Tuesday May 5, 2015: SHOOTING THE BREEZE

TUESDAY MAY 5, 2015

SHOOTING THE BREEZE

 

It was a clear, windy evening.  All memories of last week’s drift fest were quickly erased.  There were 8 boats out for the fun.  To avoid going outside into the gnarlier wind, we decided on course number 4: Start, Wharf, Gov Fnishish.  We set the start time for 6:05, but had to postpone because Makani was coming out of the harbor halfway through the count down.  On Pair a Dice we decided on a Starboard tack start right at the pin.  Our plan was flawless, but Diver Down was right with us a little to leeward of us.  Right at the start, Diver Down had no problem leaving us in her dirty air, perfectly lee bowing us!  This was Frustrating for us: Continue on in bad air, or tack over into lighter wind!?   We continued on until we could tack over into some wind.  By that time, they were way ahead of us.  You gotta love a properly faired bottom. Homer did quite a job for Diver Down on their last haulout.  We finally tacked over for clear air, and Diver Down tacked to cover, but they were far enough away to not affect us.

 

Diver Down rounded Wharf comfortably ahead of all other boats. Pair a Dice was the second around Wharf followed closely by Makani and Odonata.   The gap between Pair a Dice and Makani and Odonata was closed even more on the way to Gov.  The race was on to the finish mark.  Diver Down rounded finish with a very comfortable lead.  Pair a Dice was being slowly overtaken by Makani and Odonata which was flying a spinnaker on this leg.  We put our pole up and maintained our lead to finish second followed by Odonata, Makani, Pacific Spirit, Aeolian, Kicks and Andiamo all in rapid succession.  It is amazing how fast everyone is bringing their game up and finishing much closer than they were even a month ago.

 

I was feeling pretty smug keeping ahead of Makani, a 34 foot boat on the last leg.  Over dinner, Stuart informed us that he was chartering the boat for visitors from Minnesota that really wanted to get out on the ocean.  He had none of his crew on board, so in essence was sailing the boat by himself.  This answered our question “Why doesn’t he put his pole up?”.   What an amazing performance!  I am sure the people from Minnesota had no idea what was going on.  They were able to see the whales, participate in a race and enjoy a beautiful sunset while on the ocean.

 

I am looking forward to what next Tuesday brings.  See you then.

 

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice