Apr 16 2007
Lake Union Race Pictures
My friend Nick is a great photographer who took these shots of the race on Saturday from Gas Works Park.
Archive for April, 2007
Apr 14 2007
Race #2: Have Paddle, Will Travel.
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:
- How to deal with a 180 degree wind shift…
- Why masts and high voltage electrical wires don’t mix…
- How you will react when you run out of gas in the ship canal… and are being run down by a 150ft crab fishing boat…and are late for a party which your wife has gone to considerable trouble to arrange…
When the student is ready, the teacher appears!
Apr 09 2007
A Limpet by any Other Name…
What’s in a name? When it comes to your first boat there is a lot to the name. I was actually excited to see that #759 was nameless when I bought it… Though I suspect that a lack of name might also explain the lack of connection & general state of disrepair she was in.
I have always had very particular ideas about boat names. In my dreams my boat always has a single noun name like Endeavor, Constitution, Defiance, Enterprise, or Bounty. Unfortunately, I didn’t think a beat up 1974 San Juan 21 could pull off a name like “Victory,” or “Ideal.” I needed something a little smaller in scope.
Apr 02 2007
My First Sailboat Race
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.
- No falling off the Boat
- No getting clocked by the boom
- No demonic possessions
Other than that we figured anything else must qualify as a success.