Month: August 2013

The Catalina 270 Is A Thing Of Beauty

On By David BranbyIn Keeping Up Appearances, On The WaterLeave a comment

IMG_5291I was so thrashed after seven hours on the water Saturday that I slept most of Sunday, so it was quite a surpise when I picked up my mobile phone in the late afternoon and saw a text from an unknown number that said, “Sailing was great…wish you could’ve joined us!’ with the photo shown here. Immediately, my eyes were drawn to the lovely curves of the Catalina 270’s hull and sugar-scoop transom, the beautifully sculpted cabin and fine entry of her bow. I reflected a bit on how Splendido looks a bit like a bright seagull as she sits bobbing on the swells when I first see her as I round the curve near where she’s moored. I’m always struck by how well the “Captain’s Navy” navy-blue canvas looks against the white hull, whether it’s the lifeline pads or the covers for the wheel, the winches, or the mainsail. I still love the Splendido logo I designed, and which was lovingly hand-painted by my friend Lane Walker, a legend among hand-letterers and sign painters in America. I winced when I noticed how I’d dishonored Splendido by leaving her fenders out on the deck and how I neglected to flemish her dock lines, disrespecting this great beauty with my carelessness. Forgive me, dearest Splendido…I’ll make it up to you with a warm-water bath and organic, biodegradeable boat soap, and equally eco-friendly cleaner wax…the equivalent of a mani-pedi for the other woman in my life, my darling Splendido. As for those other girls, the ones on deck? That’s my lovely niece and her friends, who just happened to be boating by and thought they’d take a happy snap to send to us for some summer fun.

Fair winds and smooth sailing. DB

Sailing to Support Reno Chamber Orchestra

On By David BranbyIn Food & Drink, On The Water, SplendidoLeave a comment

andy-and-crewMark Miller, Pat Miller and Barbara Hall were our guests yesterday aboard Splendido for an afternoon/sunset sail south to D.L. Bliss State Park, cruising along McKinney Bay, Meeks Bay and Rubicon Bay. I asked fellow sailor Andy Gagnon along to serve as first mate, as we wanted to deliver a “first-cabin” experience for the Millers and their friend Barbara as the winners of the 2013 Reno Chamber Orchestra “Derby Day” silent auction  item of sailing Lake Tahoe. Debbie had a big catered event in Reno that she had to oversee, but she put together individual packages of yumminess for our guests, including a starter of Champagne grapes, French brie and water crackers, three bottles of red and white wines, smoked Turkey foccacia sandwiches with fresh pesto, provolone, and roasted red peppers, rotelle pasta salad, and big fudge brownies for dessert.

Andy and I arrived earlier in the afternoon and spent 90 minutes practicing crew overboard drills–not because we expected anything unfortunate to happen–but just to brush up our boat-handling skills. It was a good thing we did, because about 50 minutes into our cruise, one of Debbie’s favorite red-and-white pillows blew overboard. I glanced at Andy and we went right into drill mode, and the pillow was back on board within a little over a minute.

I was a little concerned that the winds would be a bit light for an exciting sail, but once we rounded Sugar Pine State Park, the winds freshened considerably, and I estimated the gusts ripping across Rubicon Bay to be in the 25 kt. range. mark-pat-barbaraAndy handled the mainsheet like a champ, keeping the boat skipping along without heeling too much, while I manned the helm and chatted up the guests.

We got within about a quarter-mile of D.L. Bliss and were able to see the campers and vacationers enjoying the beach even up to the 7 p.m. hour. We tacked right at the seam of where the blue-black waters started to change to the lighter blue-green of Calawee Cove with its white-sand bottom, and the energetic gusts coming in over Rubicon Bay made for a lively ride across the whitecapping waters.

Heading north, we saw heavy smoke coming into the Tahoe basin from the American Fire in Foresthill, CA. smoky-sunsetFor the past four or five days, the smoke had drifted straight east down I-80 into Reno, so the Biggest Little City has been blanketed while Tahoe stayed relatively smoke-free. Until yesterday. It got so thick that visibility was less than three miles, and I had to pull out the GPS to pinpoint our buoy as the smoke obscured the shoreline. About midway through McKinney Bay, the winds died completely, so we turned on the trusty Perkins Perama diesel and motored back, with Andy driving while I flaked the sail and prettied up the boat. The temperature dropped as the sun dipped behind the mountains, and we made sure the ladies were bundled up for the motor back. blood-red-skyAndy threaded his way through the buoy field and brought the boat in ever-so-gently into the dock. It was a real pleasure having our three guests aboard, and my sincere appreciation to them for supporting the Reno Chamber Orchestra and to Andy Gagnon for all his help in making it a Tahoe sail to remember.

Fair winds and smooth sailing. DB

Cruising Tahoe Wooden Boat Weekend with the Shrivers

On By David BranbyIn Food & Drink, Mechanical Stuff, On The Water, SplendidoLeave a comment

Sailing Tahoe 2012 aboard SplendidoDebbie and I pulled Splendido up to the dock around 3 p.m. yesterday to await the arrival of our guests, Bob and Pam Shriver of Reno. As we gussied up the boat below decks, I was startled to feel a jarring “thunk thunk thunk” as some swells from a passing speedboat caused Splendido to smack her keel against the rocks about a foot below. I quickly “beat feet” above decks and pushed the boat back about 10 feet so there was a little more room beneath her keel. Clearly, the lake level has dropped from where it was just a few weeks ago, and the reminder of my mistake can be seen by the blue bottom paint on the rocks just off the pier. I put on my goggles and jumped overboard, swimming down to inspect the keel on both sides. Nothing major to report–luckily–except a little chipped bottom paint. I ran my hands over the keel bottom and everything seemed OK, then did the same thing along the keel-hull interface. I was a bit rattled by the experience, but that seems to be a weekly occurence when owning a sailboat.

Bob and Pam arrived and we shoved off. Winds were light and very shifty, so we headed north to Dollar Point, hoping to see some of the classic wooden boats celebrating the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance at Sierra Boat Works in Carnelian Bay. We were thrilled to see a number of beautiful woodies, including the famous Thunderbird of Thunderbird Lodge fame.

The winds were so twitchy–swinging wildly from WNW to S–that I decided to tack right off Dollar Point, rather than go deeper into Carnelian Bay with all its boat traffic. It was 5 p.m. at that point, and I figured it would take a couple of hours to get back, tidy up, and get dinner going. The winds picked up considerably on the ride home, so Debbie drove while I manned the mainsheet. My rule of thumb with guests onboard is to keep the boat relatively flat and comfortable, so it was a bit of work to get upwind in the face of some pretty good gusts. We had spray coming over the bow from time to time, but we managed to stay dry and sailed over to  within view of Obexer’s, then tacked back toward home. Because the gusts were getting a bit hairier, I had Debbie fire up the engine and motor into the wind while I did my best to flake the sail over the boom. After finally getting her buttoned up, we tied up to the dock and sat down for some amazing ribs and fresh corn salad, courtesy of Bob and Pam, while Debbie served up a rich, fruity Zinfandel. Afterwards, she broke out a fresh Marionberry pie with a wonderfully flaky crust. I sat back and could’ve fallen asleep in the cockpit, exhausted but fulfilled after a fun afternoon on the water. The winds died down completely; Tahoe’s skies took on their rosy hue, and we bid our guests a safe trip back to Reno. I shooed Debbie off the boat with our bags and baggage, as it was getting dark fast, and I was a bit concerned about finding the buoy without a deck light to guide me (still haven’t replaced that #@&! bulb!). But, I just took it slow and got the line on the first try while Debbie watched from shore. I went through my security checklist one more time (Seacocks closed? Check. Head pumped dry? Check. Boathook put away? Check.), turned out the lights, and rowed the dinghy in the blackness toward shore.

Next weekend, I’m hosting some folks who won the “afternoon sail aboard Splendido” silent auction at Reno Chamber Orchestra’s 2013 Derby Day celebration…which means I’ve got a couple dozen things I need to do to make the boat pretty. Nothing like a hard deadline to inspire massive action!

Fair winds and smooth sailing! DB

Epic Sailing Day With Andy And Lee

On By David BranbyIn SplendidoLeave a comment

I was thinking of that famous line about sailboats from the movie “The Philadelphia Story” when I was sailing yesterday afternoon with Andy Gagnon and Lee Pfalmer. Splendido was simply “yar” all day, sailing fast and wonderfully as we made our way south in strong breezes to D.L. Bliss, hitting our “record” boat speed of 6.9 knots not just once, but twice, along the way.

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Gusts were hitting at least 25 knots as we made our way south, and it was awesome having Andy and Lee aboard to help trim the sails and keep the boat flat. Splendido likes to ride a little flatter to reach her best speed, so having a little meat on the rails was a good thing.

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Lee Pfalmer is my colleague from work at the University, and we were scouting potential videography footage to show Reno/Tahoe area lifestyle for prospective students. His father was an avid catamaran racer while Lee was growing up, so he was comfortable and happy to be out on the water once again.

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Fair winds and smooth sailing. DB