Sunday, May 24, 2009

Sailing tally update

As of May 25, 2009, the sailing tally for the year so far stands at

20 days sailing including
9 days of racing (Frostbite, Team Chute-Out,
SS1 Sat., SS1 Sun., SS1 Sat., SS2 Sun., SS3 Sat., SS3 Sun., Slocum)

Statistic -- as of February 16 we'd sailed 13 out of the first 47 days of the year (28%), but from Feb. 17 through May 25 we only sailed 7 days out of 98 (7%) -- four times less often... ouch!

Since mid-February we've NOT had a even one single day of sailing practice or recreational sailing (except for a few hours one day of me shuttling the boat between marinas). That's really terrible and bad for our skills; we're not at a level where we can quit practicing and expect to perform at the same level. We've probably stagnated and been set back. It's not fun racing if we can't practice, sail with better sailors, and improve. With the way things have been going (or NOT going), I think Carol Anne is pretty disappointed with the whole sailboat racing idea. Watching all the boats sailing away without her the morning of the Jack and Jill regatta was particularly awful and discouraging for her.

6 days race committee

4 days+ kayaking

Nautical days
Jan. 1, Thurs., "football break with Zorro"
Jan. 3, Sat., with Ribbons & crew on Caliente
Jan. 4, Sun., long day with two trips out on Constellation and long trip up to Monticello and Barney's
Jan. 9, Fri., fairly long trip north on Constellation
Jan. 11, Sun., lighter air, Constellation
Jan. 15, Fri., Evantagram Centerboard Regatta, Lake Pleasant, RC
Jan. 16, Sat., AYC 49th Birthday Regatta, RC
Jan. 17, Sun., AYC Birthday Regatta, RC
Jan. 22, Thu., ferry Black Magic north from Marina del Sur to Rock Canyon
Jan. 23, Fri., tuning Black Magic with Zorro on Constellation
Jan. 24, Sat., Frostbite Regatta, 3 races, redress after going to get aid for holed J/24, also skipper/crew meeting and evening club meeting/awards presentation
Jan. 25, Sun., ferry Black Magic back south to mast up, plus kayaking in the waves
Feb. 7-8 ?
Feb. 13, Fri., solo sail to ferry Black Magic north
Feb. 14, Sat., team chute out
Feb. 15, Sun., nice sail, 12th day of sailing
Feb. 16, Mon., President's Day, broke tiller while sailing Black Magic south with Husker and Carol Anne -- lucky 13th day of sailing
Feb. 20-21 ?? (broken tiller, no one to sail with)
Feb. 27-28??
Mar. 7, Big Boat regatta, motored Syzygy as RC, CA on Windependent, too windy
Mar. 8, successful this time with Big Boat Regatta, Pat RC
Mar. 14-15?
Mar. 21, Sat., Spring Series 1 -- lots of short races (Holden/Zink/Strasia protest)
Mar. 22, Sun., Spring Series 1 -- lots more short races
March 28 -- retrieved Rhinos from south cove via shore
April 4 -- marina work at Heron?
April 11, Pickle Race, very windy, only two boats braved the conditions
April 12, Easter?
April 18, Spring Series 2 -- Marty r.c. with boat trouble (we were only Etchells)
April 19, Spring Series 2 -- Marty r.c.
April 24-27, long weekend at Heron, 3 days kayaking to retrieve Rhinos plus Sat. B dock work party
May 2, Sat., Spring Series 3 (Alan, Oso)
May 3, Sun., Spring Series 3 (Alan, Oso)
May 10, Sat., Slocum single-hand (put Black Magic away because we though CA had a boat to crew on for the Jack and Jill on Sunday)
May 11, Sun. Race committee -- Carol Anne was stranded and didn't get to sail (no Etchells showed up to race)
May 18-19, remained home in Abq.
May 25-27, Memorial Day weekend, hung around Heron Lake

Because of finances (tight, and we're trying to sell our MacGregor), schedule (a possible trip abroad, at least for Gerald with part of the family, plus activities scheduled this summer at the Butte), and some changes in how things are done at Heron, we don't have boats in the water at the Heron Marina for this summer. However, I've done some kayaking there and we might eventually do some dinghy sailing or sailing on other people's boats at Heron.

Labels: ,

Sunday, February 15, 2009

And then there were 12

...days of sailing so far this year. Today's plan was for us to borrow a swaging tool (ours was back in Albuquerque) to re-swage the main halyard to its shackle and replace the damaged mainsail with a heeavier-weight main. We also caught up with people at the marina and I discussed plans for the Anniversary Cup, a bigger-than-usual regatta that we'll host on May 30th of this year.

Eventually I wound up on Black Magic as Carol Anne lowered the boat and trailer on the drop line and I then paddled the boat to the courtesy dock and got the boat ready to sail. Carol Anne parked the trailer and Expedition and hopped on Zorro's Echells.

Winds were extremely light when we met out on the lake just a few hundred feet from the marina, and didn't improve much in the next half hour. Gradually, though, the breeze built up to something tolerable and we crossed the lake and got in some generally good sailing in breezes of 2 to 6 knots, flying spinnakers for a bit and doing various maneuvers. The skies were becoming dark and cloudy by the time we sailed the boats back into the slips at Rock Canyon Marina and we just had enough light to put the two Etchells away for the night.

Tomorrow is a holiday for some people in the United States (Presidents Day). The wind forecast is quite decent with maximum sustained winds from the south at 5 to 10 mph in the morning and from the SSW at 10 to mph in the afternoon (possible gusts to 25 mph).

Weather history for Presidents Day weekend 2009 at Elephant Butte Lake
Sunday (KCTS Sierra Co. airport, about 6 miles from lake)
time wind
1353 variable dir., 5 mph max. winds
1453 variable dir., 5 mph max. winds
1553 from South, 5 mph max. winds
1653 calm
1753 from Southeast, 3 mph max. winds

Saturday
1153 SE 8 mph
1253 SW 10 gust 20 mph
1353 W 18 gust 28 mph
1453 W 17 gust 23 mph
1553 W 23 gust 31 mph
1653 SW 20 gust 26 mph
1753 W 13 mph

from http://www.spa.usace.army.mil/wc/adbb/basinrpt.asp
Rio Grande at San Marcial floodway, 644 cubic feet per second
Elephant Butte Reservoir, 4353.29 feet elev. over benchmark, 681,460 acre feet, 5 cfs outflow, 2100 February 15, 2009


Snow pack -- snow water equivalents
Colorado
Upper Rio Grande, 22% above average
San Miguel/San Juan basin, 17% above average
New Mexico
Rio Chama basin, 36% above average
Upper Rio Grande, 20% above average
Sangre de Cristo, 23% above average
Gila Basin, 54% of average
from ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/snow/update/nm.txt

Labels: , , , ,

Monday, January 26, 2009

Quick scorecard

As of January 26, 2009

9 days sailing including 1 day of racing

3 days race committee

1 kayak mini-adventure

Nautical days
Jan. 1, Thurs., "football break with Zorro"
Jan. 3, Sat., with Ribbons & crew on Caliente
Jan. 4, Sun., long day with two trips out on Constellation and long trip up to Monticello and Barney's
Jan. 9, Fri., fairly long trip north on Constellation
Jan. 11, Sun., lighter air, Constellation
Jan. 15, Fri., Evantagram Centerboard Regatta, Lake Pleasant, RC
Jan. 16, Sat., AYC 49th Birthday Regatta, RC
Jan. 17, Sun., AYC Birthday Regatta, RC
Jan. 22, Thu., ferry Black Magic north from Marina del Sur to Rock Canyon
Jan. 23, Fri., tuning Black Magic with Zorro on Constellation
Jan. 24, Sat., Frostbite Regatta, 3 races, redress after going to get aid for holed J/24, also skipper/crew meeting and evening club meeting/awards presentation
Jan. 25, Sun., ferry Black Magic back south to mast up, plus kayaking in the waves

Fleet flashes --
USA 125 at mast-up
1 kayak in Albuquerque, 1 at Rock Canyon
Mac 26 Syzygy at Mallard Lane, now has engine and can move to Warm Springs
USA 367 awaiting parts and assembly
2 Sunfish in E. Butte, 1 in Albuquerque, rest in Heron and need parts
Gerald's Laser 2 in Abq. needs boom and gooseneck
19' Cat needs balsa to re-do cockpit decking and bulkheads
rowboat needs trim renewal/teak oiling

Labels:

Friday, January 23, 2009

Sailing at Elephant Butte Lake, Thurs., January 22, 2009

Mark 17 near Hot Springs Landing and s.e. corner of jet boat cove. These pictures were taken during a solo sail from Marina del Sur to Rock Canyon at Elephant Butte Lake in southern New Mexico.

GPS reading near Hot Springs Landing showing 10 kph -- best reading of the sail was 12 kph or 6 kts.

Kettletop Mesa and mountains under boom

Framed view of mountains to starboard

Still about half mile to slip

GPS reading near Rock Canyon and jet boat cove

Marina panorama

Approaching tire wall andmarina

Boat and marina

Rock Canyon Marina

For what it's worth, that brings the tally up to six days of sailing (and three of race committee work) so far for the year.

Labels: ,