Last Wednesday afternoon, I had the opportunity to take a half-day off and so invited my dear friend Michael Salley out for a sail on Splendido. We loaded up the gear at 1 p.m. and arrived at the boat at 2 p.m., spending the time in the car catching up. Michael is the CEO of International Lining Technology and was my very first client when I opened my ad agency in 2003. He’s also an enthusiastic waterman and lover of sailing, so it was a pleasure to have him out on the boat. Winds were predicted in the 10-12 kt. range, but we were happily surprised to find them in the 15-20 range all afternoon. Our floatplan took us south of Sugar Pine Point and then north to Tahoe City, where we watched the “big boys” play at racing the Wednesday night beer can races.

The big adventure on this sail was actually getting to the boat. The Walker Bay dinghy is only rated at 360 pounds for two people, or 425 lbs. for passengers, outboard motor and gear. Since it was flat water when we arrived and we both had PFDs on, we distributed our weight and gear and I rowed “backwards” toward Splendido. It took a bit of gymnastics to get from the dinghy to the sailboat, but we managed unscathed and quickly got our gear stowed, the Perkins Perama diesel running, and the sail cover off to start our voyage.

Michael brought along a whole bag of goodies to eat and drink, including cheese and crackers, beef jerky, cow elk smokies, and a huge bag of salt-and-pepper pistachios that I spilled all over the cockpit (but didn’t waste a one!) Washed it down with my classic Old Milwaukee N/A “red beer.” Life is good!

Here’s the video clip:

Fair winds and smooth sailing! DB