July 9, 2011 – Sailing Lake Tahoe on a good old boat

I snuck out of work at 4:30 p.m. and met up with brother-in-law Matt Waddington (I call him Uncle Matt, and he calls me Uncle Diggity-Dog David). I love riding up to Tahoe in his electric-blue Prius…it’s quiet, comfortable, efficient, and best of all, I don’t have to drive. 🙂 Winds were breezy when we got up to Tahoe City Marina, so we caught a skiff ride out, jumped aboard, quickly went through the Departure Checklist, and were under sail in minutes.

The forecast had called for gusts to 25 knots, but we didn’t find them. Winds were light in the 8-12 range, so we turned on the “hippy rock” station out of Truckee, opened some beers, and enjoyed a great evening sail.

Matt took an icy plunge after we put the boat on the buoy, but our skiff arrived before he had a chance to take a hot shower on the transom, so he was a bit chilled for the ride back home.

Having learned our lesson about Tahoe’s intense sun, we paid a visit to the REI store in Reno and got some big hats and cover-ups for those bright sunny days in the cockpit at 6,229 feet in elevation.

After our adventures on July 1-2, we spent the night at home in Reno to take care of Parker and Isabella, our two “babies” (cats), then cruised up Monday the 4th to get in an afternoon sail before the fireworks show at 9:30 p.m.

Winds were breezy and building, so we headed SE into the center of the lake. Debbie wanted to play with steering by “feel,” so I worked the mainsheet and jib lines while we raced toward Heavenly. At one point, we hit 6.9 knots on a broad reach, and Splendido seemed to really enjoy going fast. A 35-footer started chasing us, so we made a game out of it and worked on taut sail trim and holding a tight close-hauled line, which took us up toward Sugar Pine State Park. About a mile from Sugar Pine, the chase boat overtook us, so we relaxed and just enjoyed the 15-20 knot winds and warm weather.

Heading back north, we picked up some canyon breezes and got back in the vicinity of the fireworks barge a lot sooner than we anticipated, so we turned right and headed toward Dollar Point, where we saw some speedboats zipping about. The winds lessened, so we played with sailing wing-on-wing, until we finally decided to head back, get on the hook, and settle in for an evening of fireworks.

Our buoy at Tahoe City Marina was a perfect front-row seat for fireworks watching. About 1/4 mile away to the SW, they had set up the fireworks barge right off Commons Beach. Soon, thousands began to gather on the local beaches and throughout the marina, and before long, hundreds of boats began circling the barge, with the hoots and calls of excited spectators filling the air as the sun set and the stars began to appear.

I assembled the BBQ grill on the aft rail, and Debbie went to work on some amazing hamburgers in the galley. Soon, they were grilling nicely, and we settled in for what turned out to be one of the noisiest and vivid fireworks performances either of us can recall.

At about 10:15, the show was over, the spectators were heading back to their homes, and we caught a ride with Dustin in the skiff back to the dock. It was a moonless night, and we were glad 90% of the traffic was headed west, while we slipped away to the east for a quiet and relaxing ride home.