More Bristol Cup Boats at the Butte, October 24

Boats explore the starting area before the beginning of the first race of the Bristol Cup regatta at Elephant Butte Lake.

J/24 passing in front of two Etchells


J/24 Hot Flash between two Etchells.

Long Race Award Winners at the Sunrise Regatta Breakfast

Kachina's crew receives the award for winning the fifty-mile race of the Sunrise Regatta during the regatta's awards breakfast. Competitors woke up to a full breakfast served inside the Dam Site restaurant overlooking the south end of Elephant Butte Lake.

Sunrise Regatta 2009, 50-Mile Race Start

Two J/24's at the start of the 50-mile race during the Sunrise Regatta, October 3, 2009, at Elephant Butte Lake in southern New Mexico. Kachina is in the foreground; Red Shift in the background. A cruising sailboat having some problems at the starting line made for an interesting diversion during the start.

The J/24 Kachina powers through the chop to race through many miles of non-stop sailing.




J/24 Red Shift passing in front of Kettletop Mesa. The boat recently received decking repairs and a great paint job.

Beginning of the Sunrise Regatta 2009

C&C 29 Nessie, Hobie 16, and Laser show off very different kinds of sailing craft at the start of the Sunrise Regatta. The 10- and 25-mile boats started at 1:23 Saturday afternoon, with the 50-mile boats starting eleven minutes later.

Start of the Sunrise Regatta at Elephant Butte Lake

Fleet panorama as the ten- and twenty-five-mile-race boats start. In between the Catalina 25 in the middle of the picture and the C&C 29 Nessie at right can be glimpsed Kettletop Mesa in the distance. Land to the east beyond Kettletop is part of one-time famous sailor Ted Turner's Armendaris Ranch, one of his many conservation-oriented holdings in the region.

Boats at the start of the Sunrise; the J/24 Hot Flash follows some cruisers. Mountains and mesas in the background are part of the scenery we get to enjoy in the mountain desert of southern New Mexico. A few miles away are hot springs once used by the Apache leader Geronimo.

Columbia 26 II and Grampian 23 at the start of the Sunrise Regatta, October 3, 2009, at Elephant Butte Lake.

Columbia 26 II Imagine.

More sailing at Heron

Scenic Heron Lake in far northern New Mexico lies within sight of the Continental Divide and only a short drive from Colorado.

Ken and Judy's boat coming up the Narrows. The day was clearer than the photos indicate.

J/24 Hot Flash in front of other boats

Dos lanchas velas

Two on starboard in a light breeze

Boats in front of the Narrows

Boat in front of the entrance to the Narrows at Heron Lake

Boats in front of Laguna Vista

Laguna 24

Impressionistic views of Heron Lake sailing

Beneteau sloop approaching. On the hills in the background can be seen some of the homes of the Laguna Vista neighborhood. The photos taken this day have a hazy, impressionistic appearance, apparently because the small camera lens may have gotten moist -- a kayak can be a wet camera platform!

Close-up view of Beneteau 235 (replacing Spar Trek).

Boat, cliffs, mountains

Zuma dinghy scooting along the east side of Heron Lake

Impressionistic Views of Sailing at Heron Lake

Catalin 22 SuSea motoring eastward after a day on Heron Lake in the mountains of northern New Mexico, Saturday September 5, 2009.





Hunter 260 Highlander motors back to port

Anerine at Heron Lake

The sloop (Cal 2-27) Anerine approaches, while giving a crew of novice sailors a gentle introduction to sailing at Heron Lake.

Skipper Bruce makess some adjustments on deck while his students do chartwork down below.

Sloop Anerine with Brazos Cliffs in background

Blew By You

After stopping for a swimming break, the crew of "Blew By You" glides along in light breezes at Heron Lake in northern New Mexico.

Dark Secrets: Tillerman is a motor boater! . . . . . . . . . . . . (and so are most of the rest of us, ouch!)

Recently, the well-networked sailing blogger Tillerman was musing (perhaps half in jest) on whether he needed to carry signal flares in his commodious Laser sailing yacht and whether a Coast Guard inspection party would be able to get their muddy booted feet upon his fine sailing machine.

In response, I thought to research and compare safety and equipment requirements for sailing dinghies in Rhode Island and New Mexico. Some of the results were not so surprising, but some of my other findings led me to a shocking and horrible discovery.

Tillerman and I are both really motor boaters.

Even when we never touch a motor... outboard, electric, diesel, whatever. Even when the boat doesn't have a motor. Even when we're gliding silently along under sail only, even when there's no propeller within a hundred yards of our craft.

You see, the State of Rhode Island says so. And so does the State of New Mexico (via tortuous definitions). And so, too, I suspect do many other states say. Yes, my friends, it's a conspiracy; a dark, sinister plot to smudge every sailor with the tarred brush that would label us all as stinkpotters.

Don't believe me? Read the law. Specifically, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management implements title 46 of the Rhode Island General Laws. In describing which boats are registered and regulated under the law in Chapter 46-22, Regulation of Boats, Section 46-22-2 clearly states....

(2) "Motorboat" means any vessel whether or not the vessel is propelled by machinery. For purposes of this chapter, motorboat shall not include houseboats as defined in § 44-5-25.1, canoes, and rowboats twelve feet (12') in length or less.

So, if the Great Tillerman rents or buys a houseboat, it's not a motorboat (for these purposes). But, his Laser is a motorboat -- and more so a motorboat than a houseboat! Now, if he could just deform the Laser and make it skinnier, he might get it to qualify as a canoe, just maybe. Or, he could try to mount oarlocks, cut off two feet of the bow, junk the rig, and add oars to qualify as a rowboat.

Confused? Wait until I show you a law that may prohibit Tillerman from sailing on one morning of the week!

Sailboats on the Bay, Corpus Christi, Texas

Two sloops within the harbor frame another sailboat in the distance outside the breakwater. Having traveled to within seventy miles of the coast, Gerald and I were too busy to actually spend any time near the water until, on our way back to New Mexico, we stopped in Corpus Christi, Texas, for an hour for lunch and a very rushed bit of sightseeing. We strolled and drove around the harbor, taking snapshots of a few boats that were out.

Despite sunny skies and a good breeze, only a handful of boats were out that Saturday afternoon Perhaps the whitecaps on Corpus Christi Bay reflected conditions that were a little rough for some sailors, or perhaps a lot of sailors had already gone home by the time we arrived at the bay in mid-afternoon.

After lunch and sightseeing, we also squeezed in a mini-micro-tour of the Corpus Christi Yacht Club and picked up a burgee there; it will eventually adorn a wall at "Five O'Clock Somewhere" in northern New Mexico. It would be great fun if we could catch a ride on the bay; I've only sailed there once in spite of having passed my childhood in south Texas. It might also be interesting to volunteer to help with a regatta there sometime.

Sloop reaching north inside the harbor breakwater, Sunday, June 13, 2009, Corpus Christi, Texas.

Sloop powers along with its skipper enjoying a fast broad reach within the Corpus Christi small-boat harbor breakwater.

Beige sloop in the harbor, Corpus Christi, Texas


View to the south, showing sailboats in the harbor and a church in the far background.


Harbor view, looking to the southwest.