East Shore Cruise to Secret Harbor

On August 23, 2014October 4, 2014 By David BranbyIn Food & Drink, On The Water, Ports Of Call1 Comment

Last Saturday morning, Debbie and I set our sights on a 12-mile motor across the lake to check out the east shore. As we clambered down to the dinghy, we heard shouts from out in the buoy field … it was Debbie’s brother Tracy, his wife Carol, and our niece Kelsie, who were just starting out on a day of rum running from north shore to south shore and back again in their ski boat. Debbie and I rowed out and we rafted up Splendido with Tracy’s ski boat, and the crew enjoyed Mimosas and caught up on the latest family news while I got Splendido ready for the crossing.

Kelsie was expecting a phone call from her boyfriend, who had been camping in Desolation Wilderness, so until the call came for them to go south and pick him up for the rum run, I climbed over the rail to check out Tracy’s ski boat, and Carol and Kelsie climbed aboard Splendido to hang out with Debbie.

The phone call from the boyfriend came in, and in a few moments, the ski boat was headed south, and Debbie and I finished our prep and unhooked for our voyage. The lake was like a millpond for the motor across, and the trusty Perkins pushed Splendido along at 4.6 knots while we relaxed and chatted about the week. Two and half hours later, Secret Harbor hove into view, and we began looking for a suitable spot to drop the hook and go for a swim. The beaches were pretty crowded, and fields of black underwater boulders made navigating a bit of a challenge, so we stayed offshore about 200 yards, dropped two anchors into the sugar-white sand about 20 feet below, and went for a swim.

Afterwards, as we were eating some really tasty Caprese sandwiches with heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella buffala, avocado and a yummy aioli on crusty ciabatta bread, we were suprised to see a 9-ft. RIB coming our way with a couple aboard. “Ahoy,” they hailed, and pulled alongside to introduce themselves. The friendly folks were Cap’n John and his mate Gina from the 1980 Catalina 30, Celestia, sailing out of North Tahoe Marina. Evidently, Cap’n John offers sailing charters aboard Celestia, and Gina is a wedding photographer. Debbie and Gina talked shop, caterer to wedding photographer, and John and I talked about the recent monsoon weather and the idiosyncrasies of Tahoe sailing. After a quick tour of Splendido, I offered our guests some wine, but they needed to get back, so we bid them a great day on the water, and cast off ourselves for the sail back to the west shore.

Winds were quite light, so we motor-sailed south for a few miles, then tacked and headed for Carnelian Bay. About 4:40 p.m., some sweet WSW winds kicked in, so we kept the motor on but were soon hitting 6 knots. We made our way just to the lee of Dollar Point, and then tacked southwest again, aiming for Eagle Rock, which is my icon for getting home.

As we drew closer, the wind backed off a bit, so we just enjoyed the view of Sugar Pine Point and the mountains beyond.

The sun dropped behind the mountains and we dropped sails and motored the rest of the way to our mooring ball. Debbie needed to get back home, but I decided to sleep aboard, as my friend Michael was coming up Sunday morning for a run down to Emerald Bay. Debbie grabbed her stuff, and I rowed her into shore.

After seeing her off, I rowed back out, had a hot shower on the transom, ate a sandwich, and went to bed. Surprisingly,Splendido was quiet all night, not rubbing up against the mooring ball or bumping against the dinghy, so I slept well. In the morning, I motored down to Obexer’s and had one of their delicious Harbormaster breakfast burritos, with sausage and curry, a huge beaker of black coffee, and also bought some water and ice to stock the boat for another fun day on the water.

Fair winds and smooth sailing! DB

Sailing to Support Reno Chamber Orchestra

On August 18, 2013August 18, 2013 By David BranbyIn Food & Drink, On The Water, SplendidoLeave a comment

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

Cruising Tahoe Wooden Boat Weekend with the Shrivers

On August 11, 2013August 11, 2013 By David BranbyIn Food & Drink, Mechanical Stuff, On The Water, SplendidoLeave a comment

Debbie and I pulled Splendido up to the dock around 3 p.m. yesterday to await the arrival of our guests, Bob and Pam Shriver of Reno. As we gussied up the boat below decks, I was startled to feel a jarring “thunk thunk thunk” as some swells from a passing speedboat caused Splendido to smack her keel against the rocks about a foot below. I quickly “beat feet” above decks and pushed the boat back about 10 feet so there was a little more room beneath her keel. Clearly, the lake level has dropped from where it was just a few weeks ago, and the reminder of my mistake can be seen by the blue bottom paint on the rocks just off the pier. I put on my goggles and jumped overboard, swimming down to inspect the keel on both sides. Nothing major to report–luckily–except a little chipped bottom paint. I ran my hands over the keel bottom and everything seemed OK, then did the same thing along the keel-hull interface. I was a bit rattled by the experience, but that seems to be a weekly occurence when owning a sailboat.

Bob and Pam arrived and we shoved off. Winds were light and very shifty, so we headed north to Dollar Point, hoping to see some of the classic wooden boats celebrating the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance at Sierra Boat Works in Carnelian Bay. We were thrilled to see a number of beautiful woodies, including the famous Thunderbird of Thunderbird Lodge fame.

The winds were so twitchy–swinging wildly from WNW to S–that I decided to tack right off Dollar Point, rather than go deeper into Carnelian Bay with all its boat traffic. It was 5 p.m. at that point, and I figured it would take a couple of hours to get back, tidy up, and get dinner going. The winds picked up considerably on the ride home, so Debbie drove while I manned the mainsheet. My rule of thumb with guests onboard is to keep the boat relatively flat and comfortable, so it was a bit of work to get upwind in the face of some pretty good gusts. We had spray coming over the bow from time to time, but we managed to stay dry and sailed over to within view of Obexer’s, then tacked back toward home. Because the gusts were getting a bit hairier, I had Debbie fire up the engine and motor into the wind while I did my best to flake the sail over the boom. After finally getting her buttoned up, we tied up to the dock and sat down for some amazing ribs and fresh corn salad, courtesy of Bob and Pam, while Debbie served up a rich, fruity Zinfandel. Afterwards, she broke out a fresh Marionberry pie with a wonderfully flaky crust. I sat back and could’ve fallen asleep in the cockpit, exhausted but fulfilled after a fun afternoon on the water. The winds died down completely; Tahoe’s skies took on their rosy hue, and we bid our guests a safe trip back to Reno. I shooed Debbie off the boat with our bags and baggage, as it was getting dark fast, and I was a bit concerned about finding the buoy without a deck light to guide me (still haven’t replaced that #@&! bulb!). But, I just took it slow and got the line on the first try while Debbie watched from shore. I went through my security checklist one more time (Seacocks closed? Check. Head pumped dry? Check. Boathook put away? Check.), turned out the lights, and rowed the dinghy in the blackness toward shore.

Next weekend, I’m hosting some folks who won the “afternoon sail aboard Splendido” silent auction at Reno Chamber Orchestra’s 2013 Derby Day celebration…which means I’ve got a couple dozen things I need to do to make the boat pretty. Nothing like a hard deadline to inspire massive action!

Fair winds and smooth sailing! DB

Classic Tahoe Sailing With Michael Salley

On June 23, 2013July 30, 2013 By David BranbyIn Food & Drink, On The Water, SplendidoLeave a comment

Last Wednesday afternoon, I had the opportunity to take a half-day off and so invited my dear friend Michael Salley out for a sail on Splendido. We loaded up the gear at 1 p.m. and arrived at the boat at 2 p.m., spending the time in the car catching up. Michael is the CEO of International Lining Technology and was my very first client when I opened my ad agency in 2003. He’s also an enthusiastic waterman and lover of sailing, so it was a pleasure to have him out on the boat. Winds were predicted in the 10-12 kt. range, but we were happily surprised to find them in the 15-20 range all afternoon. Our floatplan took us south of Sugar Pine Point and then north to Tahoe City, where we watched the “big boys” play at racing the Wednesday night beer can races.

The big adventure on this sail was actually getting to the boat. The Walker Bay dinghy is only rated at 360 pounds for two people, or 425 lbs. for passengers, outboard motor and gear. Since it was flat water when we arrived and we both had PFDs on, we distributed our weight and gear and I rowed “backwards” toward Splendido. It took a bit of gymnastics to get from the dinghy to the sailboat, but we managed unscathed and quickly got our gear stowed, the Perkins Perama diesel running, and the sail cover off to start our voyage.

Michael brought along a whole bag of goodies to eat and drink, including cheese and crackers, beef jerky, cow elk smokies, and a huge bag of salt-and-pepper pistachios that I spilled all over the cockpit (but didn’t waste a one!) Washed it down with my classic Old Milwaukee N/A “red beer.” Life is good!

Here’s the video clip: