Category: Uncategorized

2-September-2013
On Saturday I went sailing with friends from work. The morning brought storms across the entire area, but had passed over the Waukegan area by 9:00. We left the dock at 11:30 to overcast skies, but they cleared after about an hour and a half. Winds started out light in the 5 knot range and then grew a bit to the 10 knot range. Wave were in the 1-2 foot range.

It was a nice leisurely sail.

On Sunday my brother and I went out. The day started out with little wind then dropped to zero for a while. At 1:00, as if someone turned on a fan, the winds went from 0 to about 10 knots and then to 15 knots for the rest of the afternoon. Waves were in the 1-3 foot range.

It was a good sail.

On Sunday, the NOAA marine forecast had a small craft advisory in effect. For Lake Michigan that means “Sustained winds or frequent gusts between 22 and 33 knots inclusive, and/or seas or waves greater than 4 feet.” The forecast was for winds in the 20-25 knot range and waves 5-6 feet with an occasional 10 footer with winds and waves decreasing throughout the afternoon.

If the waves were actually getting to 10 feet, we would not have gone out sailing. Based on my experience though, over the last couple years, I know better than to base my sailing on a NOAA weather forecast. So, my brother and I decided to go to the boat and see for ourselves what the weather was like.

When we got there winds were less than 10 knots and waves were in the 1-3 foot range.

So we went out, had an excellent sail and had the “rail in the water” a couple times.

Rail in the Water

Even though the forecast called for decreasing winds and wave through the afternoon, we experienced just the opposite. While we were out winds built to 20 knots and waves to 2-4 feet with an occasional 6 footer thrown in for good measure.

Click here for- > Google Earth GPS Track 2013-08-31

Click here for- > Google Earth GPS Track 2013-09-01

Click here for- > Google Earth GPS Track 2013-09-02

28-August-2013
My brother and I enjoyed a great sail.

Winds 15-20 knots, waves 2-4 feet, mostly overcast skies and temps in the mid 70s.

Click here for- > Google Earth GPS Track 2013-08-28

On both Saturday and Sunday the winds were 10-20 knots, waves 1-3 feet, sunny skies and summer temps into the upper 80’s.

On Saturday, my wife and I went sailing with my college roommate from freshman year.

My wife and college roommate

Great sailing

On Sunday, my brother, a friend from work, his wife and I went out.

Friend from work and his wife…Land ho!

Another great day of sailing

18-August-2013
On Saturday my wife and I went sailing with friends and their 2 daughters. The day was beautiful, sunny, warm with temps into the mid 70’s. Wind speeds were about 8 knots and waves around 1 foot. A good time was had by all.

Friends…

…and their daughters

On Sunday I did my first single-handed sailing. I had a couple of small onboard projects to take care of then set out about 2:00. The weather was identical to Saturday’s. I had to work real hard to get permission from my wife to go out single-handed. She was sure she would become a widow. I promised to wear my life vest and a harness. There were no problems, only sun and fun.

Life vest, harness and tethered to the boat

Great day for a single-handed sail

On Sunday, I went sailing with my wife, daughter and father-in-law.

It was cloudy with temps still unseasonable cool at 66 degrees.

Winds started out brisk in the 10-15 knot range but subsided to 5-8 about half way through our 3 hour sail.

On Thursday evening my daughter and I went out of a nice and relaxing sail.

The winds started out in the 10 – 15 knot range, but ended in the 5 – 8 knot range.

We had a very short period when we hit 6.4 knots, but spent most of the time around 4.5 to 5.0 knots.

The Thursday evening racers were out as well so we had some company.

I went sailing on Saturday with my daughter.

The temps were unseasonably cool with the high temp of 65 degrees. Winds were in the 15-20 knot range with 2 – 4 foot waves that were building. Looked like we had an occasional 6+ footer.

2-4 foot waves

One of the 6+ foot waves

Our top speed was 7.0 knots and we had a couple wind gusts that got our heel over 40+ degrees. I caught the expression on my daughters face on film on one of the 40+ degrees heels.

Excited to experience a 40+ degree heel

On Sunday my brother and I went out. Same temps and winds as Saturday, but without the big waves.

I tried getting the kite cam going again. I increased the distance from the kite to the camera hoping that it would aim more towards the boat and not at the water behind the boat. Didn’t help too much. I think I am going to have to invest more than $3.00 in a kite next time around.

Kite cam frame grab

Kite cam frame grab before hitting the water

Our top speed was 6.8 knots.

We had the “rail in the water” a few times and the sailing was excellent.

Rail in the water

You can see the keel!

On Saturday I went sailing with a couple friends.

Once again, everything about the weather was great except the wind. Wind speeds were forecast to be “10-15 knots growing to 15-20 knots later in the afternoon”….NOT.

For most of the sail the winds were in the 3 – 6 knots range.

Not much wind to keep the sails full

We called it a day a bit earlier than we would have had there been some wind.

On Sunday I went sailing with my brother.

Winds were much better and we had a great day sailing.

I brought my new ‘Kite Cam” bracket and was able to get the kite cam to stay aloft for several minutes before there was a lull in the wind that caused the kite cam to take a nose dive into the lake.

Kite Cam Up

Unfortunately, the angle of the bracket was such that most of the video taken was of the water behind the boat. I was able to salvage several frame grabs from the video to illustrate how high the kite cam got up into the air.

Kite Cam Frame Grab

We also anchored for a short while to see how easy or hard it is to climb back onto the boat from the water. It would be ok in an emergency, but it required a bit more upper body strength than would be comfortable for most people. We have to come up with another solution before we can start swimming off the boat.

Climbing out of the water

Went on an evening sail with my brother and a friend of his, my wife, and a couple of our friends.

It was the first time on a sailboat for the “friends” and a good sail it was for them. Winds were gusting to 21 knots when we left, so I decided to put a reef in the mainsail so it didn’t get too exciting right away. We started out the evening on a “beam reach” and everyone was good with that. Then we jibbed to a “broad reach” and that was good. We then tacked to a “close reach” and all was well. So with everyone digging the sailing so far to that point, we took out the reef, and tacked again, to “close hauled”.

The wind gusts had subsided to less than 15 knots and the “close hauled” sailing was enjoyed by all.

Close Hauled

We averaged 4-5 knots for most of the trip with a top speed of 6.1 knots.

There is a regular Thursday evening racing event in Waukegan and we got to watch the racers go through their paces.

Thursday Evening Racers

We ended the evening with a view of a pretty sunset.

Went sailing both Saturday and Sunday in weather that was beautiful in every imaginable way BUT winds.

The winds were slightly better on Saturday (5 – 8 knots) than Sunday (little to no winds).

On Saturday, my wife and I went for a pleasant sail and got to see the Mackinac Race Fleet go by later in the afternoon. At 3:30 we first started to see the sails of the racers coming up from the southern horizon and by 5:00 most of the fleet was in the Waukegan area off to the east from our location. Very cool to see so many sails in one area.

Mackinac Race Fleet coming into view

Mackinac Race Fleet

Whenever I bring someone out for the first time on the boat I always say “Respect the Boom” as part of my safety talk. One of my daughters thought it would be a good idea to reinforce that with a decal.

“Respect the Boom”

On Sunday I went sailing with my brother, one of his daughters and his daughter’s friend.

Boring!