Mar 15 2008
Our first Fleet#1 San Juan 21 Race of the 2008 season ended up being a serious drifter with light and shifting winds. Of course most of the work I had done on Limpet since last season was for an adjustable backstay, and Cunningham. Both of which are only needed during a serious blow. I was off my game with the starts and we never found much boat speed in the light winds but it was still a great way to spend a March day in Seattle. Continue Reading »
Nov 17 2007
The final San Juan 21 Fleet 1 Race of the 2007 season was at Coulon Park in Renton WA, on a day which would have made penguins look for a nice dry place to get out of the rain. A hard rain is a rare occurance in Seattle where we prefer our precipitation accumulations to be slowly drawn out over weeks if not months. But for this race the skies opened up and dumped almost ½ inch of rain between 11AM and 2PM. I was soaked by the time I got my mast up, and found myself thinking of Noah… “Hmm I wonder if the Arc had an adjustable backstay?” Six boats were willing to brave the risk of drowning while still sitting in the cockpit: Habagat, Rascal, Compass Rose, Charmed Juan, PGS Juan (sporting a shiny new mast) and of course Limpet. Chris Popich left Wooglin at home but crewed aboard Rascal. On board Limpet I had my Father John along as brave and experienced crew.
Nov 03 2007
This weekends San Juan 21 Race in Elliot Bay ended up being more of an obstacle course than a sailboat race, and not all the boats came out unscathed. The course featured a starting line with a heavily favored starboard pin just off the rocks, a weather mark protected by a giant bull Sea Lion, a dead zone ¾ of the way down the down wind run, and an imposing leeward mark surrounded by 3 foot seas and a crazy wind shift. The only thing missing to make the vision of a visit to Camp Pendelton complete was Clint Eastwood firing an AK47 over our heads. If you think I am succumbing to my tendencies for over-embellishment, just look at the photos of PGS Juan demasted while attempting to round the leeward mark on the final race of the day. I am not kidding. . . it was so treacherous that Scout’s crew didn’t even take our their banjos.
Oct 20 2007
200 years from now scientists will invent a translator capable of speaking with seagulls. Behavioral psychologists will have discovered that seagulls are some of the planets most brilliant creatures with advanced forms of communication, art, and complex socio-political structures. Seagulls (being very benevolent creatures) will be extremely excited to enlighten us on ways to correct our sadistic, malevolent, violant, and generally destructive tendencies. They will send a delegation to open comunication with the scientists. Unfortunately, the seagull delegation will stare at each other with despondent, unbelieving, and unblinking eyes, when the first question from the scientist is “So how many words do you guys have for WIND anyway.” After an awkward silence a seagull will reluctantly step forward and say “ a… well… I guess about 78.” Things will go down hill from there.
Saturdays San Juan 21 race at Magnuson Park would likely have covered at least 42 of those 78.
Sep 30 2007
| Regatta Summary | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Total Points | ||||
| Wooglin | 3.00 | ||||
| Charmed Juan | 8.00 | ||||
| Rascal | 12.00 | ||||
| Two For Juan | 16.00 | ||||
| Limpet | 20.00 | ||||
| Scout | 24.00 | ||||
| PSG Juan | 28.00 | ||||
| Habagat | 32.00 | ||||
Every year the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle puts on a regatta to honor the great Norm Blanchard. Every year the committee boat endures a series of line starts where the classic wooden boats involved bear away as soon as another boat is within Frisbee distance. I guess if I poured thousands of hours/dollars in to the building, restoration, and or maintenance of a wooden boat I wouldn’t want anyone closer than I could hit with a good sand wedge either. To relieve their boredom and bring some spice to the starting line the Center for Wooden boats each year invites the “Classic Plastic” class, and if you live in Seattle the only real classic plastic is a San Juan from the Clark Boat company of Renton. And if you want the Juans to show up in numbers the only Juan to invite is the San Juan 21.
Aug 25 2007
While there were only a couple of times where I crossed the line absolutely last, Limpet had never been even remotely close to crossing the line first. That is until today! The wind, water, and fates aligned for Limpet to claim her first victory, then her second, then her third. Basically my friend David Coons and I were a couple poor starts away from putting on a complete clinic. It didn’t hurt that the two fastest boats in the fleet were not in attendance, but I won’t let little things like facts get in the way of my delusions of grandeur. Continue Reading »
Jun 06 2007
Either I was dragging an anchor in this race which no one told me about, or I officially have the slowest boat in the fleet.
Still I will take a solid dead last finish over a day of yard work anytime. I did have some slight revenge as the fleet had to circle for an extra 10+ minutes just waiting for me to finally get across the line. Continue Reading »
Apr 16 2007
My friend Nick is a great photographer who took these shots of the race on Saturday from Gas Works Park.
Apr 14 2007
Lake Union must be one of the most amazing places to hold a San Juan 21 race anywhere! It has beautiful views of the Seattle skyline, house-boats, and the Space Needle, and is particularly cool for the steady flow of floatplanes roaring through the fleet.
It also has things to teach you! Things such as:
When the student is ready, the teacher appears!
Apr 02 2007
So I have had my San Juan 21 “Limpet” for a couple of winter months and had only sailed it once. With the cherry blossoms on the trees and the promise of summer in the air I have been jonesing to venture back to the water. So with more optimism than sense I rounded up some crew and headed for the first sailboat race of my life. I caught up with San Juan 21 Fleet 1 on Elliot bay for a day of fun framed by the Seattle skyline. My stout hearted crew with questionable decision making abilities was my good friend Ken. (Quick story on Ken… He is married to a great gal named Heidi and around my house we often refer to “Ken and Heidi.” My son, who has not picked up on the finer point of conjunctions, has taken to calling him “Kenand.”) Together Ken and I set forth some objectives for the adventure.
Other than that we figured anything else must qualify as a success.
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