end of the weekend and back to the big 'burque...

Saturday night's potluck at the Heron Lake marina pavillion was well enough attended and the marina is showing much more activity, now that more than thirty boats have put in. We also had a couple of MacGregor sailors (Allan and Patricia) arrive late on Saturday; I paddled out in the kayak under the moonlight to the Willow Creek boat ramp to greet them as they put in and lead them to an overnight slip.

Sunday was a bit bumpy as a certain Senior Patrol Leader seems to have forgotten the meaning of "Be Prepared". He wasn't ready to head out at the appointed time, and then, some miles down the road, realized he'd forgotten his sleeping bag. So, we were about 30 or 40 minutes behind our planned arrival time at the Scout camp where he was to join the older boys in his troop, who will be taking a 30-mile backpacking trek Monday through Friday.

After dropping him off, I could have been back in Albuquerque in less than two hours, but I'd promised Batgal that I'd return to Heron Lake to crew for her. That meant adding 150 miles and more than three hours of driving time to my day, including repeat trips through some nasty construction zones, so it was quite a big, tiring commitment. However, I was greatly looking forward to crewing on Black Magic's maiden voyage on Heron Lake; Black Magic had been in her slip for a week but still hadn't sailed upon the lake.

Upon arriving, I found Batgal on board her boat, which was rigged and almost ready to go. A nice breeze was blowing, perhaps 10-12 mph with some stronger puffs, and several boats were out on the water, including boats with families on board, and others with some of the more "seasoned" members of the club; they were all out having a great time. Unfortunately, the Batgal wasn't comfortable with sailing with just me as crew; she was looking for more competent crew for her first voyage on Heron and the more gung-ho I got about prospects for getting out the moreabsolutely positively sure she was that she wouldn't go out. Finally, I did a quickie solo on our water-ballast MacGregor, then got in some more kayaking around the lake. Then, after eating and visiting with folks, and helping some folks dock, we de-rigged Black Magic. Oh well, maybe one of these days Black Magic will finally get some hotshot crew on board so the Batgal can take her out.