Midwinters 2012, Day 2, Wednesday

10:00 am Cancelled-thunderstorms, high winds, tornado watch, flood watch. Pretty much covers it.

The lake level is rising toward the "dry sailing" area

The approach to the club is under about a foot of flood water

12:30 Met a bunch of folks at Joey K's a suggestion of Dan Baird's then a tour of his loft before a visit to the WWII Museum.

John Aras took the opportunity to win enough at Harrrah's (casino) to pay for the trip. He is as skilled at Blackjack as he is at sailing.

An incredibly positive plug for the WWII Museum. Don't think there is anything like it anywhere else in the US. Heard that it started as the D-Day Museum, and it was such a great thing that they expanded it to include the entire Pacific and European theaters. As we walked through, a Paratrooper veteran who was sent in prior to the amphibious landing at Omaha Beach introduced himself. We were all speechless. After fully understanding the circumstances, we were completely surprised that he was here, speaking with us.
The Higgins boat was designed by Mr. Andrew Higgins from NOLA. He demonstrated the durability and functionality of the craft here on Lake Pontchatrain. He actually had to present his case more than once to the Administration. Thank goodness they finally saw the benefit of amphibious landings. Dave's uncle and Melanie's grandfather (among many other brave ouls) drove these boats onto these amazing beaches. Anyone visiting this museum should make sure they see the movie associated with it as well.

We saw the movie and collected ourselves in the hour between this and dinner at Southern YC. They prepared crawfish, shrimp and oysters (cooked and raw) southern boil style with potatoes and corn. It was a bit chilly with the wind, but we managed to eat a bunch, then go for ice cream.

Story which we didn't tell earlier. Housemates Mark and Maria Benner had quite an exciting trip from PA to LA. In AL, an injured vehicle was pulled off on the side of the road. Mark saw a pick-up truck advancing on them from their L side, and he would have pulled further to the R, but there was a vehicle in the way. This pick up truck swerved to the L, hitting the Flying Scot in tow, and pushing it into the vehicle on the shoulder, the Scot came off the trailer. Damage all around. Scot sandwich. 81 year old driving the pick-up decided it would be best to run away. On foot. According to M & M this man is known to authorities, and we hope he is brought to justice.

Hope for racing Thursday.