SEPTEMBER 11, 2018; WORTH WAITING FOR

SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

WORTH WAITING FOR

 My first glimpse of the flag on the Crows Nest was sobering.  The flag hung limp with no hint of wind.  We got the boat ready and left the harbor with an easterly wind seeming to build out on the water and about a dozen boats out for the fun.  We called for course B4 and set the line, gave a 5 minute horn and set up for the start.

 

All boats converged on Blacks and rounded without incident and set up for the long slow sail to Gov.  It is difficult to keep boats moving downwind in 5-6 knot winds. Almost all boats stayed on the inside sailing straight for Gov.  On Pair A Dice, I thought I saw more wind outside and took the chance sailing away from the fleet trying to get to the elusive wind outside.  It seemed that as I approached the wind line, it was receding away from me.  As I watched from a distance, it appeared everyone was struggling in the light breeze and radioed the idea to shorten course and finish at Gov.  Many boats agreed and headed to the harbor after rounding Gov.  At Gov, Avatar was the first around (54:04), Pacific Spirit (54:49), Kicks (55:48), Nidaros (1:00:38). All times are elapsed.

It must have been 10 minutes after all of the boats had rounded before Pair A Dice rounded Gov. It was hard to tell since my Race QS track froze.  As we rounded Gov, I noticed a substantial current flowing to the west along shore with the kelp streaming westward.  All of the boats that stayed close to shore enjoyed this current, making my “flyer” searching for wind outside doubly wrong: less wind and less favorable current.

As we rounded Gov, it was great to be back hard on the wind which was building as the sun dipped over the horizon.  As it turned out there were about 5 boats that had not had enough sailing and wanted to continue to finish the whole course.  In the last bits of twilight, we were able to finish and collect our Mark.  The delightful sail back to start mark in the building Easterly was worth all of the light wind sailing we had endured. Some things are worth waiting for! At the Start mark It was Avatar first, Kicks, Nidaris and Sailing Pair A Dice.

TAKING A FLYER:

It is usually not wise to take a flyer.  Pair A Dice’s performance on this night exemplified this. The wind did not materialize like I thought it would and we did not fare well. Taking a Flyer can work well or fail miserably.  It is always a gamble, sometimes you just have to roll the dice!

COORDINATING CREW:

Some of us are having difficulty getting crew for our Tuesday night sails.  If we can all turn on our radios to 69 when we get to the boats in the harbor, boats that need crew can communicate their needs. It is always fun and educating to sail on other boats.

I am looking forward to next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice