weekend update and lake conditions

Friday afternoon "Tadpole" and I picked up Batgal from CNM, where she had been grading final exams for on behalf of her English 100 students. Southbound we enjoyed a meal at Backyard Barbecue" in Socorro. It isn't as no-frills as NM Tech students remember it of old; dessert is even included with the plate lunches. At the lake, we installed a new block (2.25 inch Harken on a becket) at the traveler end of Black Magic's mainsheet and did a bit of other preparation, then settled in at the apartment in T or C for some reading, showering, and quiet time.

Saturday we were up late, but so too was the wind. It finally came up a bit around noon, so we went out sailing. The winds came and went, varying from calms and softer breezes to perhaps 7 knots, enough to give Carol Anne's boat a decent heel and gurgling sound as it began to accelerate. With the wind rather limited, all we did was sail a few laps between buoys near the marina and the New Mexico State U. weather station northeast of the "Elephant".


Then we packed up, stopping by the RGSC mast-up lot, where "Wallygator" was removing some sun-cracked tires from his boat trailer and a park ranger was visiting. We also noticed that a couple of folks had left sailboats mast-down in the mast-up lot. We drove north quickly, stopping only in Albuquerque for fuel, so we could be in time for the New Mexico Sailing Club holiday party at the Coronado Grill in Albuquerque. Mark Paz, who took over the grill less than a year ago, was our host, and had reserved the dining room for us. Fortunately, the NMSC and some friends did a good job of filling the room, with around 48 sailors attending. The white elephant gift exchange was a hit, with even the restaurant staff watching and enjoying the show. Some of the big prizes included some nice sailing books (plus a fresh, partial manuscript in progress of "Murder at the Yacht Club), rum, champagne, a "Hurricane kit", a signed art print by one of our talented members, wind chimes, and even a Hula skirt, a soccer ball, and a box of (treasures?).

Sunday we eventually drove about 152 miles from Albuquerque to the Rock Canyon Marina (still near the Dam in its low-water location, for now). Zorro was there, along with Captain Groovy, so Zorro went sailing on Constellation while we (with Cap'n G) followed a little later on Black Magic. Conditions were forecast to be breezy, so we tuned USA 38 to de-power the rig, which proved wise. Instead of winds in the 10 mph range with gusts to 20 mph, we got more like 15 mph gusting to 25. Fortunately, we had our foulies available and temperatures were mild.

We followed Zorro all the way out from the southern end of the lake up a few miles past Horse and Rattlesnake islands to the race course area and did a mock race across to the west end of the lake and back. In the heavy chop and wind, the boat was a little hard to control completely. Black Magic's cracked tiller was flexing, and the gooseneck pin was showing some signs of stress (we have a new gooseneck toggle to install soon that will accept a much beefier gooseneck pin), so it wasn't long before our skipper decided we'd had enough fun and we lowered the jib, and pointed the boat back toward the marina.

On the way, as we reached more protected waters and the wind began to subside in between strong gusts, we did a partial crew change, letting Tadpole hop off onto Zorro's boat, where he got to helm and help Zorro bring his boat into its dock shortly after Carol Anne, Captain Groovy, and I had docked Black Magic.

We had a bit of an oops en route that fortunately we were able to handle well. Near the Elephant, strong swirling winds kept heading the boat, making it difficult to tack in the congested area and keep enough way on without sideslipping too much. I had released the halyard lock on the mainsail, let the sail sag down a bit, and run the main halyard out so that it would run freely when we were ready to dump the mainsail near the dock. However, before we were ready, the halyard chose a bad time to slip out of its cleat and drop a few feet of main, leaving the boat with poor maneuverability at a bad time. We bore off a bit into a less congested a more protected area, headed the boat up, and were able to re-raise the main most of the way so the boat would be maneuverable. Then we headed back toward the dock, dropped the main about a length and a half out (the approach to the dock was about 45 degrees off upwind), and made a nice soft landing.

After a quick trip to inspect another boat and trailer, and look at the Rock Canyon boat ramp, it was time to motor onward, stopping for dinner at Socorro Springs, where we ate well, enjoying shrimp pasta, a rich rueben sandwich with potato wedges, and a "Conquistador" calzone along with creme brule and chocolate cake with raspberry for dessert. Thus fortified, and with Carol Anne's growler jug filled with ale, we survived the savage interstate and returned home.

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Date Time(mst) Wind(mph) Vis.(mi.) Weather Sky Cond Air Temp.

10 12:53 S 13 10.00 Fair CLR 56
10 13:53 W 20 G 24 10.00 Fair CLR 61
10 15:53 W 21 10.00 Fair and Breezy CLR 58
10 16:53 W 22 G 28 10.00 Fair and Breezy CLR 55




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Lakes:


Update: Elephant Butte Lake, Saturday, December 30, 2006, 8 a.m.: 4,340.54 feet elev., 511,683 acre feet. Up 1.2 inches and 1,314 a.f. in 24 hours; up 4.3 inches and 4,726 a.f. in 71 hours. It is up 4.02 feet and 51,353 a.f. so far in December. Recent and expected precipitation in New Mexico will sustain the rising waters..

The lake is 8 inches HIGHER than its March 5th high point. It has risen 32 feet since the July low. The Butte will end the month at something like elev. 4,340.74, with 514,700 a.f. Long Point will likely become an island again later this winter.


Elephant Butte Lake Elev. (feet) . . . . Storage (acre feet) . . . Date
4,343.98 . . . . . . . 557,894 . . . . . . . Jan. 31, '07 (1200)
4,340.54 . . . . . . . 511,683 . . . . . . . Dec. 30 (0800)
4,340.00 . . . . . . . 504,591 . . . . . . . Dec. 25 (2000)
4,339.50 . . . . . . . 498,115 . . . . . . . Dec. 22 (0800)
4,339.34 . . . . . . . 496,040 . . . . . . . Dec. 21 (0800)
4,339.04 . . . . . . . 492,157 . . . . . . . Dec. 19 (1000)
4,338.92 . . . . . . . 490,616 . . . . . . . Dec. 18 (1200)
4,338.32 . . . . . . . 482,956 . . . . . . . Dec. 14 (1200)
4,337.96 . . . . . . . 478,370 . . . . . . . Dec. 11 (1200)
4,337.46 . . . . . . . 472,082 . . . . . . . Dec. 7 (1200)
4,337.02 . . . . . . . 466,549 . . . . . . . Dec. 4 (0800)
4,336.52 . . . . . . . 460,330 . . . . . . . Nov. 30
4,334.82 . . . . . . . 439,541 . . . . . . . Nov. 20
4,333.54 . . . . . . . 424,254 . . . . . . . Nov. 13
4,332.14 . . . . . . . 407,850 . . . . . . . Nov. 6
4,331.24 . . . . . . . 397,510 . . . . . . . Oct. 31
4,327.10 . . . . . . . 351,800 . . . . . . . Sept. 30
4,325.18 . . . . . . . 331,550 . . . . . . . Aug. 31
4,308.50 . . . . . . . 183,870 . . . . . . . July 28 low point
4,339.88 . . . . . . . 503,030 . . . . . . . March 5 high point
4,334.06 . . . . . . . 430,410 . . . . . . . January 1, 2006


Heron Lake is down 2.2 inches and 679 a.f. in 24 hours and 6.6 inches and 2,085 a.f. in 71 hours as of Monday, 6 p.m., Dec. 25.

Heron LakeElev. (feet) . . . . Storage (acre feet) . . . Date
7,140.93 . . . . . . . 183,671 . . . . . . . Dec. 30 (1000)
7,141.64 . . . . . . . 186,348 . . . . . . . Dec. 25 (1800)
7,142.80 . . . . . . . 190,765 . . . . . . . Dec. 19 (1000)
7,142.88 . . . . . . . 191,071 . . . . . . . Dec. 18 (1000)
7,143.28 . . . . . . . 192,613 . . . . . . . Dec. 14 (1400)
7,143.62 . . . . . . . 193,930 . . . . . . . Dec. 11 (1000)
7,144.33 . . . . . . . 196,694 . . . . . . . Dec. 4 (1000)
7,145.85 . . . . . . . 202,691 . . . . . . . Nov. 20
7,147.10 . . . . . . . 207,707 . . . . . . . Nov. 8
7,148.03 . . . . . . . 211,484 . . . . . . . Oct. 24
7,144.46 . . . . . . . 197,203 . . . . . . . Sept. 25
7,143.47 . . . . . . . 193,350 . . . . . . . Sept. 1
7,143.47 . . . . . . . 193,350 . . . . . . . Aug. 29
7,143.29 . . . . . . . 192,653 . . . . . . . July 5
7,143.26 . . . . . . . 192,535 . . . . . . . June 29
71,42.29 . . . . . . . 188,816 . . . . . . . June 4
7,141.09 . . . . . . . 184,270 . . . . . . . May 27
7,135.01 . . . . . . . 162,731 . . . . . . . May 2
7,133.93 . . . . . . . 158,684 . . . . . . . April 27
7,144.29 . . . . . . . 196,496 . . . . . . . Jan. 5

Update: Heron Lake water balance figures through November should be available sometime in mid-December.