Hope everyone got home OK last night. It was rather chaotic. I wish we had more time to "debrief".

I found a white hat in the boat and can't remember whose it is.

It felt great to hit the sack. I slept like a baby.

The boat is in surprisingly good shape. After clearing a little clutter and getting the garbage consolidated, it was almost presentable to Deb.

I inflated the dingy OK but as is flipped it overboard an oar caught on the lifeline and bent the oar. I was lucky it held while I rowed to MCSC.

It's good to be home.

Wayne, please let us know how your wife and her crew do coming back. I've been watching the winds and think they are going to have some rough weather stories to tell.

Welcome back, Al! Now come on, give us the dirt, the fun, the crud, who accidently gybed the most at night ("No! I didn't nod off a second, honest!" LOL's!), etc.

Like tell us poor land bound types the fun, etc. Nothing good? Nothing funny? Heck, then make something up that sounds like fun!

How did you guys do?
Again, welcome back.

~Gary

Al
I had a great time on your boat last weekend. Thanks for having me. As far as Sue's trip back they left Sunday morning at 7:30 I guess the wind was really honking and trying to get out of the harbor was tricky. She said it was rough seas for a few hours then it wasn't too bad after that. The good news was she didnt get sick. They arrived back at SSYC about 8:00 pm. She had a great time also for her first trip across the lake.

Al, it was a pleasure! You've been incredibly hospitable with your boat and it's much appreciated. I enjoyed our motorsail to Muskegon and the return trip was even better. Too bad we didn't have the winds to race, but perhaps next year

If you need any help with anything on the boat, or otherwise, don't hesitate to ask... I'd be happy to help out.

Wayne, I'm glad Sue had a good time. I think you've got a good one there. You sir are a gentleman and a great sailing companion. You are welcome on my boat anytime you desire.

Chris, I picked up a little and the boat came back to life pretty quickly. Thanks for the offer but I think we'll be OK.

Anybody know who owns the white baseball cap?

Gary,


I had a great time with the guys. Can't think of anything I'd change on the trip except I'd throw some wind into the equation on the way over.

The hours long reach home was the best sailing I've ever experienced. 6.2 knots straight home plowing through 1-2 foot rollers. COOL

Well it was a little tough maybe to call it a "race" but it sure was a great time I think for all. We were still only about 3 miles out of Milwaukee by the time the sun was setting. I think we were somewhere around a whopping 0.8 knots by that time and had been fighting the whole way to trim sails. I think we were actually doing pretty well until the wind finally tuckered out. This did make for a great site with the city skyline, the plethora of Sailboats, and the setting sun. Just that alone made the whole trip worth it. At around 9:30 or so folks started dropping out of the race like flies...can't say I really blame them with the complete lack of wind. We saw some folks bringing out the spinnakers as what I think was a last resort. Strange to me since they didn't appear to be heading downwind, but in any case I guess they were as desperate as we were. At one point I recall wishing I could do the Wiley Coyote and blow my own wind into the sails. Alas, no such cartoon based luck for us. We saw a couple fairly large boats zip right along past us at what I'd assume to be in the 4 knot range, though. How amazing considering everyone else was essentially sitting lifeless and staring at each other with no wind. LOL

So when we finally called it quits for the 'official' race we decided to go ahead and at least finish what we started. We motored across all night in what turned out to be a pleasant, albeit a bit chilly, night. I recall actually seeing the full Milky Way! I've only seen that in pictures having lived most of my life in larger cities, so it was humbling to get a view of how really small we are in comparison. We took 2 hour shifts through the night, but I think Al ended up running his shift a little long. The sleep was excellent...I don't think I've ever slept as deep and hard as those short naps.

We finally arrived in Michigan the following morning and checked in with the race officials. Motoring across at around ~6 knots all night we made it there around 7AM or so. The winners, on Sail alone, made it around 1:30AM!! How that is possible I fail to understand but stand in awe of their boats and crew. We had an amazingly good breakfast of Pancakes and Sausage before heading back to Milwaukee. The wind was still extremely light but picked up nicely around midway across the lake. The sailing from that point was excellent! We were around 5-6 knots on relatively calm seas and it was just a great experience. I think you could see everyone smiling and thinking what had to be peaceful thoughts. We had a little excitement with some weather that juuusssst skimmed by us on the way home but ended up just being a light drizzle that turned into some thunderstorms after we were already at the dock. It did give a chance to don all the foulies, though. I think we were ready for a full on hurricane by the looks of us but only got the sprinkles.

The crew was amazing! Al was a gracious host for allowing us all to share Tursiops for the race. She's a great boat with plenty of room and generally just all around comfortable. I can see why he'd want to show her off! I think Al, Wayne, Chris, and I got along well and enjoyed each other's company. The conversation was great and was interspersed with appropriate moments of solitude to take in our surroundings. I'd venture to say everyone had a blast and would do it all again in a heartbeat. Thanks so much for having this newbie along! I learned a lot...enough to know that I'm on the right track and that I still have plenty left to learn.

Al, the cap's mine but I consider it a casualty of war. I figure it's a good excuse to hit REI and pick out a new one. Thanks again for letting us share your fantastic boat!

Thanks for the write up, it was a good read!

But... did I understand what you said correctly?

You gave it up, MOTORED along at 6 knots all night, and the winner, sail alone, beat you by 6 hours?!?!!?

I do not understand this either. Any chance you know the boat, sail dimension, hull speed, etc? Total time she took to transit the race? Hull length, etc?

Oh, well, calm or no calm, I envy you guys. Sounds like it was all in good cheer, and THAT is what's really important.

~Gary

Sometimes boats with significantly taller masts find air just above us shorter guys. Also, mylar and other materials make sails that catch a lot more of the breeze than woven fabrics. Light air sailing is an art, that's for sure. I think Joe called me around 11:30 AM when they were getting breakfast over there. I believe the boat he was on came in 4th in their division.

The other thing to keep in mind is that you can get significantly different winds 5 or 10 miles away. Also, some guys take courses that take advantage of wind shifts that are typical around dawn near the shore. It's not always the shortest over-the-bottom course that wins. Distance racing is quite a bit different than 'round the marks.

I got word that a boat or two had quite a problem on Sunday trying to get out of the channel over there and had to lay over for a couple of days.

I think Windquest was the first finisher.. That was the one that rocked by like it was on air when we were sitting at .8 knots. It's an 86 foot MaxZ.



I remember seeing something looking like that flying by us. What an awesome boat! I believe winddancer and merlin were there before us as well. We probably still wouldn't have beat them over there had we motored from the start.