June 17-2006

Just a regular sailing day this day. No dismastings or lake creatures.

The drive to the launch facility is about 5 minutes. We drive a road that is on the edge of the lake for the most part. On the way we pass a very nice park where we get a grand view of the water. On this day it looked like a light breeze with almost no lumpishness. A few sailboats were even out there. Imagine, an easy sailing day.

By the time we had rigged the boat and were ready to launch the wind had picked up substantially, and I think had changed from which direction it had been coming from as well. It was now dead south and had about a 10 mile fetch. The ramp is basically at the bottom of that fetch and the wind blows right down the pipe. We motored out to feel the conditions and figured on the stock jib and a single reef in the main. Basically that worked out perfectly. We were able to use that combination for most of the afternoon.

It will take a bit of adjustment to the much bigger lake. The wind feels a bit different to me. It is more solid and less fractured. I like that. I reckon it was about 10 knots when we got out. It went up a bit and it went down a bit, but for the most part was perfect. The waves are the factor that will require some adaptation. It is much more like my days sailing in the southern Vancouver Island waters (the ocean). In fact, I would say that the ocean sailing was much easier from the sense that the waves were much further apart and 'softer'. The waves on this lake, even though it is a very long lake and extremely deep, are quite sharp, very short duration, close together, steep sided and often breaking. The effect on the boat can be abrupt and pretty interesting. When under sail it is not so bad though you tend to get pretty wet when going to wind. Good thing Daphne sits ahead of me. She makes both an excellent wind and water break. I am very pleased that with the right sail combination and trim, the little boat makes good progress to windward even with the bigger seas. Of course the nice deep fin keel aids in that department. Making changes and moving about the boat is very tricky with all that movement. I found setting sail was easiest setting the jib and board for a beam reach and hoisting the main from there.

We made a few miles good to wind and down the lake. It is sure nice to have such long runs before tacking.
We hove to and dropped the main for a leisurely downhill run with jib alone. Around the time we did this the winded picked up substantially, to the point that if were were still tacking up the lake we would have had to put in another reef. The jib alone was giving us between 3 and 4 knots of boat speed over the bottom, so that was nice. The seas built to a very entertaining height. It has been years since sailing in conditions like that. What fun. We had a riot. I think we are going to love sailing this lake. What a trip.

I should also mention that the sailboats that were on the lake when we drove past were long gone by the time we launched. And we did not see another the whole time we were out. Perhaps locals don't much like the slightly stronger winds? I dunno.
By the time we were sliding back down to the marina in our downhill mode the kite board guys were sailing off the beach. You know it is windy when those chaps hit the water. Perhaps they were these same people we saw on Skaha Lake (a few miles away) last year...?

A few images from the day.

Looking South East.

Looking South.

North East and kind of where the marina and launch ramp are.

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