Today is the day we pull Splendido out of Lake Tahoe and put her on her trailer for her winter rest. As I write this, I’m having my first cup of steaming hot Blind Dog Nevada Black coffee and reflecting on the season.

All in all, I think we did pretty well in our first season as “real” sailboat owners. The first challenge was communicating well…I have a tendency to get a little snappy, barking out orders when stressed, which is tough on my first mate (and also bad form in general), so I had to learn to relax, speak clearly and precisely, and do a better job of seeing the bigger picture. We came up with our own “everybody’s having fun, or we head back” rule, which helps us remember that the #1 point of all this is to enjoy the experience. I screwed that up a bit last Saturday night, when I suggested we stay the night on Splendido in a slip at Tahoe City Marina: It was 27 degrees out, and I forgot our little electric space heater at home. We were OK sleeping under the thick comforter, but when we woke up, you could see your breath, and the entire inside of the boat was dripping from condensation. Debbie opted to stay in bed until the coffee was made, but even then, I doubt the cabin warmed up to more than 40 degrees. After having a great breakfast at nearby Sawtooth Cafe, it had warmed up enough to tackle the big chore of the weekend: stripping the boat of everything in preparation for taking her down to Reno. While Debbie loaded up the bins with all the “household” items below, I set to work on taking off the sails, stripping the rigging, and removing the boom. It took about 5-1/2 hours, all told. We loaded up the bins and cushions in Debbie’s catering van, drove home, and neatly stowed everything in the empty garage bay we’d cleaned out the week before.

Last night, brother-in-law Tracy and I worked on the trailer, rebuilding all four of the drum brakes and replacing the wheel cylinders so she hopefully wouldn’t “buck” on our drive down the mountain and back to Reno. On our “test drive” about 9:15 p.m., everything seemed to be working OK.

On the morning of October 11, our haul-out went flawlessly. The trailer worked like a charm, with no bucking whatsoever, and Steve Diel and the crew from Tahoe City Marina were fabulous, helping us to move Splendido about five inches further forward on the trailer than we had done last year, in order to put more weight on the tongue. Tracy and I double-checked all the straps and tie-downs, and had a good lunch at Sawtooth Cafe before motoring down to Reno. We parked Splendido in front of my house for the final washing, polishing, winterizing, and small repairs I’ll do before taking her to storage. I intend to sand, stain, and varnish all the remaining interior woodwork, finish installing the new bilge pump and float switch, and a dozen or so other details over the next seven months. Can’t wait ’til spring…you can see it in my expression, below.

When I stop to reflect on the lessons I’ve learned in our first year of sailboat ownership, the one thing that stands out is the new confidence we’ve both developed around identifying a challenge, considering the options, and selecting the right course of action. This sequence of events  happened time and time again over our short sailing season, from learning how to anchor properly overnight to dealing with an engine failure on a light-wind day to learning proper sail trim to deal with Tahoe’s gusty conditions to developing a Zen mindset to deal with sometimes uncourteous powerboaters (and the occasional sailor, too). It was a surprise to me how taxing sailing can be on the body. Debbie and I would both return home exhausted from a “relaxing day on the water.” Two days, even more so! One of the casualties of sailing this summer was my left elbow: I developed a case of medial epicondylitis because I was using my left arm as a sort of “shock absorber” when tending the mainsheet while Debbie was driving. The condition is also known as “golfer’s elbow,” and is basically an inflammation of the attachment points at the elbow. I have to wear a brace through mid-December to “rest” the elbow so it will heal. Mentally, though, was where we both reaped the benefits of our time on the water. Just being around water helped us both to relax and release the strain of running our four businesses. For the first time in our 20 years together, we were able to truly enjoy and feel a part of Lake Tahoe, just by being out on it, rather than relegated to viewing it from the shore. We were able to learn its moods, its winds, its weather, and a few of its secrets that we wouldn’t have learned about otherwise. I picked up two books of Tahoe tales from a used book store; now, some of the family and place names make more sense. I am beginning to understand why people flock here and relocate here and decide to make their lives here. Perhaps most importantly, we both felt that our summer on the water helped us to slow down a bit and be in the moment more. We stopped to check the weather forecasts, to gaze at the stars, to breathe more slowly and savor that sacred time, whether for an afternoon’s outing or a weekend boat camping trip. The coffee even tastes better up there. The book Saving Sailing, which I read earlier in the summer, suddenly made sense to me. We gave up our “500 channels of nothing to watch” cable TV contract, and put that money into our sailing fund. We got rid of a bunch of “stuff” that was cluttering our closets, our house, and our garage. Everything feels a bit lighter, a bit simpler, and a whole lot easier on mind and eye, and I suspect—in no small way—it had something to do with sailing Lake Tahoe aboat Splendido this season.

Fair winds and smooth sailing. DB