A quick trip to Sarasota (our favorite FL venue)

It has been too long since we sailed in Sarasota, which happens to be our favorite Florida venue. With the summer behind us the fall fleet racing schedule has the start at 1 pm. Low tide was also around 1 pm and the lows have been real low this week so everyone took the eastern route around the sandbar. We found ourselves a little late leaving the dock after visiting with Linda, Katherine and Jeff Penfield who just arrived back in town. The breeze was a light easterly, getting a little impatient I cut the corner but having sailed here so often it was "no problem".


Heading north with some skinny water ahead, the light areas are sand and the dark spots are sea grass. The board was mostly all the way up as it usually is for crossing the bar. Why take chances?


Hmmm... Getting a little more shallow than I expected, board all the way up. Sort of committed at this point, sailing higher towards deeper water will need some board and that isn't happening.


The rudder is now mostly up and Kim is questioning the picture taking thing. What else to do? You have to be there but it is an odd feeling crossing the grass at 3 to 4 knots.

I will say I had the mental image of me in ankle deep water with the bowline over my shoulder pulling the boat along as Kim is snapping photos! Not good. Happily for me we didn't bump.

The ten boats had a great day, mid 80's full sun and for the first race a light easterly. The sea breeze filled in shortly after the first race ended and we had about 8 knots the rest of the afternoon.

We will be back in Sarasota in two weeks for the Florida District regatta. Looking forward to that one and hope to see you there.

Day 2 of Racing? Perhaps

A beautiful sunrise Sunday morning


Another early am shot of the cove just before the RC assembled and departed

Sunday, October 10, 2010
Wife Husband Regatta, Day 2 of Racing?


Oh, we had to wake up early!! The Race Committee moved the starting time up to 9:00 am! Our boat was overnighting in the water, so all we had to do was ready ourselves, put the sails on and go.
Unfortunately, the "go" part was none too fast...The best wind of the day may have been when we left the dock.

We spent a couple of hours floating around chatting with folks. There was enough wind to sail by the stern of the committee boat to check in, but not much else. Joe and Stacey Brake came by with Tom Lawton on their super-cool flats boat, probably the most appropriate watercraft on the lake today.


Stacy and Joe Brake loading up on the FS paraphanalia for their new son

They had traveled for just today, as Stacey's brother was married yesterday. Baby Beau is due in early January and Stacey looks and feels great. We agree with Stacey when she says, "I don't know many Beaus, but the ones I know I like!" Speaking of names, we spent a little time discussing the name of 4901. Greased Pig might be a contender, if we could just get it to go faster! Some bacon derivatives were also suggested, everything goes better with bacon.

10:30 The RC Boat sounded the horn and raised the flag to send us in.

Another great idea formulated on the water - a Bar Boat! In times like these, a Bloody Mary or a refreshing Gin and Tonic sounds quite nice. The guys on the pin boat thought so, too.

1:45 pm Awards done, boats packed, on the road. Another beautiful, sunshiney day. Interestingly, we have not seen any clouds the entire time we've been here. The trees are just starting to turn color. Again, the folks at LNYC are excellent hosts, and the winning couple, locals Larry and Carla Vitez gave a very nice speech.


The winners; Carla and Larry Vitez!!

The central theme being how sailing the Scot together builds a marriage. She recalled some very special couples who have been influential in their fleet and the class. Very nice.

John Wake seems to make an impression whenever he sails here.


Our friends Sharon and John Wake from Fishing Bay YC

The whole capsizing thing, which was Hans's fault, we know, we don't have to mention again, (others seem to often enough). This time, he had a little incident with the boat on the ramp (shhhh! Don't tell Travis). At least we know there's nothing wrong with the rollers and you don't have to push very hard to launch the thing. Lucky Dog was certainly lucky AND still fast. A little gelcoat work on the transom and centerboard, and she'll be as good as new. It didn't seem to affect their ability to glide through the water, John and Sharon were at the top mark on the first beat in fine form and finished 4th overall and first in the highly contested First Timer's Trophy.


Paul and Leslie Silvernail not only got second, but also an addition to their masthead safety gear for the ride home. (Bikini bottoms found by Andy and Lisa! Hee hee! We are so mischievous when not sailing!

Last night also belonged to air hockey and ping pong - speaking of activities while not sailing! If we hadn't been able to sail at least one race, it may have come down to tournament play at the clubhouse.



Paul and Jeff going at it

Even though we didn't do a lot of racing, we are not disappointed in the trip. Never expected such a lack of wind in October, but we'll certainly come back for another regatta!


Somehow Kim "misplaced" her skivvies which ended up making an interesting mast ornament for the Silvernails


Susan and David Bell just snagged a new RV which is ready to roll back to Tampa

To see results go here for the LNYC website

Tampa has a buzz....

October 9, 2010
Saturday, first day of racing, one race....

Excellent morning for land sports. Virgina/Carolina friends gathered for a bike ride, no wind, pleasant temps. Skipper's meeting (which Amy missed!) at 10:30 am, a very civilzed time. Some very adventurous souls attempted a go at some early practice, there actually was a slight breeze early...
Andy bought a new fishing pole instead.
Dave and I were able to outfit the boat with our NEW SHEETS! Dave surprised me with new jib and spin sheets which I am very happy with, they make my job(s) much easier. He gifted himself with a new main sheet. We donned the newest sails we have, and after a postponement and some chit chat about whether it was a sucker breeze or not, off we went!

Couldn't believe the start. Hard to manage the upwind, we were with the top group, though, but that could have changed at any moment. Difficult to watch the windward mark rounding. Current was a factor - who would have guessed? Downwind...ugly. Back upwind for a shortened course finish - ouch. That's all we have to say about the subject.

Fortunately, liberally poured drinks, ample keggage and filling dinner and dessert help to erase the thoughts of the day. Did we mention a wine tasting? Oh, boy, could be trouble, avoided that. Beer and Bloody Marys are much more our speed.
Back to the liberally poured drinks-Team Tampa has a buzz....

Wife/Husband Championship 2010, Friday

October 8, 2010
Friday, practice day

The Fairfield Inn does a lovely breakfast, and prepared us well for the day.

9:40 am The Haywards send the children off with Aunt Lori and Gramma Julie and follow us to Lake Norman. We are excited to see the lake and set the boats up and go sailing!

or not.

1:15 pm Ate lunch at the gazebo near where we have staked out our real estate for the weekend. No wind yet, but the boats are set up and in the water. Ready to go. Did I mention there wasn't any wind? Off to the store to replenish the supplies...

Random thought...one of the dangers of walking lakeside has been encounters with the numerous geese on the property. Never fear--The Goose Patrol is on the job! For real, Lisa and I saw the vehicle on the lake road, and I noted there was much less goose poop to avoid. A very nice improvement to an already lovely place.

After our mission was complete, we received our registration packet and assorted goodies, and decided to make a go of it. A couple of boats had made it across the lake, but didn't look like they would make it back. We stayed close to the club, tried to work on our technique, but the wind was just not with us. Ah, well, we had a nice day, had time to take the boats out, discuss rig tension (and other things) amongst ourselves before dinner.

The boys had been smoking brisket all day, and whetting our appetites for some excellent grub. One of the reasons we love this place..they are fabulous hosts. Appys, drinks, dinner, dessert, it doesn't get much better. Hopefully, we'll add "good racing" to the list tomorrow!

Wife/Husband Championship 2010

Wife - Husband Regatta Lake Norman, NC
Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010

About 8:30 am Facebook posting from Andy and Lisa Hayward…they’re on the road to NC! It’s a beautiful morning, starting to get cooler around here, even chilly on this morning’s walk! Wore long sleeves!
Missy and Lexi are on a sleepover at Hadley’s. Dede, Beau, and Ally each have a pup. We miss them already.

Beginning of our trip 9:10 am - leaving the house! On the radio, Ron and Ian are talking about “Johnny Negative” fan behind Ron at the Rays game yesterday. Sadly, Rays lost the first game, David Price had been doing so well! Gotta find the bats. Thank goodness for the other game - a nohitter distraction for the media.
We were hoping to caravan with A&L (Jeff and Amy left last night) but as it stands, they are a solid 2 hrs ahead--See you there!

11:20 Saw a sign on a side of the road BBQ joint that serves chicken, beef, goat, and pork. GOAT! Yikes!! I love me some BBQ, but, yeesh! Wonder how popular it is.

Via Facebook, we saw that Drew is working up a pee. Pass the bucket! I am working on some hunger, good thing we packed some snacks.
We started Nelson Demille’s Upcountry a few weeks ago and haven’t been on enough trips to finish it--back to Vietnam with Mr. Brenner.

Almost 1:00 pm, 1st gas stop just before junction with I-10 toward Jacksonville, but decided to stay on Rte 301, N to I-95. New experiences abound.
Sometimes, new experiences aren’t what they’re cracked up to be…we won’t be doing that again.

1:30 pm yay - on I-95 N
1:40 pm woo hoo - Georgia!
2:40 pm Lisa called to warn us of an incident on Hwy 26, they were instructed to take a detour and reviewed it with us.
We are reminded of the lack of rest stops in GA.
A second call from Lisa informs us that they are on the detour and they are passing where Jeff and Amy are stuck on Hwy 26. They apparently sailed into a hole and Andy and Lisa caught the first great shift (of many, they hope) of the weekend. We are investigating alternate routes. Amy and Jeff’s cell phone is out of battery, but we are able to ascertain that they have been stuck for at least 3 hours.

4:30 pm We hear an alert on the radio that the entrance ramp to Hwy 26 is closed from I-95. Unfortunately, we just passed the recommended detour exit. Turns out, the ramp wasn’t closed, but we decided not to risk it, and traveled further north on 95 and took “a scenic route” through small towns Sumter (which I thought was a county in FL) and Camden on a route called 521.

6:00 pm Andy calls, they’re drinking beer! BEER! Pretty unfair, but good for them. Lisa’s sister lives here, and they will be guarding the children for the weekend.
Dave ponders the things we do for sailing, the traveling, etc., as we pass through another interesting small town, Ridgeway.

6:23 pm Eventually, we make our way to our elusive route north, Hwy 77. We are 70 mi south of Charlotte and we successfully avoided the mishap on Hwy 26. There apparently was a HazMat incident, and the road had been closed since 9:30 am. Wonder if the Linton’s are making any progress?

7:10 pm 10 hours later - NC !! Hope Jeff and Amy are close!
7:40 pm arrive at Fairfield Inn Exit 36!!! 650 miles, we find out later that Amy and Jeff finally set up camp around 8:30 pm.

Communication tips for Wife/Husband Regatta

As a public service I decided to offer this communication lesson before we join our spouses for two days of blissful companionship on Lake Norman. Proper communication is essential if we are to reach our full potential, good luck teams! See you there!

Click to enlarge;

Miami/FL District Regatta

A light turnout of Scots was met with mostly light wind but enough to get the five scheduled races in over two days. Ron Pletsch with Barry crewing took 4 out of five bullets for a solid win. Congrats to Ron and Barry!

Flying Scot FL District #1/ Miami Results

Pos Sail Boat Skipper 1 2 3 4 5= Total Points
1 15 Flying Sidewalk Pesch, Ron 1 1 1 4 1= 8
2 5672 Volee Kurtz, David 2 2 3 1 7/OCS= 15
3 5399 Margaritaville Whipple, Larry 5 5 4 3 2= 19
4 5220 Air America Price, Bud 6 3 2 2 7/OCS= 20
5 5104 Holland, Martin 3 4 5 6 3= 21
6 4595 Being There Stroleny, Vladimir 4 6 6 5 4= 25

The points for the District Standings will be; 1st- 90, 2- 85, 3- 80, 4- 74, 5- 67, 6- 60.

Next up on the schedule is Sarasota, November 13 and 14, let's hope for good weather and a big turnout!