Season Opener Regatta on June 20th

On July 9, 2015 By David BranbyIn On The Water, SplendidoLeave a comment

I’ve mentioned in earlier posts that a bunch of us sailors who sail up and down the west shore (the best shore) of Lake Tahoe have formed a free social group called Big Blue Tahoe Yacht Club. We get together for lovely dinners, plan “for fun” regattas and sailing days, raft-ups, full moon sails, and other fun stuff. On June 20th, four or five boats went out for a “regatta”/sailing day, and here are some of the shots. Oh, and that last image? That’s the simple BBTYC burgee I designed. (Can’t have a yacht club without a burgee, right?) Fair winds and smooth sailing. DB

Planning A Lake Tahoe Circumnavigation with Jamie Filbin

On June 27, 2015 By David BranbyIn On The Water, Ports Of Call, Splendido2 Comments

Long-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.

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.

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.

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 June 16, 2015 By David BranbyIn Commissioning & De-commissioning, On The Water, Splendido2 Comments

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 April 15, 2015April 15, 2015 By David BranbyIn Commissioning & De-commissioning, SplendidoLeave a comment

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

New Man On The Water

On October 4, 2014 By David BranbyIn On The Water, Ports Of Call, SplendidoLeave a comment

I’m a bit behind here on my postings, but I wanted to take a moment to recognize a member of the next generation of sailors here in Northern Nevada … Max Coonrad. Max is the 16-year-old son of the executive chef for The Cheese Board American Bistro and Catering Company in Reno, which long-time readers will know as my wife’s Reno catering company. At any rate, I found out through the grapevine that Max went to stay with his grandmother in Woodside, California earlier this summer, and while he was down there, he took the 101, 103 and 104 ASA sailing courses and passed with flying colors. I love to see it when young people grab onto something and find a passion for it, so it was a great pleasure to have Max out on Splendido for a full afternoon of sailing and plying Tahoe’s blue waters.

When we first set out, we made a “milk run” up to Tahoe City Marina for a pump-out, which isn’t the most fun thing to do for a young sailor, but Debbie likes a clean-smelling boat, and I like to keep Debbie happy. The crew at TCM are so gracious and helpful — we were done in a jiffy, and after raiding the kitty for a handful of dollars to tip out the guys, we slowly motored out of the marina and headed south to — you guessed it — Sugar Pine State Park. Winds were light but steady, so I let Max do all the driving he wanted.

And, I gotta say, it was nice to relax and take in the view, which takes on a different flavor when you’re not having to pay particular attention to gusts or other boating traffic. A guy can even put his feet up and relax a bit.

After about four hours on the water, I could tell Max was a little tuckered from a game of paintball he’d participated in earlier in the day, so I took the helm and we headed northwest to our mooring near Eagle Rock.

I was really impressed with Max’s boat handling ability, familiarity with all the equipment on board, and sense of wind and weather. He’s a really bright kid with an equally bright future, and I know that having sailing as a part of his journey will only make it a richer and more enjoyable experience.

Fair winds and smooth sailing, Max!

Best Tahoe Swim ‘n’ Sail Day Ever?

On August 30, 2014 By David BranbyIn On The Water, Ports Of CallLeave a comment

Last Sunday, Debbie and I met Krista and Rachel up at the boat to enjoy a little R&R. Winds were predicted to be light, so we motored down to our new favorite gunkhole, dropped anchor, and spent several hours swimming around, lazing about, and eating.

The water temperature was about 67 degrees F., so not too warm, but not bad, either. As I like to say, “It’s a bit bracing at first, but you get used to it.” Splendido was anchored in about nine feet of water about 60 yards from shore, so we all took turns diving in and swimming to shore. The water near shore felt considerably warmer than the water out by the boat, so we spent a fair amount of time in the shallows doing handstands and cruising around looking for warm spots.

I swam back to warm up while the girls had fun talking and splashing around near shore.

The winds started to pipe up a bit around 4:40 p.m., so we had a yummy and relaxing picnic aboard before buttoning up everything and sailing back north.

Once we were out of the swirlie zone by Sugar Pine point, the wind freshened and we sailed at a solid six knots back north, as Debbie steered and Krista and Rachel and I moved around on the high side to keep Splendido on the best heel to maximize our speed. We encountered a few good gusts coming out of the canyons as the sun lowered in the sky, but nothing too worrying. I enjoyed sharing some lore about wind and water with Rachel and Krista on the way back. Later, as we put the boat on the hook, we all agreed it was one of our best days ever of sailing and savoring the pleasures of Lake Tahoe.

Fair winds and smooth sailing. DB

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

Perfect Sailing & A Swim In Our Own Quiet Cove

On August 3, 2014August 4, 2014 By David BranbyIn On The Water2 Comments

August is here (how did that happen?) and Debbie and I got up early and headed for the lake to play. The water is warm now — 68 to 70 degrees is what I’ve been seeing — and I was jonesing to go for a swim. We brought a picnic of hearty sandwiches, fruit, water, wine and N/A beer, and I reminded myself to stay hydrated, as Tahoe is so high and dry, it just wicks the moisture out of you. For me, that means fatigue and crankiness — something I’ve been working to improve because I’d really like to keep Debbie happily sailing with me.

Originally, we discussed motoring down to Camp Richardson on the very south shore of Lake Tahoe, but the miles and the time required were just too great to make a one-day trip out of it. There has also been a fair amount of conversation among our fellow yachties in the newly-formed Big Blue Tahoe Yacht Club that the entrance to Emerald Bay is too shallow to navigate with a five-foot draft, which is what we have on Splendido. Instead, we opted to head for a beautiful little spot at the south end of Sugar Pine State Park.

My friend Fred had told me about this particular spot, south of Ehrmann Mansion and not quite as far as Meeks Bay. The bottom is white sand. The water is Caribbean blue. And the anchoring is great, because there are very few rocks, and you can easily see the ones to avoid. We dropped the hook and immediately dove in for a swim. Afterwards, Debbie made lunch and we set up the beach umbrella, because keeping out of the direct sun has been a goal this year, particularly since I had a small bout with skin cancer earlier this year. (Thank goodness I’ve gotten checked every year since my twenties.) Our little hideaway was “hidden” in plain sight; at one point I counted 24 speedboats plying the waters about 1/2 mile away, but they didn’t really bother us, and, because of the rocks to the south of us, boats of all kinds gave us a wide berth as they zoomed south to D.L Bliss State Park and beyond.

About four in the afternoon, the winds started kicking up, so we cleaned up and got everything ship shape and motored north until we were out of the crazy vortex of winds that wrap around Sugar Pine. Once the sails were set, we decided to head to Tahoe City for a pump-out. The breezes were wonderful, and Debbie and I worked as a skilled team, averaging a hair under six knots the whole way up to Tahoe City. When we arrived, the gas dock was empty, so we glided in, pumped out, and were on our way in less than 10 minutes. The sail south to our mooring ball was equally fun, and Splendido just danced across the water. I was working on good communication, and Debbie was doing a terrific job working the mainsheet by “feel,” letting a little out when the gusts hit, and tightening up a nice draft on the main when the wind was consistent. Even hooking the mooring ball was easy; we turned off the sound system, reviewed our hand signals, and when I spoke, I made sure not to speak away from her, which I had been doing before, much to my chagrin. Afterwards, we stopped by a little place called El Sancho for street tacos and cold drinks, and then split an ice-cream cone from Mourelato’s Cable Car Ice Cream. The famous pinkish Tahoe glow settled over the High Sierra, and another day of summer fun was complete. I hope to have the chance for many more outings like this, starting this coming Wednesday when I get to take out my nieces, Kallyn and Rachel, and their mom (Debbie’s sister) Krista, for an afternoon sail aboard Splendido!

Fair winds and smooth sailing! DB

Fuel-polishing the 1993 Catalina 270

On July 27, 2014February 16, 2015 By David BranbyIn Mechanical StuffLeave a comment

Lots of great sailing on Tahoe this year, and more on that in future posts, but I want to take a moment to talk about polishing the fuel system on a 1993 Catalina 270. As I’ve chronicled before in other posts, I have had more than one “fuel starvation/I think it’s the filters clogging up” incident aboard Splendido. On July 2nd, I went out for a singlehanded sail, and since there was no wind, I ended up motoring out in the direction of Sugar Pine Point.

About 1/2 mile off the point — and about two miles from Obexer’s marina — the engine started to weaken and then just died. I drifted for a bit and re-started it, and was able to sort of poodle it back to Obexer’s, where it once again died, just close enough to coast into the guest dock.

Thinking it was clogged filters, I tied up and proceeded to change the secondary filter, as that was all I had on the boat, having just changed the primary filter in May. I was not happy, as you can see from this dockside selfie.

Luckily, my friend John Turner of the new Grand Cru was just wrapping up for the night, and he came by to help. Long story short, we couldn’t get her started, so he did a workaround that bypassed the primary fuel filter but not the secondary, and it fired right up. The workaround was made using the “straw” from a handsoap dispenser and a fair amount of electrician’s tape. Anyway, I needed to get back to our mooring ball about 1.5 miles to the north, so I set out under a darkening sky and hoped that our workaround would actually work. (It did.)

The challenge, of course, was motoring up the West Shore of Tahoe at night, hoping the engine wouldn’t quit, and planning what to do if it did.

All my anxiety was for nought; with the compass and GPS on my cell phone, I was able to cruise up the coastline and snagged the mooring ball on the first try. I rowed the dinghy back to shore, plotting a “permanent” fix for this irritating problem.

To back up a bit, I realized in April that I had forgotten to top off the diesel tank over the winter, as this prevents condensation from forming in the tank, which then sinks beneath the diesel fuel. In this fuel/water interface, microscopic fungi, yeast, and bacteria — up to 27 different kinds of bacteria, in fact — can grow, creating organic matter and sludge that clogs fuel filters. So, when the engine started making sounds of fuel starvation, I naturally thought that this is what happened.

So, I pulled out my September/October 2012 issue of Good Old Boat magazine, as I remembered an article by David Lynn that showed how to make a simple fuel-polishing system from a good filter, a simple fuel pump, some wire leads, hose, a switch, and a wand to stick in the tank. With a lot of generous assistance from my friend Michael Salley, the final product looked like this:

Oddly, I decided to go up early on July 4th, hoping to polish the fuel and get everything running like a top so Debbie could come up and join me on the boat and we would watch fireworks together that night. Or, as Debbie likes to say, “from your mouth to God’s ear.” I fired up the fuel polisher and hooked it up to the end of the gravity-fed fuel line that goes into the primary fuel filter. It took nearly three hours to process the first gallon of fuel, which I hoped to decant into three 5-gallon buckets (the ’93 Catalina 270 has a 14-gallon fuel tank). It was taking so long, I thought something else must be going on.

I opened up as much access as I could to the fuel tank, only to find that there are no large circular plates to unscrew so you can get inside the tank and wipe out the sludge that’s left over (like it showed in the magazine article); in fact, there was only a couple of places you could reach with tools, so I attacked the fuel outlet fitting. With a couple of turns of a wrench, I was able to pull out a 9-inch “straw” or “wand” that went down into the tank through about a quarter-sized hole. I unscrewed the wand from the fitting, and, on a hunch, blew through it. Hardly any air went through it. It was packed full of something. Wiping it down with a rag, I unscrewed the wand from the 90-degree fitting, and lo and behold, there was a bunch of degraded black webby filter material that had gotten sucked up into the wand and stuck in the 90-degree angle. I cleaned it out thoroughly, reassembled everything, and went back to the fuel polisher. Sure enough, the polisher began pumping out five gallons every 20 minutes or so, and in no time, I had drained and polished the entire tank. I decanted the sparkling-clean fuel back into the tank, bled the lines, and she fired up within 15 seconds. By this time, I was slightly overcome by fumes and the rock-and-rolling of the boat, because everybody and their mother was out on Tahoe for the Fourth, zipping around within 100 yards of the bouy field and creating quite a chop. Nevertheless, I was happy and relieved, and I let the engine run for a while to charge the batteries while I cleaned up the mess. I called Debbie with the good news, and we decided to bail on watching fireworks from the boat, as by that time it was late afternoon, and I was ready to be done.

Since polishing the entire tank, our little blue Perkins Perama has fired up quickly every time, and has just run like a top. I can’t tell you how confidence-inspiring it is to know the fuel is pristine, and also to know a little bit more about how to work on diesels in general. The fuel polisher cost around $160, but I can use it over and over again, or lend it to fellow sailors in need of a polish. I have read about some sailors paying $1000 to have their tanks polished; bottom line, a visit to Napa Auto Parts and a little monkey-wrenching can save a sailor a bundle.

Fair winds and smooth sailing. DB

More Than A Sailboat; A Friendship

On July 2, 2014 By David BranbyIn On The Water, Ports Of CallLeave a comment

I got a call from an old friend last week — his granddaugher from North Carolina was coming out to visit and would I mind taking them out for a sail? “I’d love to!” I said. So, on Saturday, June 29th, around 1 p.m., my friend Michael, his granddaughter Lauren, and her friend Dominique joined me on Splendido for a fun afternoon of sailing with gentle breezes, warm air temps, and a bit of swimming in Tahoe’s 60-degree waters, too. (A wee bit of swimming…that water is cold!)

We set off southward, heading toward Meeks Bay, where I figured we’d throw down the anchors for a bit and let the girls take a dip in the shallower water near shore, with its white-sand bottom and interesting boulders here and there. On the way down south, the wind gusts were in the 20-knot range, but nothing we couldn’t handle with a little judicious use of the mainsheet. Since it was the first time on a sailboat for both young ladies, I wanted to keep it smooth and not get too heeled over.

Once we had the bow and stern anchors down, we broke out the sandwiches and chips that the girls had made for us the night before. As Michael and I ate, Lauren and Dominique dared each other to be the first in the water. I felt pretty comfortable that they’d be OK, since I discovered that both were competitive high school swimmers, and Dominique spent last summer lifeguarding at her hometown pool. Eventually, they both jumped in — and quickly surfaced, with very surprised expressions and a few choice epithets that can’t be printed here.

While Michael and I were relaxing on deck, I suddenly heard a very loud hissing sound, and jumped up to see where it was coming from. It took a second to realize that it was Michael’s PFD inflating…while we were sitting on the cabin top, he’d accidentally sat on and pulled the “rip cord” for the waist-worn unit. I was amazed at how quickly (and firmly!) the CO2 cartridge had filled the PFD. By this time, the girls were back on board, so I had them take this shot.

After their swim, the girls bundled up in towels and warmed up in the brilliant Tahoe sunshine. Michael and I cleaned up the cockpit and put away the food and drink, and got ready to head back north.

Once we were underway, Lauren and Dominique went below decks to get out of the wind, as their damp suits were a bit chilly, in spite of the 78-degree air temperature. As Michael and I sailed along at a brisk 6.2 knots in freshening breezes, we noticed that the girls had stopped talking. I took a look below to see if everything was OK, and found the girls slumbering soundly as Splendido heeled gently, charging along under full main and the 150 genoa. All in all, it was a thrill to share beautiful Lake Tahoe with two new friends and one old one, and it was a day filled with laughter and memories I’ll cherish for a long, long time.

Fair winds and smooth sailing! DB

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