A Great Sailing Day

What a great sailing day!

I headed up to the lake Saturday afternoon, because I hoped to get some work on in the morning. I should be reading student papers a lot more quickly than I am. Didn't get very far, though.

I stopped in at the annual Cedar Point boat show on the way, but it was a bust. I paid $10 for parking and $9 for admission. It was identical to previous years (although I missed last year's) except that it was a lot smaller this year. One tent full of booths, mostly marinas looking for people to dock there, Fewer boats at the docks, with a smaller proportion of sailboats than usual. Even fewer food concessions. A ripoff, all in all.

A lot of wind on Saturday, though. Once I got to the marina and listened to the weather radio, they were reporting small craft advisories out on the lake until 9 pm. I guess it wouldn't have done me much good to have gone up any earlier.

Sunday was another matter. The forecast called for light winds in the morning increasing to 10 knots in the afternoon. It got even better. Kristie and Mike arrived around 1100, and the breeze was already picking up. We caught the 1130 bridge. The wind was at least 10 knots when we got out into the lake and picked up to at least 15 knots after a while, especially once we were moving out of the bay that Port Clinton is in. We sailed for at least 3.5 hours, making 5 or 6 mph or even a bit more. We reefed the jib at one point, which definitely made handling easier. If I had known that the wind would be that strong, I would have prepared the reefing lines for the mainsail, too, but it didn't get to the point where that was vital.

Only a few weeks left in the season, but it has been a good one for reasonable winds. I also think I'm getting more confident in what I can handle. I have to admit, however, that it helps a lot to have others there. Docking went really well, this time, again, largely because of the help I had. My floating-dock-mates had just returned, too, and helped from there. Mike had the boathoock on the bow, and Kristie had the spring line at the stern. We managed to move right in without much fuss.