Hot and Humid

I managed to get back up to the lake this weekend, since grades were submitted last Tuesday, and I have a bit of a breather. We haven't really had summer weather until now, but summer hit us hard this weekend. Hot and humid all weekend. And that often means light and variable winds as the high pressure systems move slowly through.

Friday evening wasn't too bad, but Saturday was very light winds and little happening. I kayaked up river in the morning and spent a lot of time washing down the entire boat. Some people went out to sail, but one was back in about an hour with reports of no wind, so I decided not go out myself. I guess others found a little wind farther out in the lake and stayed out a while. Certainly it picked up a bit in late afternoon, at least relatively speaking. I read, napped, fixed some things on the boat, sweltered, etc.

In the evening, I rowed up river. I was surprised to find that the railroad bridge had actually opened and closed again. I had the impression that they were testing it. This is a bridge that carries trains across the Portage River. It raised up from one side to let larger boats through, although I have never seen it open before. It is interesting because the weight of the tracks is balanced by a huge block of concrete that is held by a lattice of steel beams That makes it possible for smaller motors to lift the roadbed, since the counterbalance does most of the work.

Sunday there was a breeze in the morning, and Iwas getting impatient for my guests to arrive, since I was worried that the breeze would die as the day warmed. Well, the day warmed-- a lot -- but the wind stayed good and even increased. I measured over 17 MPH at one point. This was nearly perfect, since it was coming from the south over land, and didn't have much fetch in which to build up waves. We had smooth sailing and a good breeze. Unfortunately, one of the crew is prone to motion sickness and started to look pretty miserable, so we didn't stay out long. It would have been a perfect day to say a lot, though. The weather service started warning of possible sudden thunderstorms, but we didn't see any. It would have been an excellent day to sail to Put-in-Bay, although coming back would have taken a lot longer. The wind never shifted to an onshore breeze as the oringinal forecasts predicted.

I stayed another night at the lake, but the heat and humidity were already getting to me Monday morning--and without the same winds-- so I headed home.