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.

MC Scow at Elephant Butte Lake, Bristol Cup Regatta weekend

Jeff glides along on a quiet autumn lake on October 24th, 2009, in southern New Mexico before a Rio Grande Sailing Club regatta.

Sunday, October 25 at the Butte

Constellation eases by the fleet. Sunday's winds were light, averaging about 2 knots. On the Beaufort wind scale, which grades wind forces from 0 for nothing to 10 for a hurricane, that would be a Force 1. Sometimes the breeze faded away to the barely discernible, and sometimes it freshened a bit to 3 or 4 knots, but mostly it made for a mellow day on the water.



Constellation in front of committee boat, the J/24 Hot Flash.

Committee boat; J/24 reflections

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

Vicarious Sailing

This has been an odd summer, with a number of distractions and odd happenings. during part of the summer our son, Gerald, went with his grandparents and other family members on an eclipse cruise in the western Pacific. But, Carol Anne and I had to remain in New Mexico.

One thing has been prominently missing from this blog and from our lives: sailing. I've kayaked a bit, been to the lakes a bit, but sailing is the one thing that hasn't happened lately.

So, I've been subsisting on word of the nautical exploits of others, both within my local community and out in the broader blogosphere. It's been a diet of vicarious sailing experiences, but thin gruel though that may be, it's better than not having any interesting sailing experiences to chat about at all.

To all of you sailing bloggers out there, keep up the sailing and storytelling. It's appreciated by those of us who, for whatever reason, temporarily fall into the vicissitudes of vicarious sailing.

The (Un)Safety Rant

Some grousing about idiotic boat operators made me respond with a blog comment that I’ve now expanded a bit. In the original comment, I was responding to a professional ship skipper who noted some stupid things that small craft operators do that might risk shortening their life span. Of course, stupidity on the water occurs in many places and no one type of watercraft operator has quite managed to corner the market on stupidity, though some succeed more often than others. There are all sorts of idiocy and idiots on the water.

Although it’s better to learn from the mistakes of others than to be the example (we hope) others learn from, it would be better still to prevent some of the idiocy on the water. Note also that it's impossible to make watercraft and water safety foolproof -- fools are too ingenious for that!

We see so-called skippers who have no clue that right of way rules (Colregs) exist, and others who misinterpret them wildly.

As an example, there's the guy who hears about the rights of certain fishing vessels and thinks, mistakenly, that trolling a line from his fishing pole gives him the same rights as a purse seiner or shrimp trawler.

And, limited ability to maneuver is a relative term, with judgment called for but sometimes sadly lacking. In a tight harbor or narrow channel an oil services workboat could have limited maneuverability, but it doesn't really have special rights on the open sea, whereas a supertanker's area of limited maneuverability covers some 70% of planet Earth (hint: the wet part).

Small craft skippers don't help by:
• failing to keep lookout,
• boating under various influences,
• changing course whimsically and unpredicatably (without looking or planning ahead),
• underestimating closing speeds and mis-judging approach angles,
• not realizing how invisible their craft are (visually and on radar),
• not thinking to hail on VHF,
• not maintaining or properly operating nav lights,
• not knowing how to interpret nav lights,
• ignoring channel and fairway etiquette,
• loitering in traffic separation lanes,
• not maintaining mooring and ground tackle (get my Drift?),
• not equipping their boats with radar reflectors (for near coastal) or electronic identification,
• relying blindly on GPS (even setting a course across shoals or dry land in a decidedly non-amphibious vessel),
• diverting rescue services and commercial operators by venturing into conditions for which they were grossly unprepared,
• not wearing life vests or using harnesses or jacklines in rough or limited visibility conditions, or by
• just plain old not taking early and substantial action to avoid a collision.

Does that cover the list or did I miss a few, such as the extreme idiocy of playing chicken or trying to see how close one can get to big ship, or someone deciding a big ship's wake or bow wave would be fun to play in? Darwin Award, here we come....


But wait! Here’s another groovy, trippin’ notion: try to navigate a small boat between a towboat and the barges it’s towing.

Or how about
• the drunken jet skier who slammed into a historic wooden ship?
• the sweet young thing wearing her high heels on a slippery foredeck?
• or the legions of jet skiers who think they can steer without thrust (off throttle)?
• or the ones who cut behind vessels… right into the path of other traffic?
• or the windsurfers who make absolutely no provision for cold water and go hypothermic without any help nearby?
• the guy who set up his bilge pump to work backwards?
• or the fishermen who anchor their small boat in a busy harbor or tie up to nav buoys?
• or the guys who anchor off the transom?
• the skipper and crew who don’t even realize they’ve lost their water skier until a mile later?
• or the skipper who uses a thirty-foot anchor rode to anchor in twenty feet of water?
(Hint: “Man, this is a drag.”)
• the guy charging into the slip at 10 knots… who realizes his fenders and dock lines are stowed below… and where are the brakes on this stupid thing?
• or the nocturnal hot rodder going 40 knots near obstructions on a moonless night?
• the idiots who drag a huge wake through marinas or mooring fields?
• the “teak surfers” getting their fill of carbon monoxide?
• the folks perched on the bow of a runabout bouncing in chop?
(Class, can you say “propeller strike bait”?)

Another gem: “Meestair, we don’t need no steenkeen fuel reserve!”

Or, Depth sounder? Sure we got one … it’s called the propeller and lower unit! Yep, we’ve got a very expensive depth sounder, all right. Sure is a pain to have to get a tow to the harbor and drive to the store to buy a new prop ‘cause we sure wouldn’t want the boat lockers clogged up with a spare prop, pin, and tools when we could stuff another case of beer in there.

Chart? Why bother? I know every sandbar, rock, and ledge in this bay! See! Here’s another one!

I’m not even going to try to think of all the amazing antics that happen at boat ramps. Drain plug? Straps? Parking brake or chocks? Safety chains? Who needs ‘em?!? Mast clearance under power lines? Why bother? Wait until we’re on the boat ramp to start setting up our boat for the weekend? Why not?

Many small craft operators in open water don't realize that, the earth's curvature and their proximity to the surface so limit their horizon that a fast-moving ship can "pop up" and be on top of them in a short time if the skipper is distracted or not maintaining a frequent 360 degree watch.

Some commercial operators don't help with sloppy watch standing. Fatigue and training can be a big issue on smaller commercial craft. Some operators of smaller commercial vessels seem to think that they have unlimited rights just because they're commercial. Some owners aren't too worried about how well rested or trained their crews are. And don’t get me started on the admirable standards maintained on some “flag of convenience” ships.

minor update

This summer has presented frustrations, one of which has been a lack of sailing time. Some unfortunate interruptions, including a family illness, meant that, until this weekend, I'd not sailed since June 1st, the day after the Race to the Elephant at Elephant Butte Lake.

In the meantime, I'd been by the lakes a couple of times and had kayaked several miles at Heron Lake in northern New Mexico, been a passenger on a speedboat at Brantley Lake in southern NM, peeked at a couple of lakes in south and central Texas, and watched people sailing in Corpus Christi Bay, Texas. But, I'd not sailed. Not once.

This weekend though was a bit better; Saturday's winds were quite steady (for a mountain desert lake, running from 7 to 12 knots), and Carol Anne and I spent most of the afternoon with "Zorro" on "Constellation", his International Etchells. It was a great sail, though the spinnaker reaches gave me a workout, and we sailed until the evening light began to fade.

During the weekend I also visited with some state parks rangers on behalf of the Rio Grande Sailing Club and ran various errands.

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

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.

Etchells "Black Magic" Sailing in the Race to the Elephant

Stern view toward Marina del Sur showing Kachina (left) and Black Magic (right) approaching the rounding mark after passing to the west of Rattlesnake Island. These pictures are scans of paper prints given to the racers at the awards dinner, so the resolution is limited ... but they do capture a bit of the excitement of the race.

Close view of Black Magic and Kachina, probably near the mark rounding of buoy 9A.


Distant view of the Etchells Black Magic.


Etchells USA 125 in a puff



Black Magic with speedboat passing in background


Black Magic behind ski boat and dunked water skier.

Sloop Black Magic port view


Etchells 125, Black Magic, in the cove near the Dam Site marina and not far from the finish of the Race to the Elephant on Saturday, May 30, 2009. Photos courtesy of Mark from the Dam Site Marina.

Friday update, more sailing in southern New Mexico

Today Carol Anne, Gerald, and I drove south to Elephant Butte Lake in southern New Mexico. We entered the state park and unlocked the sailboat mast-up storage gate, hitched up Black Magic, and launched the boat. While I was rigging sail, Gerald returned to boat trailer to the storage lot and Carol Anne and I waited out a light rain shower. After Gerald returned, Gerald and I took off to shuttle the boat north to the Rock Canyon Marina, just a few miles north.

Winds were gusty, so we elected to do without the jib, but sailing under just main the boat had some peculiarities and took a while to get moving. Once the boat was sorted out, we wound up bashing into increasingly steep and choppy seas as the winds built up into the 20s with probably gusts into the 30s and we started crashing through the breaking waves. It was a wild ride for quite a while, but eventually things lightened enough so we could make a well-controlled entrance into the marina and a tidy docking.

At the marina we caught up with a few sailors, but didn't see others; some people weren't arriving until later in the evening or until Saturday morning. We took the heavy main off the boat, since we'll be using a different one tomorrow.

Carol Anne plans to be on "Windependent" tomorrow. By lake standards the Hunter 34 is a big boat, and tomorrow's race is more of a cruiser-style race, so it may be a bit of a floating party.

In other developments, I may have to drive to Texas next week.

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

Sailing at Elephant Butte Lake, January 11, 2009

Sunday morning dawned with a breeze already established on the lake. Batgal and I were pretty quick about getting up and going and were soon out on Elephant Butte Lake. There we had a good morning sail in the race course area with Zorro, until conditions lightened and we went in for lunch at Hodge's Corner Restaurant, a favorite breakfast and lunch hangout in Elephant Butte for local sailors.

When we returned to the dock, conditions were light, but Zorro was ready for the second sail of the day. (On Sunday, January 4, we'd gotten in two great sails for something like six hours of sailing, which is a pretty good achievement for a short winter day in an open boat.) But, a second sail wound up not being in the cards for us; Batgal was anxious to head back to prepare for the beginning of teaching classes the next day and Tad was ready to head home and prepare to drive to Arizona the next day. (I would follow him on Wednesday, and we both had general plans to help him prepare for his term and to participate in the Arizona Yacht Club's Birthday Regatta.) So, we drove on northward. That still left my tally at five days of sailing so far in January, which was better than I'd managed during some summer months.

Sailing at Elephant Butte Lake, Jan. 9, 2009

Sunshine over the bow.

On Friday, we (Batgal, Tad, and I) got to the lake in time for a great sail with "Zorro" on Constellation. Winds were pretty brisk, though not as strong as the previous Sunday, so we did some sailing in the race course area and then headed north past Long Point Island and Kettletop Mesa. We got about as far as Barney's Cove and near the south Monticello boat ramp before heading south, again enjoying nice spinnaker runs and reaches. The wind let up a bit, but not too much, and we wound up sailing in dusk and twilight, then under the rising moon, which was very near full. Coming into the marina, we were slow to get the mainsail down and came in a bit "hot".

That evening we left Tad at Dino and Sister Rosebia's cabin at Hot Springs Landing and drove back to Albuquerque, with plans to return south later in the weekend. Gerald got to learn some practical lessons about managing rental properties with Dino in our absence.

Bow view to the south

Bow view

Sail and sky

Tad (mostly his hair!) and Batgal

Batgal

Hilly panorama

Moon over hills

Mountain and hill panorama

Little Kettletop