Author: David Branby

I have enjoyed a lifelong love of sailing, and I noticed that there wasn't any website or blog out there that discussed the unique sailing conditions of Lake Tahoe or the sailboat-ownership experience at what Mark Twain called "a noble sheet of blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea...walled in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft three thousand feet higher still!"

Back on the water at last

On By David BranbyIn Commissioning & De-commissioning, Mechanical Stuff, On The Water, SplendidoLeave a comment

This year marks our 15th year of owning our lovely sailboat, Splendido, and it seems we were as busy over the winter fixing things as we’ve ever been. My sailing pal Ancil Sigman likes to joke that all she needs is a new gas cap and she’s a brand-new boat. 🙂 In a nutshell, we:

1) Disassembled, installed a complete rebuild service kit, and reassembled the Hurth transmission

2) Replaced all four motor mounts

3) Repacked the stuffing box

4) Dropped the rudder, cleaned the shaft and installed new rudder washers

5) Replaced the glow plugs and fixed the electrical wiring so the plugs actually warm up — now it starts like it should!

6)  Re-wired and grounded the alternator properly with the help of AI and now everything works as it should — including the tachometer and battery warning light on the panel.

I learned so much working with Ancil over the winter. The man is mechanically gifted, to say the least. However, he’s not the best weather forecaster. Three storms ago he told me spring was sprung and we wouldn’t be seeing any more nasty weather. 😀 

Launch day went very smoothly, although I tell my wife Debbie that owning a sailboat around here is like having an erector set (that was a toy kit back when we were kids where you could build things out of various parts, which they still make today) that you pull out in the spring and in the fall. First, you launch the hull and check for leaks. Then, you step the mast. Then, you attach and tune all the shrouds and stays. Then, you install cotter rings on everything, and then you put rigging tape over all those. Then, you have to wipe down the boat inside and out, as the pitter patter of everyone’s feet leaves your ordinarily white decks a hazy shade of gray. C’est la vie.

Here it is, June 1 already, and I, unfortunately, have not been able to sail yet. I spent the better part of a day trying to adjust the stuffing box I’d recently repacked, and didn’t quite nail it. You’re supposed to get 2-3 drops of water per minute when the drive shaft is turning, but I either got a lot more than that or nothing at all, which is not what you want. (No drips means it’s probably adjusted too tightly, so it’ll heat up and possibly score the drive shaft.) It’s a dicey thing, though: Who even wants one drip of water in their boat when it’s under way? 🙂

As I was playing with the stuffing-box adjustment, suddenly water started spurting out of the back end of the heat exchanger. A little investigating revealed that the back-end boot from the heat exchanger tube had developed a crack, so I phoned Trans Atlantic Diesel and ordered up a new boot. It should arrive this week. In the meantime, I’ve got all the little things taken care of around the boat, so she’s technically ready to sail right now.

The good news is, the lake level is high, the Tahoe parks folks have done a great job of cleaning up the detritus where I keep my dinghy, and the smell of the pines and the lovely breeze beckons me to get out on the water. More when it happens — until then,

Fair winds and smooth sailing! DB

Reflections on a season of midweek sailing at Tahoe

On By David BranbyIn Commissioning & De-commissioning, Mechanical Stuff, On The Water, Ports Of Call, SplendidoLeave a comment

Debbie and I had one goal this sailing season, and that was to try to relax and enjoy our new-found leisure time after I stepped away from my long advertising career at the end of January. We were excited to see how we could go from being the typical “weekend warrior”-type sailors we’d been for the past 14 years to any-day-of-the week yachties able to get far from the madding crowds as much as possible. We discovered, to our delight, how empty Lake Tahoe is in the summer Mondays through Thursdays (apart from July 4th and Labor Day weeks, of course). When you’re out on the water midweek, you really do feel like you have the whole place to yourselves.

Nevertheless, we did find time to socialize a bit, whether at Chambers Landing, where they’re really stepped up their game of late with new management, or happily running into our nephew Dusty Cady as he was in the midst of a stand-up paddleboard circumnavigation (yes, 72 miles of paddling and camping out over five days). In early summer, our friends Fred and Alice at Big Blue Tahoe Yacht Club threw a backyard party with delicious paella, where we reconnected with Brady Trautman and met Alex Blue and Sharky of SV Delos and Cruisers Academy fame. When the weather warmed up, my sailing pals Ancil Sigman of La Crapaud and John Turner of Grand Cru invited me out to enjoy a relaxing day floating, eating and swimming off Baldwin Beach, followed by a tour of majestic Emerald Bay, which I hadn’t visited in a long while.

While nothing catastrophic happened (thank you, universe) other than someone stealing our buoy tags, we did have some lively moments, like when the sail slides on the mast all blew out right after I’d hoisted the main. In an instant, our mainsail turned into a wildly flapping spinnaker. Fortunately, I was able to pull it down quickly and continued sailing under genoa alone up to Tahoe City Marina, where you could not buy — at any price — a damn sail slide. (I now have enough backup sail slides to take care of two future blow-outs, thanks to our friends at Sailrite.) Oddly enough, a week later, that very same failure happened to John Turner aboard Grand Cru. The lesson here is that things age quickly at Lake Tahoe’s 6,225-ft. elevation, especially plastic sail slides. Back in my garage, it took me about four hours to sew on the new sail slides and shackles (another interesting lesson: I thought sail slides all just attached via snaps or screws, but half of the sail slides on my main had to be laboriously hand-sewn on. That would be quite the PITA if you had to do it aboard a pitching sailboat at sea).

One highlight of the season for me was to catch my first ride on Terry Wasik’s legendary Cheeseburger in Paradise, a 41-ft. Hunter sailing out of Obexer’s Marina. Last season, Terry had hauled Cheeseburger to the coast and sailed down to Mexico in the Baja Haha flotilla. I am deeply appreciative of having the opportunity to spend a lovely day of fine sailing aboard this gorgeous vessel with a crew of 5 or 6 guests while (appropriately enough) Jimmy Buffet serenaded us. Thanks, Terry!

While our good old boat only has about 700 hours on her 18 hp diesel, one day, I heard a grinding noise down below and discovered that the crankshaft was turning while the engine was turned off and in neutral, which was a real head-scratcher for me. Ancil theorized that the clutch plates had warped over the years and were causing the shaft to turn, which is not optimal. At the end of the season, we removed the drive shaft, pulled the transmission out, got it cleaned up and now plan to install a service kit to get things working properly again. I’m also thinking about replacing the worn engine mounts, which is kind of a big deal, but that should reduce engine noise and vibration as well. I’ve also got to drop the rudder and mount a new rudder bushing which I accidentally discovered while diving the hull in August. What do we live for, hey? 🙂

Alas, the season is so short at Tahoe, and before I knew it, it was time to bring Splendido down to Reno and put her away for the winter. I built a proper frame for her new-to-me winter cover, so I’m really grateful to be able work on her out of the weather this winter (and staying pretty warm when the sun’s out) while she’s on the hard. Next season will be here before we know it. Until then…

Fair winds and smooth sailing! DB

Reno-Tahoe summers can be a blast

On By David BranbyIn On The Water, Overnighters2 Comments

Meeks and Rubicon bays at Lake Tahoe offer some of the most exciting sailing, in my experience, and this summer has been no exception. This clip shows Splendido sailing close to the wind in 17-21 knots on an 84º F. afternoon about a week ago. I’d gone out for a fun afternoon of single-handed sailing as Debbie had some business to take care of in town, and then I decided to boat camp after this heart-pounding reach south toward Rubicon Bay.

Our sailing pals Ancil and Tina aboard La Crapaud showed up right before dark, so we hung out for a bit chatting and enjoying drinks while their dinner cooked in the oven and the visitors on the beaches slowly packed up their stuff and headed home. Splendido was anchored in about 11 ft. of water near shore and I slept pretty well, getting up a couple of times during the night just to watch the brilliant stars and Milky Way overhead. Looking at the heavens in this majestic place always makes me think of the romantic poets and the idea of the sublime, as in William Wordsworth’s “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey” (1798):

—Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
That on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky.

I planned to go boat camping again yesterday with my buddy Jamie, but then I noticed this weather forecast with gusts to 35 mph, which is not what you want to see at Lake Tahoe. Violent gusts like that can literally knock down a 27-ft. sailboat like ours, which is no fun for anyone.

So, instead, Jamie and I opted to hike the 2.25 mi. Hunter Creek trail up to the waterfall, and it reminded me once again what a gorgeous place we live in and how fortunate we are to be able to get out and enjoy it. It’s a moderate hike with a steady 1,200 ft. elevation gain. I was amazed to see the variety of people, from little kids and their parents to college students to seniors out enjoying the canyon. If you go, start early, wear your hat and sunscreen, and bring lots of water, as much of the hike is on an exposed single-track on the west side of the canyon where you’re in bright sunlight for nearly two miles of the hike.

Looking forward to more adventures before fall comes around. Until then …

Fair winds! DB

Yes, Virginia, Tahoe can get crazy in the summer

On By David BranbyIn On The WaterLeave a comment

Nope, I’m not talking about the summer crowds at Tahoe (although they can be a little crazy at times, too). Not long after I visited with sailor Andy Schwenk at the 2024 Santa Cruz 27 National Championship races out of Tahoe Yacht Club, they held the long distance “Trans-Tahoe Regatta” — and a summer squall with 50-knot gusts blew up. This snapshot from a video by South Lake Tahoe Windjammers Yacht Club rear commodore Sam Corso sums it up: Lake Tahoe can be a moody mistress when she sets her mind to it.

This is certainly the exception to the rule. With recent high pressure (and high temperatures) over the Sierra Nevada, it’s been either flat or mostly 15-17 knot breezes and pleasant sailing, with gorgeous cumulonimbus clouds piling up in the afternoons off toward the east over the valleys of western Nevada. I was single-handing this past Monday when I heard a shout from my old friend Zack Sisemore of Wake Almanor luxury surf charter, who texted me some pics he’s taken as I cruised along just enjoying the day. It’s a wonderful thing to feel a connection with the friends we’ve made out on the water over the years… the community is small but supportive, and I’m here for it.

Fair winds and smooth sailing! DB

Sailor Andy Schwenk

Catching up with sailor Andy Schwenk & our first splash of the summer

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

I got a note from my high school pal Pam last week that her brother, sailing legend Andy Schwenk, was going to be joining Rick Raduziner — owner of the Santa Cruz 27, Lickety Split — to compete in the 2024 Santa Cruz 27 National Championships at Lake Tahoe July 12-14. Andy was a couple of years behind me in high school in Anacortes, WA and I had the good fortune to sail with him and his dad, Dr. Walter Schwenk, aboard the iconic Santa Cruz 33, Ajax, back in the day.

Andy’s been afloat pretty much his whole life, and has chalked up 54 trips across the Pacific to Hawaii and back while racing in the Victoria to Maui, Transpac and Pacific Cup competitions. Professionally, Andy is a marine surveyor, rigging expert, delivery skipper and Port Captain of the Richmond Yacht Club in the Bay Area. Andy made headlines a few years ago when he developed necrotizing fasciitis from a minor ankle scrape after the 2022 Pacific Cup race. A few days into the return voyage, Andy had to be transfered to a passing tanker and later airlifted to the mainland, where he spent a month at Stanford hospital while a team of physicians worked to save his leg.

I drove up to Tahoe Yacht Club last Friday to see if I could find Andy after the skipper’s meeting, and recognized him instantly. We visited for a few minutes before he and Rick dashed off to prep the boat for the race. With high pressure hanging over the Tahoe basin, winds were light and shifty, and Lickety Split managed a respectable 5th out of a dozen boats.

The day before, Debbie and I snuck up for a wonderful afternoon sail in 12-15 knot winds to Sugar Pine State Park, where we dropped the hook in about 14 ft. and both went swimming for the first time this year. The water was about 70º F. at the surface, so we dove in and splashed around a bit before climbing back aboard to dry off under the shade of our makeshift “bimini.” The winds dropped off to just a breath later in the evening, so we took a leisurely motor along the shoreline looking at all the lovely homes and boats as the sun lowered in the sky. After all the wrenching on the boat earlier this year — including replacing the hard-to-find Lucas alternator just last week — it felt like we’d finally settled into our summer groove. We’re looking forward to more. Until then …

Fair winds! DB

Summertime, and Tahoe living is easy

On By David BranbyIn Food & Drink, Friend Ships, On The Water, Ports Of Call, Splendido2 Comments

We’ve gotten in a few lively afternoon sails along the West Shore with winds in the 15-25 kt. range and temps in the 80s, so it really feels like summer is upon us here in the High Sierra. The lake level is high and it seems like there are fewer boats out, so you kinda feel like you have the place to yourself — which is just fine by me!

I’m making a point of revisiting a number Lake Tahoe classics this summer, including a yummy breakfast at The Old Post Office in Carnelian Bay with my pal Ancil, dinner with Debbie at Chambers Landing (also yummy and very family-friendly … just a lovely, laid-back Tahoe summer vibe), and one day just hanging out at the south end of Tahoe by Baldwin Beach with Ancil and our buddy John aboard La Crapaud. We anchored in 10 ft. and lolled about in the shade of the bimini for the whole day, sharing stories and watching the world go by. The Baldwin Beach area — tucked away in the extreme southwest corner of Lake Tahoe — is great for hanging out on the hook because the boat traffic is much further off shore as folks cut across from South Tahoe marinas to the must-see spot on the lake, Emerald Bay.

I rowed the dinghy in to shore at Baldwin and explored the wetlands, where evidently the Tahoe Yellow Cress is struggling to survive and efforts are being made to control invasive species as well. The water temp was about 67º F. on Ancil’s gauge, so I went for a swim in the shallows, then sat on the inflatable dinghy and dried off in the sun.

Later in the afternoon, we motored around Fannette Island in Emerald Bay just to bask in the grandeur of that amazing place before heading home for the night.

We’re planning on going boat camping once the 4th of July crowds thin, and I’m looking forward to watching the light change on the Sierra Nevada and the Milky Way to appear. Until then …

Fair winds! DB

Launching La Crapaud

On By David BranbyIn Commissioning & De-commissioning, Food & Drink, Friend Ships, On The Water, Ports Of CallLeave a comment

My sailing pals Ancil and John invited me to come up and help them launch La Crapaud, Ancil’s 1968 Columbia 36, a William Crealock design first produced in 1967. I always smile when I see the name La Crapaud, because it means “The Toad” in French. La Crapaud is actually in pretty good shape for a craft of her vintage that hasn’t had a full restoration, and that can be attributed to Ancil’s incredible mechanical skills. Inside, he has a re-powered her with a new Kubota diesel, put in modern plumbing throughout, and installed a new electric windlass and a propane oven, which he uses to bake apple pies and roast things for overnight stays on his “condo on the lake.” With the three of us pitching in, the launch went very well, and we had her rigged and ready to sail in about 2.5 hours. It was a very calm, warm, bright Tahoe morning, so at 11:30 a.m., we motored over to Chambers Landing, where the friendly gals there picked us up at the guest buoy and quickly got us settled with cool refreshments at the bar.

We had the place to ourselves, so we chatted up the young ladies about what it’s like to work at Chambers in the summers, and they regaled us with stories of how crazy busy it gets, especially once the kids are out of school.

One story the young ladies shared with us that really stuck out to me is how often they get the question, “So, where’s the lake?” from tourists. Like, did you not look at a map before driving up this way??? Evidently, some tourists think that Chambers Landing is actually situated on some inland ocean, and that “Lake Tahoe” must be nearby. You cannot make this stuff up.

After our drinks, we motored south towards Camp Richardson — where La Crapaud lives in the summer — dipping into Meeks Bay and Rubicon Bay and along D.L. Bliss State Park (which is unfortunately closed for the summer) as we had a few hours until Ancil’s partner would pick us up on the Camp Rich dock for the drive back to Obexer’s to collect the trailer and take it back down to Reno. All in all, it was a beautiful day, and just gliding along in the shade of La Crapaud’s large bimini and checking out the sights made it feel like we were on an extended Disneyland Jungle Cruise.

Fair winds and smooth sailing! DB

An ode to the fine folks at Obexer’s Marina

On By David BranbyIn Commissioning & De-commissioning, On The Water, Ports Of Call, SplendidoLeave a comment

Putting a sailboat in the water seems like it would be so simple — and yet it takes a team working in close coordination to pull it off succesfully. Fortunately, Bret and Jessy and the crew at Obexer’s are real pros, and the only goofs we made at yesterday’s launch were self-inflicted: 1) we mounted the forestay with the drum opening facing forward rather than aft (yes, this needs to be turned around), 2) we broke a boat-stand pad as we worked to get the boat off the trailer, and 3) I dropped my favorite hose-clamp-tightening tool in the drink as I spent seven hours fitting out the boat (and feeling lucky that was the only tool that went overboard!). The good news is, the weather was gorgeous, the good folks at Obexer’s let me borrow an empty slip for part of the day, and when I looked up from time to time, I got to see lots of happy sailboaters out enjoying the afternoon zephyr breezes on McKinney Bay.

The lake is wonderfully full this year, and motoring up to our buoy made me realize how lucky we are to be able to enjoy this gorgeous sheet of water at 6,230 ft. above sea level. As I write this with my steaming cup of coffee beside me and feeling every tired and sore muscle in my body this morning, the only thing I can say is: I’m grateful.

Fair winds! DB

Just Add Water

On By David BranbyIn Commissioning & De-commissioning, Keeping Up Appearances, Mechanical Stuff, SplendidoLeave a comment

We launch Splendido in three days, and the past six weeks have been a whirlwind of activity getting her prepped for the Tahoe sailing season. The theme this spring was, “OK, what really needs to be addressed on a well-loved 31-year old sailboat that has seen lots of use? Fortunately, my mechanical-genius pal Ancil Sigman had plenty of suggestions, as you’ll see below.

The things I intended to fix in the off-season:

  • Make a better rope with knots in it to pull up the swim ladder.

The things Ancil heartily encouraged me (and tirelessly helped me) to fix in the off-season:

  • We pulled out every inch of the original (but significantly corroded) battery cables and replaced them with beefier, brand-spankin’ new cabling, all nicely heat-shrinked, from the battery bank to the panel to the engine, inverter, etc.
  • Upgraded the boat trailer with new running lights, from hitch to taillights.
  • Pulled out two bent lifeline stanchions, straightened them, then properly re-bedded and reinstalled them.
  • Replaced all the lifelines on the boat.
  • Removed the cabin windows that were popping up (hey, 31 years is a pretty good run), re-glued them with 3M VHB tape, and scraped/re-caulked all the windows on the boat.
  • Completely rebuilt the Whale Galley Gusher pump with a new service kit (way, way harder and less intuitive than it sounds). First clue: The schematic they provide was way too low-rez to be helpful, and nothing on YouTube™ showed how to do it properly. Even the factory’s customer service lady gave us the wrong instructions. In the end, I had to call on Perplexity.ai to finally spit out the right way to do it.
  • While the icebox pump was out, I sanded, cleaned and re-fiberglassed the area under the stove with a couple layers of cloth. Turned out great. 
  • Also laid in some fiberglass cloth and epoxy on the stern shower fixture door, which had cracked with age. It looks pretty good now with a little gel coat added.
  • Replaced every seacock on the boat with new Forespar® Marelon™ seacocks. This took a ton of work because the handles don’t come off of the new ones, so you have to grind out the cabinetry in the tight spaces so you can screw the new seacocks onto the thru-hulls.
  • Replaced the cheap CDI plastic furling drum cover that broke after only two seasons (are you listenin’, CDI?) with a proper metal replacement drum cover which should have been standard issue to begin with. (Replacing this was a major pain).
  • Since the mast was down on sawhorses, we took the opportunity to service it from tip to base, checking the sheaves, fasteners, spreaders, boots, wiring, lights, etc. Ancil rigged a gypsum-board lifter to help get the 200-lb. mast back up on the boat. Thank you, Ancil!
  • Checked the steering cables looking for fishhooks (there weren’t any — whew!).
  • Tried to remove the pinkish stain around the port-side Splendido logo that happened the winter we kept the boat on the hard up at Obexer’s. Tried four or five coats of oxalic acid, several fiberglass cleaning products, Soft Scrub … nothing worked. At best, I got it to lighten maybe 15% or so. Dang.
  • Applied gel coat to nicks on the transom and elsewhere in the cabin, then wet-sanded it and polished it up.
  • Removed all the original curtains in the boat, soaked them in OxyClean and mild washing soap, re-sewed the hook-and-loop parts that had come undone, and re-attached them. They look great.
  • Removed old epoxy spills in the cabin and on deck.
  • Used 3M 4200 to glue down the bilge pump and float switch in bilge. Also, finally wired the bilge pump properly to the panel so it operates automatically and manually as well.
  • Touched up the bottom paint with blue Total Boat Krypton.
  • Put 4-5 coats of PolyGlo (amazing stuff!) on the hull, and now she looks great.

I never did get around to making a better swim ladder rope.

After some rest, I’m looking forward to a relaxing summer of fair winds and smooth sailing! DB