On Sept. 14, our last sail of the season, Jamie Filbin and I cruised down to Emerald Bay on a glorious Saturday morning. Lake Tahoe has rarely looked more magnificent, and we pretty much had the lake to ourselves as we made our way south about 11 miles to the entrance of the bay.

Before we set out, we pulled Splendido up to a nearby public dock and offloaded a bunch of stuff for the winter – spare anchor, chain and rode; pillows; blankets and linens; kitchen supplies and bathroom décor; basically, anything that wasn’t nailed down. To me, it always feels like Splendido springs to life when she’s lightened of all the boat-camping gear. She’s a little livelier, a little more “yar,” as they say.

When we got to the entrance of Emerald Bay, it seemed like every boater left on the lake had had the same idea. These photos don’t show it so much, but there were dozens of boats hanging around Fannette Island, anchors down, girls sunning themselves on the backs of speedboats, guys trolling around, admiring the scenery.

The wind came up and we had a strong sail back north with the wind on the quarter. We averaged 6 knots all the way home, and Splendido sailed like a champ.

Once we tied up, Jamie and took off the sails and boom and stored them below for the winter ahead. I’d scheduled a pull-out later that week, so this was the last hurrah for the season.

Grateful for every day on the water, and for friends to share it with.

Fair winds and smooth sailing, until next time. DB