Mark 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. Andy 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. For 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. Andy 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