Sunday, July 21, 2013

2013 NAC Wrap up

After spending the night at the Big Wheel Park in St. Mary's GA we had a fairly short trip to Orlando. We were jones'ing big time to see the girls, nothing like seeing them after a week, they practically come out of there skin with excitement. This time was no different except that there was a golden retriever named Sterling in the house that stuck to us like glue. Sterling is five and has just been used to breed and has not had much of a life. Carol thought the 9 days with our two did some good for Sterling, got to see what it is like to be a dog. Cool!

We made it home just before 3 pm, the only traffic we hit was passing through Tampa which is mostly to be expected with the construction. The RV did well after the brake repair done on Saturday. We have to give a plug to Huntersville Ford, they were a pleasure to deal with. We got lucky that we broke down only 2 miles from them, which allowed us to limp to them after the brakes cooled down for a couple hours. We were also fortunate that we did not get them really hot, so we did not damage the bearings, rotors or even the pads.

The folks at LNYC did a fine job with the regatta. Holding an event there during summer is always a little risky due to the high chance for light wind. However, unlike some recent NAC's we got all the races in and the RC did a really good job. We were reminded again why this is one of our favorite venues. I would not have wanted the job of PRO with the weather we had.

The Lintons staged a solid come from behind victory to repeat as NAC champions. This is no small feat considering they needed to overcome Allan Terhunes lead who is a multiple champion himself. Not to mention a bunch of great teams that filled out the rest of the top 10. Way to go Amy and Jeff!!!

John Kreidler is the man! Well most of the time, at least when he is not it he weeds. He was kind enough to stop and offer to help as we waited, stuck on the side of the interstate. It appeared we were going to have to leave the boat behind since the wrecker was unwilling to double tow the RV with the boat attached. He went and found a place off the highway and dropped his boat and came back for ours. In the end we never got a tow, which is a long story but he did take our boat to the Ford dealer. Thanks John, we owe you big time!

Speaking of thanks, we also need to thank Harry Carpenter for his above and beyond assistance with our boat. When we were at LNYC for the Great 48 regatta Harry took our boat back to the factory and left his boat at the club. Our boat had soft side decks that led to a bunch of cracks in the gelcoat around the cockpit. He re-cored the side decks then re gelled the entire deck which turned out excellent. That is an unpleasant enough job that I would have put it off probably forever. After doing these and a few other repairs Harry brought the boat to LNYC for us to sail at the NAC. That is some awesome service! If your boat needs some fixin give Harry a call.

That's it for now, our future event plans may include a trip to Fishing Bay YC for their annual regatta in August. Next year the NAC is in Toms River NJ, like last time we will probably skip that one but we will see. Planning to visit New Orleans in March for the 2014 Midwinters.

Thanks for reading.






Saturday, July 20, 2013

Getting home

First thing, off to see Jeff, our Ford dealer service guy at 8:20 am to encourage him to start working on the RV --quickly. He said they would be working on it "soon." At 10:00, we did a little happy dance and cheers went up from the crowd as they moved our rolling home into a bay!
Jeff came to us with the news that we needed new calipers. The parts were a half hour away... So, some quick mental calculation, a couple of more hours of work and an hour to retrieve various pieces and parts and we figured we would be on the road again around two-ish, we hoped.
At right about 2:00, Jeff said they would be ready to take it for a test drive! The verdict is it rides nicely, no pulling, so it seems we are good to go. At 2:20, the boat is hooked up and we are on the road again. So we get a few miles down the road and , it's fine. Our next stop is to be picking up our dogs in Orlando but that will likely take until midnight or 1 am which won't work so we decided to shoot for st. Mary's GA. It is near the FL/GA line and there is a nice little rv campground there that we stayed at before.
We ended up arriving there just a it was getting dark so the timing was good for some dinner and the much anticipated beer.
Should be under four hours to get to the dogs in the am. Looking forward to seeing them!!

Friday, July 19, 2013

The last day of racing

Everyone was awake early and in the water. It's serious, and this is the last day to make the regatta. With only 2 races completed, the RC needs one more to constitute a regatta. They extended the time frame till 3:00 pm, to make sure they get it. Turns out, we raced 3, 4 leg races today. Downwind finishes are our fave, and we had a pretty good day in building 4-6-8 kt breeze. Its kind of strange that we have once again finished 11th at the NAC, third time in four tries. team Tampa had a good time of it with 3 in the top 10 and 5 in the top 13 or something like that. The RC did their best to make good courses, but maybe a little too much time between races getting everything, "just right."
Jeff and Amy Linton prevailed, so happy for them!! two in a row!!

We decided to hit the road before awards, since the ceremony was taking some time to get started and we were anxious to see the girls and get home tomorrow.
Unfortunately , the highway gods had other plans for us. About 12-15 mi down the road from the club, Dave started feeling some resistance on the right side front brake. When we weren't able to roll downhill, and it was pulling hard to the right, we decided it might be time to stop and further assess the situation. Sitting on the side of the road, nervous about the RV and the boat, Chris and Monica Morgan were the first to stop to offer assist. We were on the phone with the roadside assistance people and thought they would send a tow quickly to the nearest Ford dealer, or RV service center. Sadly, they had some misinformation regarding the tow companies who actually tow RVs and service centers who service said RVs. Kreidler was the next poor sod to come along and stop to offer assist. By then, we realized the roadside assistance co was of little help, and we were making other plans. With 3 smart phones and an iPad, we were able to rule out some other tow companies and convince a Ford dealer in Huntersville to work on the RV. After this amount of time, (2hours) the brakes cooled off enough that we were able to drive the 2 miles to the dealer. Kreidler dropped his boat off at a parking lot nearby, and towed our boat to the dealer, as well. Gosh, what a fortunate series of events. Conveniently, a Best Western is located across the street from the dealer, and we are comfy and cool in our post-pool and beer temporary location. Hope to have the rig fixed in the morning sometime, but we'll probably only make it part of the way home, as it would be poor form to wake the Dogsitter up at midnight to get the girls. Miss them so much, but glad they didn't have to play this game, although the Best Western would have been happy to accommodate them, too, for a nominal fee.
So, didn't quite make it as far as we thought we might today, but, for this to happen, it probably occurred at the best time in the best place.

We will see what happens in the am.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

The real racing has to wait

another day. It turns out the forecast for little to no wind turned out to be spot on for Thursday. We did a couple hour postponement but at about 11:30 the RC canceled for the day and we were free to roam. We spent a good part of the afternoon at the rental house (SWEET!) with the gang. The house is the second house south of the club and right on the lake. This one is a keeper, for sure. We spent a good chunk of the afternoon in the lake since it was pretty hot, could be worse.

Friday looks a little more promising with the forecasts generally calling for 5 or 6 knots. The time limit for the last race has been adjusted from 1 pm to 3 pm. The start time is 9:30 so if breeze is on we could get 2 or maybe 3 races in.

Fingers are crossed....

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The real racing begins...

Today is the first "real" day of racing. This morning, the water was calm, and folks were saying it's starting off worse than yesterday. (Lighter wind)
The RC was going with the forecast and set up a course. We were slow to get going, and they politely postponed to let everyone leave the harbor and have a chance to get to the racecourse.
The RC gamely went after 2 races today. The first, a 5 legger, with variable breeze. The second, in somewhat less breeze, dying around some of us on the torturous downwind leg, and they shortened to 3 legs. We had an ok day, could have been better but after talking with some others it could have been much worse. Results are posted on www.lnyc.org.

If you are into another take on things there is Amy's site www.amysmithlinton.com she has a lot more words than us plus she's smart, so check it out.

Phew! Races over, time for swimming, drinking, snacking, kibitzing, napping, reading, boat adjusting (wow, we were busy), dinner with ferocious ankle biters! Sleep. The RC is already suggesting that we find alternate activities for tomorrow. Hmmmmmm...

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Day 2 of qualifying, or not

One would think that with all the time we had to write today, that we would have a bunch of stuff written...sadly, there was nothing much going on, so not much to write about.

We were quite amazed that 8 hours could pass, without much notice. A summary : sitting, sweating, swimming, socializing, siesta-ing, stretching, snoozing... Also a good Top Gun chat with Allan Terhune, Paul Abdullah, Steve Shaw, and Jeff Linton. Good questions from the group, and good feedback from the experts.
Then the talk turned to dinner. Team Florida and friends planned for pizza at a local fave Pie in the Sky, and the Mad House and friends have reservations at Joe Fish.
The forecast is not too favorable for racing tomorrow, either, although some seem to feel it is "solid".
While we were chatting on the porch and listening to the RC on the radio, apparently some radio pirates captured the airwaves with a Buffet tune, something about being 5o'clock somewhere? Who could that have been. Then, a rogue rendition of the chicken dance heard between wind reports. Those RC folks are doing quite a job, too bad the wind isn't cooperating for them, much. Funny quote of the day, on the radio topic... A time when "let's go private on channel 70" was heard at an event, just made everyone giggle.
Goal for the day: stay cool and in the shade.

As for sailing, the fleet is split based on the race from yesterday, top half championship and bottom half challenger. There were a couple of requests for championship fleet placement but the committee did not grant them. There is some criteria to these things....

Starts for the rest of the week are scheduled for 9:30. The forecasted wind for tomorrow is solid all afternoon, but it is for 4 knots. Time will tell but we think it is on.

Team Tampa is out for dinner.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Monday Day 1 Qualifiers

Last night they awarded the Women's NAC Winners, Edie Sullivan, Wendy Diard, and Heidi Gough on the 1st place boat and Morgan Iriel, Kenzie Currie and Kaaren Rue on the 2nd place boat. They had some good wind yesterday, and those we spoke to said they had fun! Team Tampa was solid in the Junior division with father/son representatives Hobbs and Taylor taking home the trophies for 1st and 2nd. Great work, so proud!

Tis morning was interesting because the start was to be at 9:30, which means we all had to be early risers. Several folks launched their boats with their own vehicles to ensure making it to the warning signal on time. The club has tractors available to assist with launching and hauling out, as well, but the addition of the trucks seemed to make the process more smooth. The fleet is split between the ramp and the hoist side of the cove, so we can only really speak to the ramp launching side of the business. We were one of the first to launch with the tractor, so we were able to leisurely put the sails on and head out to the course. Why is it we only see a mark boat? The RC boat remained on the dock, due to the on shore postponement during which we all came back to the dock, as the wind (light to start with) started to die. As folks tied their boats up, John Wake performed a lovely reverse triple lindy to the delight of the crowd! After lunch, a training swim for Deb Aronsen, and a quick siesta for some, listening intently to the radio, we heard they were planning to take down the postponement flag as the random puffs started to organize into some measurable breeze. Everyone scattered! We left the pleasant porch of the Ryan/Kreidler house, re-loaded the cooler and hopped on the boat! If only Dave weren't so tired! Why is Jeff Linton running to the boat? Oh, the dock is hot and his shoes are on the boat...overheard, "I've never seen Jeff Linton run before!"

One race completed, light air, and a crazy shift at the end, not sure why they didn't try for 2 shorter races, but it was nice to have some time to work some bugs out. Again, Team Tampa finished strong (it is still qualifying races, but we're pleased) Morgans were 7th in their race, Lintons 2nd, then in the other group Hobbs were 9th, Taylors 11th, and we were 3rd. Good work, team!

Dinner and, more importantly, beer and wine served to the 68 boats present. One boat retired before starting, hope everything's ok.

Quote of the day; Amy is wearing a fluorescent orange sailing shirt (can be seen from about 10 miles away) and proclaims, "Don't round me bro". If you don't get it you probably don't race sailboats...

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Flying Scot NAC lake Norman YC, Pre regatta crap

The journey begins, Friday, July 12,2013. We finally started packing for real this morning after a busy week with family in town. Dave's parents have been house hunting for a little over a month in the Sarasota/Bradenton area and staying in the Palace de Pardey in Sarasota (thanks so much Lainie and Marshall!!). They have been successful and are showing off the model home to Christy (sis) and Ashlee (niece), who flew in to town Tuesday, today.

The weather forecast seemed a little iffy (thunderstorms likely), in Moorestown, so even though we Pre-registered, the decision to attend still Seemed a little silly. Tis morning, though, final preparations were made, everything (we hope) packed, and we're on the road. The boat has been under refurbishment in MD so it is not behind us, which feels weird. It went to the Homeland with Harry after the Great 48 for some repairs so we have not seen it since then. We may call it the Guinea Pig this week.

Almost exactly 2 hours to the dogsitter's in Orlando. Dropped off the girls with old friend Mia, a small, white dog, and new friend, Sterling, a very sweet golden retriever who enjoys holding hands and being next to you. She even placed a paw on Missy's shoulder for attention. Too cute. Hope Missy doesn't try to eat her. Lexi was busy cleaning up after someone else's breakfast mess to notice new friends. On the road again just in time to experience some noontime Orlando traffic. Mixed in with the traffic is major downpours or the look of one just ahead. the trip through Orlando has us traveling north on 95 on the FL east coast which kind of sucks since that has us closer to the tropical storm offshore. We actually got off lucky with traffic jams considering the weather and were grateful for the traffic feature on the smartphones.

Found a nice state campground in SC, and miraculously it finally stopped raining. It's a smallish state park, but really nice. Very woodsy, lots of dogs, reminding us of the girls. The Edisto River is swiftly running by, good sized sites, electric, clean and mostly bug-free bath houses are pleasant aspects of the park. We were surprised to not have Mosquitos descending all evening. When Kim tried to take pictures in the morning, however, it was a different story! Still, a great stopping point close to I-95 for future trips.


Saturday, July, 13
Awoke to a light rain...it's never far away, some clouds. Able to pack up and said good bye to the friendly Park Ranger by 1000, and pulled into LNYC just before 2:00. Longer (again) than the stated 3 hours that certain electronic devices predict. Everyone seems great! Busy with boat measurement and registration! So many folks helping to make the process run smoothly. With all the land saturated by rain, the parking areas had to be rearranged. Amy and Jeff Linton brought their bikes to make the frequent trips around the cove less taxing and significantly faster. Mark and the Family Taylor, the Hobbs family and us are here to represent Team Tampa.

Dinner with part of the Ryan/Kriedler house gang ended up at the Hickory Tavern. Plans started with Vinnie at his Oyster House, but he apparently got whacked by Eddie, who has evidently taken over, but he hasn't been heard from in a while, either.

More rain expected tonight, as well.

Sunday, July 14
More arrivals and more boat measurement. We needed to finish up, but that required the assist of another vehicle, since the Rv is parked, and pushing the boat from it's assigned spot in the (did we mention mushy?) grass field to the cove would have been difficult. At least we pulled the green list from the measurement lottery (the easiest to measure). Ever-helpful John Wake pulled us around and helped with out boat covers, etc. brief appearance by Ryan at the Rv, looking forward to meeting Stacey! They arrived early this am, probably as Kriedler's crew, Mike, was about to embark on his 20 mi training run, sadly, in on and off rain, which was good from a cooling off standpoint, they may have passed in the driveway. Wake and Kim were not as ambitious but were able to join Mike for a few minutes!

Women's and Junior's NAC events scheduled for today. One came back after breaking the out haul, and another was towed back swamped.

Skipper meeting and welcome party on the slate for Sunday evening, later.