Category: Commissioning & De-commissioning

The triumphs, trials, and tribulations of launching or hauling out a 1993 Catalina 270, who has sailed her entire life for five or more months a year on Lake Tahoe at 6,229 ft. in elevation, and who lives 38 miles away and 1,730 ft. lower in Reno, Nevada during the long winter in the Sierra Nevada.

The Labor Of Love, And A Launch For 2017

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

I have to laugh when I think of the popular view of sailing as a leisure activity for folks who wear ascots or sport Hermes handbags. It may be that way for some, but for those of us “Good Old Boat” lovers, it’s literally a labor of love. (By this, I really mean lots of hard, physically and sometimes mentally demanding work.) This year, I will be the first to admit that I was overly ambitious with winter/spring/early summer commissioning, putting in well over 100 hours of time attacking the following projects:

  • Sand entire bottom to remove flaky old hard Pettit Trinidad paint
  • Repaint hull with Total Boat Krypton ablative antifouling
  • Remove all original instruments (wind, speed, and depth) and wiring
  • Replace with all new Raytheon wireless wind, speed, and depth, and rewire nav sender
  • Discover – to my horror – significant cracks in the stringers athwartships in the bilge area
  • Grind out said cracks to see how extensive they were
  • Abandon all hope of self-repair and take the boat to Ted Thurston at TNT Auto & Marine for some serious fiberglass work, including on the transom from last year’s piling knock
  • Check and repair/replace lighting (swapping out old lighting to new LEDs), which involved soldering (which I am not the most skilled at doing!)
  • Replace and rewire fuel tank sender unit, as the old one was on the fritz and we were judging fuel levels by estimating engine hours-to-gallons (not very accurate, esp. motor-sailing)
  • Install a new mainsail, new lazy jacks, new lazy bag system
  • Reconfigure the 1997 Hood Sea Furl furling headstay, replace broken centering assembly, adjust length while the rig is standing (a major, major PITA requiring two stout men to do it)
  • Replace punctured (due to age/dry climate) Whale Gusher Urchin diaphragm
  • Replace all the locker elbow latches inside the boat
  • Replace the Shurflo twist-on pipe strainer on the water pump under the sink
  • Repair flag holder assembly that had worked loose on the stern of the boat
  • Replaced worn-out oar locks on our Walker Bay dinghy
  • Re-veneer woodwork in the salon that was damaged from some water infiltration (thanks to dried-out porthole seals) due to our 2x-normal wet winter (and yes, I need to replace those seals!)
  • Clean up edges of bottom paint along the boot stripe by hand, with acetone and a rag
  • Wash hull twice, wax with cleaner wax, and polish to a gleaming shine

Long story short, I am exhausted; my entire body is sore from the effort, but I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished. A million thanks to my brother-in-law Tracy, the engineer, whose brilliant mind and ability to trouble-shoot almost anything mechanical never ceases to amaze me; to my friend Michael Salley for letting me use his industrial yard to work on the boat this spring; and extra-special thanks to Debbie, to whom I gave two bouquets of flowers on the eve of launch day this year – the first bouquet for putting up with me for being a cranky bastard for the past four months, and the second bouquet as a hedge against my being a cranky bastard in the future.

The good news, though, the boat is finally in the water at Tahoe, and sailable as of last night, June 24, at 6 p.m. It’s the latest start we’ve ever had. There is still some fine-tuning to do on the lazy jacks and lazy bag, but she looks good; I feel confident that all systems are working great; and I can’t wait to actually sail her and enjoy the feeling of gliding across the water to our favorite gunkholes around the lake. To summer and sailing Lake Tahoe!

Fair winds and smooth sailing. DB

 

Launched! 2016 Sailing Season, Here We Go!

On By David BranbyIn Commissioning & De-commissioning2 Comments

IMG_1931Sailing is a year-round sport, even in a place where you can only sail five or six months a year. That is the essential truth I learned this year. It was a lesson learned the hard way: by putting off all the crap I should have done over the late fall and winter months, I set myself up for some heartburn this spring when it came time to commission Splendido for summer. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that the 32 items on my Kanban list (that’s my favorite new tool for project management … learned from watching Eric Brechner’s excellent video a few months ago) included rewiring the entire length of the boat trying to fix the depth gauge (only to find out it didn’t work) and snaking the entire length of the mast to check the wiring on the anemometer (that didn’t work, either). My highlight on launch day (May 31st this year) was gingerly moving the boat around a very tight marina and thinking she was in neutral when she was actually in reverse, and banging the sugar scoop transom on a piling. With my wild imagination, I thought the boat was going to sink right there and block the narrow entrance to Obexer’s marina. The reality was, my pride was hurt much more than Splendido — she suffered the slightest 3/4″ chip in her gel coat, dead center on the stern, and a very thorough inspection above and below decks showed she was unscathed, and that it was time to grab the gel coat repair kit for a touch-up. Still, I was embarrassed, mainly because brother-in-law Tracy and a few other folks were standing on the docks above watching the whole thing unfold.

On Saturday, June 4th, Debbie and I headed up to the lake early and spent the morning and early afternoon fine-tuning all the running rigging and doing tedious things like zip-tying the turnbuckles and lifelines. We were able to get out for an evening sail, and it was magical. The winds were warm and light, so we spent a few hours sitting back and just enjoying being out on the water again.

Four days later, I heard that it was going to start getting really windy at Tahoe, so I drove up after work to check on the boat and its mooring lines, and decided to go for a bit of a sail. Here it is, in amazingly low-resolution video, for your viewing pleasure:

 

https://youtu.be/aRwsUdENX6Y?rel=0

Anyway, we’re excited to get out as much as possible this summer. More when it happens!

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

andy-gear

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.

onthehook

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.

tahoe-sail

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.

northbound

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.

andywatch

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.

andyhelm

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

Coming Soon

On By David BranbyIn Commissioning & De-commissioning, SplendidoLeave a comment

bareboat14

The lake is low from a droughty winter, but we’re excited nonetheless to get back out on the water and enjoy Lake Tahoe this summer. Last Saturday night, our informal Big Blue Tahoe Yacht Club got together for a Hawaiian luau we called a “Pineapple Express Party” to ask the weather gods for rain and snow and runoff to fill our beloved lake. I’m looking forward to capturing it all here in words and photos. Until then, fair winds and smooth sailing! DB

Ready to Sail 2014

On By David BranbyIn Commissioning & De-commissioning, Keeping Up Appearances, On The WaterLeave a comment

Load-in 2014 Load-in 2014 II Fully loaded 2014I woke up at 4:58 a.m. today, excited to hit the road and get Splendido loaded for sailing season. Thirteen hours later, I am back home, bone-weary, and ready to hit the hay. All that’s left to do is install the UV zip-ties on all the turnbuckles and lifelines, and we’re good to go.

The obvious issue this year is how low the water is; I was at the very end of the dock, and I was pretty nervous that I’d be painting the rocks with the keel. Didn’t happen, but I imagine this will be the last time I even get near that particular dock this summer.

Load-in wasn’t that hard; it was just time-consuming. It still needs Debbie’s touch to give it orderliness and style. I was just content to get everything in and stowed quickly, and get back out to the buoy before the waterski boats started creating chop that would surely bang the keel on the rocks below.

At the end of the day, she looks pretty good. Everything works; all the wood is in; and what was really remarkable to me is that the Perkins Perama just fires up nicely every time. Can’t wait to get out and sail…probably next weekend will be the season opener. Until then, fair winds and smooth sailing! DB

Squeezing Every Last Bit Out Of The Sailing Season At Tahoe

On By David BranbyIn Commissioning & De-commissioning, Keeping Up Appearances, Mechanical Stuff, On The Water, Splendido3 Comments

last-boat-2013The weather in the Sierra Nevada has been absolutely spectacular for the last three weeks or so; high pressure locked in, the leaves on the aspens and cottonwoods ablaze with color, and a breathtaking stillness that makes Tahoe flat as a millpond with virtually no wind. The lake level had dropped significantly over the past month, so my springtime plan to offload the boat using the Skyland pier fell by the wayside, as there was no hope of getting anywhere near it, much less to tie up and unload. I called on Obexer’s to arrange the haul-out, which we scheduled for Tuesday, October 22. I went up on the 20th for a final sail, but there wasn’t much wind and I just made a nice motor-sail day out of it. Mike Bryant came along for company and we spent the balmy afternoon putting up to Tahoe City to take in the fall color.

The next day, I drove up once again to take the boat down to Obexer’s for offloading. The logistics of the offloading were a bit like an athletic event: I had to drive the van up, drop it off at Obexer’s, pull out my bicycle and ride it two miles north to where Splendido was moored, row out with the bicycle in the dinghy, unfasten the mooring line from the buoy itself, tie off the dinghy to the back of Splendido, and then motor down to Obexer’s. It was all a bit of sprint, because I had to get everything done, be back in Reno by 4:30 p.m. for a short nap and then go to my statistics class in the MBA program from 7 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Fortunately, when I arrived at Obexer’s, they let me pull into a vacant slip, where I proceeded to empty the boat of every last item, from cushions to glassware and sunscreen, and transfer it all into one of Debbie’s catering vans. Luckily, I had borrowed the big Safari van, and filled every inch of it. That made me think that the boat could probably add a knot or two to its top speed if only it wasn’t so laden with creature comforts. But, after thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided that it was all worth it if it kept Debbie happy and sailing with me.

This summer, I paid particular attention to making sure I was staying hydrated, because at 6,239 ft. elevation, it just wicks it out of you. I would find myself dry-eyed and unusually weary and headachy after being out on the water for four or five hours, and I attribute it to dehydration. So, on my offload day, I packed in a cool gallon of spring water and drank from it often and deeply. At about 2 p.m., I had everything off the boat except the sails and boom, so I attacked that chore next and was surprised how quickly I got things bagged and put away. With that, I locked up the cabin, grabbed a delicious pulled pork sandwich at Obexer’s General Store, and headed home.

Tuesday morning, I met my brother-in-law Tracy at his house, and we drove over to Kro-bilt trailer repair in Sparks to pick up the trailer. I haven’t written a lot about that trailer, but one thing we noticed over the years was that it didn’t fit the boat particularly well, and the stress was showing on both the trailer and on the boat. The uprights were holding the boat like tongs hold a thick ribeye steak; “squeezing” the boat rather than supporting it from underneath. This resulted in stress cracks in the uprights (as well as visible signs of them “splaying” outward), and it was putting dimples in the hull of the boat over the winter months. So, I got online and looked at all the latest sailboat trailer sites, and put together a plan to rebuild the whole dang trailer. I ordered six new boat stand and pads from Brownell’s, and had the Kro-bilt crew grind off all the old uprights, moving everything in 6-8 inches and replacing the old uprights with beefy Schedule 80 tubes and square-tubing supports. Now, the thing is sturdy as an aircraft carrier, much to my relief and Tracy’s, too. After all, Tracy is the one guy generous enough to haul the trailer with his huge Ford diesel truck because he takes great joy in anything mechanical–although the janky trailer was causing him a bit of heartburn all the same. At any rate, the Obexer’s crew was ready for us Tuesday morning, and it was a smooth process from unstepping the mast all the way through strapping the boat down and driving away. Of all the many moving parts involved in hauling a sailboat, the one slight mishap was that we left the dinghy in the harbor and didn’t realize it until we parked the trailer down in Reno. A quick phone call to Obexer’s confirmed that they had noticed it and locked it up until next weekend when I could manage to get back up there to retrieve it.

All in all, a pleasant season that ended well. I’ll post again with a photographic recap, but until I do, fair winds and smooth sailing! DB

Big T & Big D 10-21-13

 

 

Is This The End Of Our Sailing Season?

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

failed-seacockLast Saturday, Debbie and I finished up our long list of chores around the house and snuck up to Tahoe to go for a relaxing sail. While she got out the cockpit cushions and prettied up the topsides, I went below to add water to the Perkins and to open the engine cooling inlet. Snap! The handle sheared off in my hand. It was one of those “Whoa! Can I hit rewind?” moments, as I realized the ramifications: I’d have to haul out the boat ($250), replace the seacock ($45), hope that the existing thru-hull was still viable, and drop the boat back in (would they charge me another $250?), plus $85/hr. for the guy helping with the repairs.

Disappointed, we packed up our gear and rowed the dinghy back to shore. The 40-mile drive  home was a quiet one, to say the least. In the back of my mind, I was thinking about the sailboat trailer welding modifications that I needed to make, and had been saving my pennies for this summer.

The next day, Labor Day, the family came over for BBQ ribs, and we talked about what had happened and what to do. Brother-in-law Tracy (the engineer) wondered aloud whether we could just put a wine cork in the inlet from beneath the boat, swap out the old seacock with a new one, and call it good. I floated this idea by the guys on Yahoo!’s Catalina 270 forum, with pretty much universal condemnation. What if the thru-hull exploded? What if the cork popped out?

Debbie called a guy named Brian at Obexer’s Marina and he suggested a “short haul” where we’d just lift the boat out of the water so the hull was clear, make the seacock swap, and call it good. That is, unless the thru-hull exploded (although I’m not sure why it would), at which point, we’ve have to totally pull the boat out, put it on boat stands, remove the old thru-hull, let the hull dry, re-install the thru-hull, etc. My anxiety level has been rising as I see dollar signs and a limited window of fair winds and smooth sailing for the remainder of the 2013 season.   —DB

A Work Day That Turned Into A Sailing Day

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

Debbie aboard Splendido, her 1993 Catalina 270, at Lake Tahoe.
Saturday morning, Debbie and I got up early and had a bunch of chores to do around the yard, including planting a pine tree, moving several other shrubs and replanting them, watering, and general yard clean-up. The day broke clear and bright, and it didn’t take long to work up a sweat. Around noon, we took a breather and contemplated just staying home and continuing on with our chores, or heading up to do some housekeeping on the boat. (Guess which one appealed more!)

We loaded up the oars, tools, drill, and drinks and headed up the Mount Rose Highway toward Tahoe. We stopped by the 7-Eleven in Carnelian Bay for a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and a bag of ice. The Cool Ranch Doritos are kind of a summer thing for us…we enjoy them once a year, and they remind of us of the brilliant but brief summer season at Tahoe. We were curious how much traffic we’d find in Tahoe City, as the cars started backing up at about Dollar Point, but things moved smoothly, and before we knew it, we were headed south on 89 to Homewood where Splendido was bobbing peacefully, and where there were a number of good places to park along the beach.

The main thrust of the day’s trip was for Debbie to give Splendido the woman’s touch in the cabin, as I had stowed most of the household goods but was a bit confused as to where everything really belonged (this is true at home as well. Must be a guy thing.) She wanted to get everything squared away because we had invited her sister Krista and brother-in-law Matt out for a sail next Thursday, so time was of the essence. When she finished up with her tidying and stowing, I got busy with the drill and the seat benches. They are held to the hull with stainless-steel screws, but these screws have been in and out so many times, they had worn bigger holes, so there was no “purchase” any longer. I modified some of those drywall plastic expander deals by clipping off the ends and then screwing the screws into them. It was a perfect solution; the screws now hold the boards in rock-solid, the fiberglass is intact and protected from splintering; and God forbid if the boat ever flipped, everything would stay in place.

Debbie got a little woozy working down below because of the all the ski boat chop, so when I came up for air, she was nearly asleep on the pillows in the cockpit, hat pulled low over her eyes. The boat was looking pretty “showroom” at this point, so we agreed that a little sail would provide a nice change from the chop. The forecast was for light winds in the 10-12 kt. range, but the winds freshened a bit when we were out on the water, so I reduced the jib to about 60 percent and pulled the traveler high to the windward side to twist off the not-infrequent gusts. It was a comfortable and fast combination. As we neared Sugar Pine Point, we decided to tack upwind to Obexer’s for a pump-out, as we were getting the occasional earthy wafting from the head. Alas, when we arrived at Obexer’s at about 5:30 p.m., the pump station had been locked up for the night. The young man on the dock advised us to come back in the morning, so we glided on and motored the mile or so up the west shore to our buoy. With our little Perkins Perama gurgling and pushing us along at 4 kts., we were able to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery along the west shore. We had used a fair amount of electricity with the CD player and the cabin lights and the water pump running, so this gave us a chance to recharge the batteries, too.
David sailing Splendido, the 1993 Catalina 270, at Lake Tahoe, June 22, 2013

Back on the hook, I laid down for a mini-nap in the cockpit while Debbie enjoyed a glass of Chardonnay. The corner of the lake where we find ourselves this year is very peaceful and visually stunning. I was tempted to stay the night aboard, but we felt the pull of our two cats at home, and we wanted to see the Supermoon rise from the Tahoe Meadows on our way back to Reno. I must’ve read the time wrong in the paper, but the giant moon popped up over Slide Mountain as we were enjoying fish tacos at our new favorite casual joint, El Sancho in Tahoe Vista. The perigee moon is apparently 13 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than its counterpart, the apogee moon, and it looked it. It was so bright, in fact, that driving home, I had to avert my eyes to avoid seeing spots. All in all, it was a wonderful though tiring day, and we both slept like rocks. Can’t wait until our next sail this Thursday!
DSC_0157
Fair winds and smooth sailing! DB

Loading In & Fitting Out

On By David BranbyIn Commissioning & De-commissioning1 Comment

load-in

Last Saturday (June 8th), Debbie was out of town so I rose early and took care of all my “honey-dos” so I could get up to the lake and load Splendido with the cushions, housewares, sheets, blankets, and fleece stuff to keep everybody comfortable out on the water. I borrowed Debbie’s “princess van” from The Cheese Board and loaded up all the stuff that was in our garage (after rinsing and drying everything…amazing how dusty everything got sitting in the garage for over a year). One thing I’m really grateful for is the neat set-up we were able to find renting a private buoy near Hurricane Bay. The folks we rented from have access to a private pier with a passcode that is a straight shot from where you can park. It was actually an easier load-in than when we were at the marina before.

The day was not without incident. When I rowed the Walker Bay dinghy out to Splendido, I almost swamped it. What a damn tippy thing that dinghy is! I was holding onto the swim ladder on the sailboat and made a move to step from the dinghy to the sailboat, and under went the gunwale and filled the dinghy about four inches deep in the startling brief amount of time it took me to sit back down. (That’s one reason why I wear a life preserver even when rowing out.) After a few deep breaths, I was able to safely step on to Splendido and get her ready to take over to the pier.

The whole “Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats” quote from Wind in the Willows is wonderfully true. Even though it took four or five hours to load in and stow all the stuff, the time flew by. Some of the local residents stopped by for a bracing plunge off the pier (the water temp was 64 degrees) and we’d end up chatting about life at Tahoe and how beautiful it is. I took three plunges myself over the course of the day…I’m a bit of a polar bear anyway, and the water was a great way to cool off.

After getting everything aboard (though not stowed…a lot of the stowing of the household items is a bit of a mystery to me; I don’t know where Debbie puts it or seems to make it disappear until needed (there’s not that much storage on a Catalina 270, frankly)), I motored back over to the buoy and put her on the hook. I turned on the cabin lights and the anchor light, then rowed in to go find something to eat after a long day. I ended up going to Westside Pizza (nice folks there), downed a personal pizza and some big glasses of water, then headed back. It was a bit eerie rowing out in the dark, but I managed without incident and then decided to try sleeping up front in the V-berth. I’d like to say I fell asleep instantly (I was that tired) but it took a while to get used to the boat bumping up against the buoy (boom!) or hearing the dinghy touch up against the hull at the other end (a more muffled boom).

Morning Aboard

When I woke up, I was a bit appalled at the mess of stuff that still needed to be stowed, but my craving for hot coffee (the one thing I forgot to plan ahead for) inspired me to fire her up and head about a mile north to Sunnyside in search of java. The lake was like a millpond, and the early-morning beauty as I motored along at 3.8 knots was thrilling. I tied up at Sunnyside, but there was no coffee to be had, so they directed me to stroll across the street to the Fire Sign café, where I had three cups and a bagel with cream cheese. The nice receptionist gal at Sunnyside said I could come up anytime for an end-tie on their public dock and step in for lunch. I’m planning on it!

june-9-13
Fair winds and smooth sailing, DB

A Fond Farewell To Our First Season Sailing Lake Tahoe

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

Today is the day we pull Splendido out of Lake Tahoe and put her on her trailer for her winter rest. As I write this, I’m having my first cup of steaming hot Blind Dog Nevada Black coffee and reflecting on the season.

All in all, I think we did pretty well in our first season as “real” sailboat owners. The first challenge was communicating well…I have a tendency to get a little snappy, barking out orders when stressed, which is tough on my first mate (and also bad form in general), so I had to learn to relax, speak clearly and precisely, and do a better job of seeing the bigger picture. We came up with our own “everybody’s having fun, or we head back” rule, which helps us remember that the #1 point of all this is to enjoy the experience. I screwed that up a bit last Saturday night, when I suggested we stay the night on Splendido in a slip at Tahoe City Marina: It was 27 degrees out, and I forgot our little electric space heater at home. We were OK sleeping under the thick comforter, but when we woke up, you could see your breath, and the entire inside of the boat was dripping from condensation. Debbie opted to stay in bed until the coffee was made, but even then, I doubt the cabin warmed up to more than 40 degrees. After having a great breakfast at nearby Sawtooth Cafe, it had warmed up enough to tackle the big chore of the weekend: stripping the boat of everything in preparation for taking her down to Reno. While Debbie loaded up the bins with all the “household” items below, I set to work on taking off the sails, stripping the rigging, and removing the boom. It took about 5-1/2 hours, all told. We loaded up the bins and cushions in Debbie’s catering van, drove home, and neatly stowed everything in the empty garage bay we’d cleaned out the week before.

Last night, brother-in-law Tracy and I worked on the trailer, rebuilding all four of the drum brakes and replacing the wheel cylinders so she hopefully wouldn’t “buck” on our drive down the mountain and back to Reno. On our “test drive” about 9:15 p.m., everything seemed to be working OK.

On the morning of October 11, our haul-out went flawlessly. The trailer worked like a charm, with no bucking whatsoever, and Steve Diel and the crew from Tahoe City Marina were fabulous, helping us to move Splendido about five inches further forward on the trailer than we had done last year, in order to put more weight on the tongue. Tracy and I double-checked all the straps and tie-downs, and had a good lunch at Sawtooth Cafe before motoring down to Reno. We parked Splendido in front of my house for the final washing, polishing, winterizing, and small repairs I’ll do before taking her to storage. I intend to sand, stain, and varnish all the remaining interior woodwork, finish installing the new bilge pump and float switch, and a dozen or so other details over the next seven months. Can’t wait ’til spring…you can see it in my expression, below.

When I stop to reflect on the lessons I’ve learned in our first year of sailboat ownership, the one thing that stands out is the new confidence we’ve both developed around identifying a challenge, considering the options, and selecting the right course of action. This sequence of events  happened time and time again over our short sailing season, from learning how to anchor properly overnight to dealing with an engine failure on a light-wind day to learning proper sail trim to deal with Tahoe’s gusty conditions to developing a Zen mindset to deal with sometimes uncourteous powerboaters (and the occasional sailor, too). It was a surprise to me how taxing sailing can be on the body. Debbie and I would both return home exhausted from a “relaxing day on the water.” Two days, even more so! One of the casualties of sailing this summer was my left elbow: I developed a case of medial epicondylitis because I was using my left arm as a sort of “shock absorber” when tending the mainsheet while Debbie was driving. The condition is also known as “golfer’s elbow,” and is basically an inflammation of the attachment points at the elbow. I have to wear a brace through mid-December to “rest” the elbow so it will heal. Mentally, though, was where we both reaped the benefits of our time on the water. Just being around water helped us both to relax and release the strain of running our four businesses. For the first time in our 20 years together, we were able to truly enjoy and feel a part of Lake Tahoe, just by being out on it, rather than relegated to viewing it from the shore. We were able to learn its moods, its winds, its weather, and a few of its secrets that we wouldn’t have learned about otherwise. I picked up two books of Tahoe tales from a used book store; now, some of the family and place names make more sense. I am beginning to understand why people flock here and relocate here and decide to make their lives here. Perhaps most importantly, we both felt that our summer on the water helped us to slow down a bit and be in the moment more. We stopped to check the weather forecasts, to gaze at the stars, to breathe more slowly and savor that sacred time, whether for an afternoon’s outing or a weekend boat camping trip. The coffee even tastes better up there. The book Saving Sailing, which I read earlier in the summer, suddenly made sense to me. We gave up our “500 channels of nothing to watch” cable TV contract, and put that money into our sailing fund. We got rid of a bunch of “stuff” that was cluttering our closets, our house, and our garage. Everything feels a bit lighter, a bit simpler, and a whole lot easier on mind and eye, and I suspect—in no small way—it had something to do with sailing Lake Tahoe aboat Splendido this season.

Fair winds and smooth sailing. DB