Month: June 2015

Planning A Lake Tahoe Circumnavigation with Jamie Filbin

On By David BranbyIn On The Water, Ports Of Call, Splendido2 Comments

Screen Shot 2015-06-27 at 12.50.12 PMLong-time readers may recall that I have had a yearning to do a Lake Tahoe circumnavigation, spending the better part of a week visiting different areas of the lake. This dream has been a long time in coming, mostly because Debbie and I have still found it difficult to sleep comfortably in the “stateroom” she calls “the MRI machine built for two.” But, I am determined to do the circumnavigation, so I have recruited my buddy Jamie Filbin to embark on said cruise the week of July 20, 2015.

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We went out for a planning sail aboard Splendido last Thursday afternoon. Winds were light and warm, as high pressure was building, but we still got some good mileage in as we made our way to the south end of Sugar Pine Point State Park, hanging out for a while near the Ehrman Mansion and just enjoying the beautiful weather.
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I first met Jamie in 1986 when I graduated college and moved out to see my folks in Fallon, Nevada. Jamie was stationed at Fallon Naval Air Station, and we met through another buddy who gave us a ride into Reno to visit the nightclubs and who then ended up ditching us, so Jamie and I had to hitchhike the 70 miles back to Fallon in the wee hours the next morning. Long story short, we’ve been friends ever since — in fact, Jamie was my best man when I got married to Debbie — and we have reconnected since Jamie and his wife Carolym moved back to Reno a few years ago.

So, we’ve set the date for the circ and made sure we both got clear on what we wanted out of the trip. I am looking for sailing, relaxation, good food, and conversation, as well as some “off the boat” adventures to include a few hikes and maybe some shore excursions to check out the local color. Jamie’s vision for the trip is very similar, and he’d like to get to know Splendido and get comfortable sailing along the way. We’re going to split the heavy lifting, with Jamie doing the chef work at dinner time (he claims to have a Chilean Sea Bass recipe that’s out of this world), and I am happy to do the swabbing up afterwards. Jamie’s leaving the route planning to me, so the map above is my anticipated float plan, but I’m leaving it loose because of the low water in some of the coves we intend to visit. We’ll be carrying two anchors for secure mooring, and we’ll be towing the dinghy along as well.
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Last weekend, Debbie and I rigged a neat “boom tent” from a 13′ x 13′ geosynthetic “shade sail” we found at Costco for $19. For the circ, I’m a little concerned about being exposed to so much sun, especially when we’re on the hook in the mornings until the winds come up at 1 p.m., so we tried it, out and it works great. In fact, I really look forward to catching up on my reading and catnaps, sitting comfortably in the shade while still having a “filtered” view of the beautiful Lake Tahoe.

All that remains is a few minor fixes aboard and the prospect of provisioning for four days aboard. First thing on the list is lots of Clausthaler N/A/ beer for me, casks of red wine for Jamie, steaks, seafood, sunscreen, and fresh black coffee for that kickstart in the morning. I’d like to get in lots of swimming to work off some of the “table muscle” I’ve put on from my desk job, so I’ll add lots of waterproof sunscreen to the list.

More on the 2015 Lake Tahoe circumnavigation as the date draws near, plus regular updates if I can figure out a way to post from the boat. Until next time, fair winds and smooth sailing! DB

First Real Sail Of The Summer – Shakedown Cruise With Andy Gagnon

On By David BranbyIn Commissioning & De-commissioning, On The Water, Splendido2 Comments

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I have to laugh at how much work it was to launch the boat this year … after fixing this and that over the winter, diligently checking things off my list and working hard to get it all right, it all went to pieces on launch day. The big thing that happened was that I thought I’d be all clever and tie strings to all of the halyards, run them out of the mast, and tie them off, so that on launch day, I’d just re-string everything quickly and off we’d go.

You can guess the rest.

On May 29th, when brother-in-law Tracy and I showed up at Obexer’s to launch, the first thing that happened was one of the halyard strings broke as the mast lay on the sawhorses and I was tugging the main halyard up the interior of the mast. Without going into details about the sailor’s oaths and hand-wringing that went on, suffice it to say that, thanks to the kind folks at Obexer’s, we used a wire reel to get things going again. That part set us back a full hour. The next thing that happened was that, even though I’d lubed up the impeller, I turned the through-hull valve to close rather than to open. Now, my standard operating procedure is to fire up the Perkins, then jump onto the sugar-scoop transom and check that water’s coming out of the exhaust with my hand, but one of the “helpers” on the dock said he saw water coming out, so I didn’t do that part. (It wasn’t water; it was dry exhaust.) By the time I realized the mistake, the impeller was toast, shredded into a dozen pieces. After disassembling the hoses and cleaning all the pieces out of the screen that keeps such debris out of the cooling system, I popped the spare impeller in, and things were good again. But that set us back yet another hour. Fortunately, we stopped for lunch and enjoyed a killer BLAT sandwich and some malted beverages at Obexer’s General Store. Feeling well-fed, the rest of the afternoon went off without a hitch, and I was able to get Splendido on the buoy without any more drama.

LET THE SEASON BEGIN On Saturday, June 13th, my friend Andy Gagnon agreed to come with me to shake down Splendido. Winds were forecast to be in the 15 kt. range, with gusts to 25-30. We motored out a bit around 1:30 p.m. to get out of the swirlies near shore on Hurricane Bay. We raised sail and set off south toward D.L. Bliss State Park.

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The winds were pretty good until we got near the day marker at Sugar Pine Point. I call this area “the vortex,” because of the weird swirlies that happen as the southerly winds meet the westerly winds coming off of McKinney Bay. We headed east to get away from the worst of it, and saw Cheeseburger in Paradise scooting out in the direction of Stateline to the south.

At Sugar Pine State Park, there were a bunch of sailboats pulled in close to shore, some daysailers, others actually boat camping. The water at the midlake buoys was only 60 degrees, so there weren’t any swimmers as we went by.

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We tacked and entered the shallow, Caribbean-looking waters with the white-sand bottom, and ghosted along in the lee of the tall pines lining the shore by the Ehrmann Mansion. Tacking again, we came within 200 yards of shore and skimmed along, checking out the different boats and the people on the shore. A few bright gusts came up, so we headed out to enjoy the good winds in the open water across Meeks and Rubicon Bay.

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By this time, it was about 4:30 p.m., and Splendido was dancing lively across the water in the breeze. I realized later that I forgot to use the traveler to let some of the gusts twist off the top of the sail, so we had quite a heel going on in some of the gusts. I guess I was a little fatigued … surprised I didn’t notice earlier. C’est la sailing.

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Heading back north on a port tack, we had to reach up to the north end of Hurricane Bay to tack again and reach back toward Homewood. At the end of the run, the winds lightened up considerably and we ghosted up to the buoy under mainsail alone. I hooked the buoy on the first try, and we were done.

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Special thanks to sailor Andy for helping me out. It always feels great to have a good day’s sail under your belt. I’m looking forward to lots more fun, especially with our newly-formed Big Blue Tahoe Yacht Club. More on that in later posts. Until then, fairs winds and smooth sailing. DB