just figure things out. A couple of weeks ago, we did a "fun" race with 3 other boats, and we hope to do another this weekend.

Running Downwind

Megan and I went out a couple of weeks ago to learn how to run wing-and-wing downwind. The wind didn't cooperate, but we were able to figure it out.

A Little Too Rough

I wanted to sail last weekend, but the weather just wouldn't cooperate.

Out of the Water

Hauled Bliss out of the water to have the bottom sanded and painted. She was in good shape but about due for a painting.

We had gone to Baton Rouge on Saturday and were planning to have her put back in the water, but Tropical Storm Lee had other plans. Bayou Castine had flooded, and water was over the docks at the boat yard.

Planning to go back next week before the LSU/Northwestern game and bring her back to Indian Landing.

Captain Megan

We had a very good sail on Sunday evening with Megan, our oldest daughter. We headed out around 4:30, and the wind picked up a bit at about 5:30 p.m.

Megan wanted to sail, so I have her the helm.



Principessa came along, looking like Jackie O.



Matthew bounced around the boat, alternatively telling Megan how to sail, then squealing at each tack or jibe.



We left the genoa up until the first bend in Bayou Castine, just to show off a bit.

We spent a lot of this trip doing maintenance, including installation of two blocks on the cabin top to route the main halyard aft to the cockpit. Made a couple of bids on used winches on ebay, so hopefully I'll have another winch to install next time. I also had a lot of cleaning to do for our guests this time.

Left Monday morning to return to Shreveport. Until returning to Mandeville, my hobbies are limited to growing heirloom tomatoes and home brewing beer. We hope to be sailing again in a couple of weeks, though.