May
27
2008
On the second day of NOODs I was the last boat on the water and the first into the marina. The delicate balance of managing family obligations and campaigning a sailboat tipped in favor of the family, and I missed the last two starts of the day. Despite that Saturday was a beautiful day and it was great to get out even if it was just for a few starts. I had Dave Coons with me and we challenged ourselves to once again fly the spinnaker despite the freshening breeze from the south. Continue Reading »
May
18
2008
The National Offshore & One Design Regatta (NOOD) made its first ever date in Seattle this past weekend for three of the most beautiful days of sailing this city has experienced in a long time. Even better was the fact that the San Juan 21s managed to bring 10 boats making our class one of the more respectable showings of the regatta. Another great addition was an agreement from fleet #1 working sails boats that we could fly spinnakers and still get scored as working sails for seasons points standings. So I rigged Limpet up with some donated cleats from Chris Popich, and some donated lines from my boss Jim, and headed out to fly my spinnaker for the first time ever.
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May
03
2008
Fleet #1 had originally planned our Saturday race to be on Lake Union. Upon realizing that this was opening day of boating season we quickly decided to hold the race anywhere but Lake Union. In our attempt to avoid the crowds we decided to swap out the venue to Don Armeni park in West Seattle and hold races on Elliot bay. Imagine our surprise when we arrived to find every space in the launch ramp (and half the street) full of trailers from the hundreds of boats which were swarming Elliot bay like roaches when you flick on the light. What was the cause of this flurry of activity you ask? Opening day… of the Seattle shrimp season. Seriously who in their right mind would eat something which lives on the bottom of Elliot bay? It is literally hundreds of feet from the mouth of the Duamish river (one of the nations worst super fund sites). “Another shrimp cocktail sir?” “No, no, I am just going to mainline this lovely blend of arsenic and heavy metals!” Why bother wasting time catching the shrimp? It would be far more efficient to just wander around licking the streets of Seattle. But I digress… Continue Reading »
