Summer goes by much too quickly in the high Sierras. It’s already Labor Day, and we still don’t feel we’ve had enough time on the water this summer. Actually, we’re averaging two days of sailing per week, which, considering the hour-there and hour-back drive to Tahoe City from Reno, is about what we figured when we were thinking about such things last winter. At any rate, we felt the need to try boat camping at D.L. Bliss State Park again, if only to see if we could both get a good night’s sleep once the hook was set, dinner was served, and we’d gotten a chance to stargaze after moonset, lying on our backs and staring at the heavens in general and the Milky Way in particular.

We arrived at Tahoe City Marina about 1 p.m., and took our time loading food and water on Splendido. Fortunately, a slip opened up by the gas dock, so that made things easier. Winds had been non-existent all day, so we had motored down the west shore of Lake Tahoe, enjoying the blue skies but a little surprised there weren’t more boats out. A Hunter 380 was already anchored when we arrived at D.L. Bliss; another Hunter joined it about an hour after we set our hook. I had let out 155 feet of anchor chain and rode, which caused us to swing widely when a light breeze kicked up, so we pulled in half of that before nightfall and tugged back on the Danforth anchor to really sink it in to the soft sandy bottom. After a dinner of yummy steaks and salad, we double-checked everything on our lists, and tucked into the main berth, which Debbie calls “the MRI machine built for two,” and I fell right asleep. Debbie, on the other hand, was kept from getting a deep sleep by the slap-slap of the wavelets against the hull, which I have to admit, are amplified by the drum-like interior of a fiberglass boat. In the morning, I was very refreshed, and wanted to go for a swim. Debbie took  a little more time to wake up, but she ended up getting in a great swim as well. About 2 p.m., Debbie noticed the wind coming up, so we set sail and headed back.  Surprisingly, we averaged over 5 knots all the way home, so we were back early, and even stopped by Cable Car Ice Cream for a cone before heading back to Reno.

Fair winds and smooth sailing. DB