North Beach Picnic and Sailing

Had the best no-wind sailing day ever! Do wish there was wind though. But I'm just glad the 2 weeks of rain seem to be over. We put a couple tankfuls (only about a third of a gallon capacity, so not so bad) through the venerable Mercury 3.3, and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. Well, except for a couple of unnamed individuals who were slobbering over the gas-guzzling behemoths we saw speeding across the lake while we sat there sort of bobbing around waiting for a breeze to come up. No, we won't mention any names, but spelled backwards its yoj and nwaf. ;-)

Everyone hung out at North Beach for picnicking and whatever else they did and I picked up and dropped off each boatload right from the beach. I was on the water from 2:30PM to 9PM! Yikes! Sunburn city! And I had #30 lotion on too. I hope it wasn't TOO bad... guess I'll know tomorrow.

I launched from Perkins Pier after purchasing my 2006 season parking pass there, and Brenten came along and steered toward North Beach while I did some housecleaning and prepared the sails en route.

Sarah and Stephanie were the first to board from the beach. Stephanie did a lot of the steering while I did a bit more housecleaning. I think Sarah got to steer some too.

John, Heather, and Noelle were next, and we actually sailed most of the time, the only time there was really any wind.

Nick, Joy, Becky, and Fawn: I think these peeps are pretty much power boaters :-) Well, Joy anyway. There may be hope yet for at least Becky and Fawn. I ran the little Merc as loudly as I could for this group. ;-) But they'd like it if there was a good wind. I think.

Christine, Alyssa, Brenten, and Logan: Definitely sailors! (though I don't think any of these besides Christine had done it before). There was no wind at all but they didn't mind. They just wanted to talk and check out the scenery. We explored the tip of Lone Rock Point and discussed its marriage proposal potential as we observed the two couples hanging out up there.

Forgot to take pictures, but at least I remembered to BRING the camera this time. Maybe next time I'll remember to use it. Someone else got a couple pics though, I'll post them when I get them.

Windfall's condition doesn't seem to be quite as dire as I thought. I think I'm going to take it slow on replacing her. Still needs to happen, and likely this year, but I'm going to take it slow and edumicate myself on the options. I know more about boats now than when I bought mine so I hope to get 20 years out of the next one instead of only 6. I'm starting to think about possibly switching to an O'day 17. I see a lot of them for sale in the price range I'm looking for. I cringe slightly at going with something so mass-produced, but it appears to have a lot of advantages. One of the biggest problems with the Tanzer 16 is extremely uncomfortable seating. The O'day appears (in pictures) to have VERY comfortable seating. I'm checking out an O'day tomorrow that sounds VERY nice but I've already made up my mind its an educational visit only. Not buying. Reason being that it is difficult to step the mast, which I do every time I sail because I trailer instead of moore. There are conversion kits that make it easier, but this boat is not equipped with that and there are enough of these boats around that I'll bet I can find one that is. The ease of setting up the Tanzer is going to be hard to beat.

Here's some pictures of an O'day 17: click
Notice the long bench seats with smooth backs, and no crossmember for the centerboard trunk.

Hmm, but here's another one that does have a crosspiece (less desireable, though probably stronger) but also has a more open cargo area, which I like: click

Here's some Tanzer 16 pictures: click, click, click
I'd say the Tanzer is the better looking boat, but the deck that sticks into your back when sitting on the benches is most unpleasant. Then again, it looks like the O'day is less suitable for hiking out. Hmm. Well, we'll see.