Plane Zones

Plane zone, Saturday:


Plane zone, Sunday:

Noon to two,
woo hoo hoo!

Holly the Sailing Co-Chair's post-sail comment - "Anyone who didn't plane today is doing something wrong".

What a splendid Sebago weekend it was!

What Happened At The Regatta (In Case You Missed It)

This post inspired by a charming little cartoon we used to have pinned up on the SailComm section of the Sebago Canoe Club bulletin board. I'll have to look to see if it's still up when I go to water in the morning, because I can't remember the cartoonist's name, but as I was reminded of it last night as I sorted through all the pictures I'd taken of little boats going this way and that, with puffy clouds in the sky behind it.

The pictures, of course, are a few of mine from Saturday's Laser District 8 regatta, hosted by the Sailing Committee of the Sebago Canoe Club. What a lovely day of racing we had, and great food afterwards, too!

Many more pictures here.

Cross-posted at Frogma

Upcoming Events: Our Annual Open House, And Our Annual Spring Laser District 8 Regatta!

My goodness, summer must be on the way. To give you a live link: for more details, visit SebagoCanoeClub.org, and to see the kind of fun to be had at the Sebago Open House, click here!

And...HEY LASER SAILORS! Don't forget, Sebago's annual Spring Laser District 8 Regatta is coming up SOON!

Boy, May seemed so far away when I first posted about that.

Cross-posted at Frogma.

A Particularly Rewarding SailComm Work Day

Hey guys...


Wat'cha watchin'?


Ooooohhhh!


It was a particularly rewarding workday for the Sebago Sailing Committee today - it's not just every day that a boat is resurrected!

This 420 has been on the grounds for several years after being donated by a club member a few years back. Unfortunately, for various reasons (primarily lack of knowledge about how to use the boat combined with plenty of boats that people DID know how to use), she's languished on her trailer gathering grime ever since them. A couple of us who have sail-curious family or significant others have looked at her with a lot of interest but none of us really had the time, energy, or skill to spearhead the process of getting her back into working order.

Well, among the numerous sailors who've joined the club this year are a couple of gentleman who have actually sailed these - and so today, they brought her back to life!

It turned out not to be all that difficult, either - listening to the guys talk, there are some structural repairs that need to be done before the boat can be put to regular use - but all the pieces were there & by the early afternoon, they'd gotten her fully rigged & deemed her ready for a trial spin on the Paerdegat - and there she is!

Oh - and speaking of nice old boats ending up in good hands?

A while back, Andy had found & posted a neat old brochure from the Sebago Boat Company. That post ended up drawing comments from a couple of people who were working on restorations. I always enjoy seeing old boats being cared for & loved & I asked Mike, who was working on renovating a "Fisherman's Friend" model that he'd had for 30 years, to let me know when he had pictures. Well, if you are on Facebook - click here to check out his album. Sweet!

It was a glorious,

From

glorious,


glorious,


GLORIOUS day we had for the first race of the Fall series.

Fall Dinghy Racing Series at Sebago

Jim announces the course for the 3rd race of this spring's Laser Regatta - From Sebaga Laser Regatta 5 22 2010

I'm happy to share the news recently emailed by Jim & Holly, Co-chairs of the Sailing Committee of the Sebago Canoe Club - we'll be having a Fall Racing Series this year! Come join us for some fun days on Jamaica Bay. Notice of Race, Sailing Instructions and a full schedule can all be found on the Sailing Committee page at SebagoCanoeClub.org

Hope to see you there!

cross-posted at Frogma

Sunday SailCom Cruise

It felt a bit Septemberish, gray skies & cool weather, but the wind was great (more in the low teens than the 5-10 kts the forecast had called for) and Holly & Jim set a good course with the windward leg being the sail to our favorite lunch beach on Ruffle bar, where all the work getting there made my empanada lunch taste extra extra good, and then the trip home again being a big looping S around Ruffle Bar & Canarsie Pol. The trip home was awesome, all reaching & running, and with the wind & the waves, we flew! I felt like I was getting more speed out of Swampfox & maintaining it for longer periods of time than I've managed before in a Sunfish - usually I have a few fantastic moments then do something to foul up whatever I was doing right, but today there were long stretches where things were going great.

I did learn one really good lesson today - I have a light wetsuit top that just needs to always be part of my sailing kit. The weather wasn't quite as warm or sunny as the last forecast I'd seen had been talking about & I was lucky Holly had a spare top because the day (and especially the windward leg) would've been a chilly one if she hadn't had that for me.

I didn't take a lot of pictures because conditions were just enough that the sailing really required two hands & full attention, but here were the few I did.





I can't show you pictures of one of the "end" results but I can tell you that I will be needing a cushion for the next few days! :D

Sebago's 2nd Annual Laser District 8 Regatta - Photos Up

From Sebaga Laser Regatta 5 22 2010

I had a great day being on the race committee for Sebago's 2nd annual District 8 Laser Regatta yesterday. I took tons of pictures, of course! Good weather, a nice breeze that picked up over the course of the afternoon, and wow, 10 boats & only 3 were from Sebago (and 2 were from the Saratoga Yacht Club, that's a long trip)! Good racing, good company a nice day on the water & a delicious post-race spread of roast chicken, chili, a few other sides & brownies & ice cream for dessert.

Couldn't ask for a much nicer way to spend a Saturday!

And no, no bouncy castles - which reminds me, here's the story behind that particular bit of silliness, found via a link posted by my favorite Laserblogger, Tillerman.

cross-posted at Frogma.

We Promise: No Bouncy Castle Obstructions At Sebago's Laser Regatta

I feel QUITE COMFORTABLE in promise that there will be NO such silliness at Sebago's 2nd Annual Laser Regatta on Saturday. Hope to see folks there!

Note to last year's winner: Blake, I hope you're coming back, I think we'll have planes this year!

(my pix from last year - no planes...)

Brand New Sunfish Racing Sail!

Hey Sunfish Sailors! Wanna kick your sailing up a notch?

BAM!

One of the old Sunfish sails just went to the big sail locker in the sky - and look what our sailing committee co-chairs got as a replacement. That is an official racing sail for a Sunfish. Adjusts to make the most of the wind!

Talk to Holly if you want to learn to use it!

Click here to see a photo of sails like this in use.

Sunday SailComm Cruise

More pictures in Picasa gallery here: Sebago SailComm Sunday Cruise

Phew! I was really starting to wonder if I was going to get to sail at ALL this summer.

Thanks Jim & Holly for a great day, and for arranging it so that those thunderstorms didn't roll through until we were off the water & finished with that wonderful potluck picnic (and thanks, Mark, for organizing the picnic, that was a brilliant idea)!

2009 Open House

I was able to be at the Open House only from noon till 2:00 PM but while I was there I took a lot of photographs which I have posted to Picasa. The weather was nearly perfect even if it did look like there was snow on the ground. We seemed to have had a lot of visitors and a good number of them joining. While Sebago offers some great sailing and kayaking, Sebago is more than water sports. Sebago is people, from those who have been members for decades or more to those who have just joined, from experienced paddlers with American Canoe Club certification to teach and coach to beginners just learning how to paddle.

This was only my second Open House so I do not have a lot to compare it to, but this year we seemed to have more of a variety of visitors: young, middle age and older from various racial-ethnic backgrounds and from three or more of the five boroughs. For awhile on Saturday, Sebago looked like a miniature New York City. There were so many kayaks, canoes and sailboats coming and going from the new dock that at times it resembled the Staten Island Ferry Terminal (photo at right). There were so many people moving about on the new dock that it felt like the BQE, Jackie Robinson, or Van Wyck during rush hour.

If our Open House is any indication of the future, it looks like we are off to a great 2009 summer season of paddling, rowing and sailing.

Laser Regatta in Jamaica Bay, Sunday, May 16th

The Sailing Committee of the Sebago Canoe Club will be hosting a Laser Regatta for Laser District 8 on May 16, 2009. Full details on the Sailing Committee page of the Sebago website.

Hope to see some new faces (and sails) visiting the bay!

Now isn't this the first thing you picture when somebody says "Brooklyn"?


It's the weekend of the annual Sebago Sailing Committee sailing clinic & I'm really enjoying it!

Interesting conditions for teaching a bunch of utter newbies though. Shifty winds - this was taken 30 seconds later. Please note that the 2 sails are pointing in completely different directions!

No Lasers today, needless to say. None of us students were anywhere close to having a shot at handling one of those racing boats with the wind shifts & gusts today! Four Sunfish and a Phantom.

I thought I was just getting a sailing class today, but the Sebago Sailing Committee is a multifaceted bunch...we also got hiking lessons:


and swimming lessons:


But there was plenty of sailing, too. Fun stuff!





Cool milestone du jour...first time EVER sailing a boat without a more experienced sailor on board that boat. Very odd, I'm quite comfortable when I know that somebody else is going to be able to take charge if things go awry...well, there weren't too many ways things could have gone too far awry but still, it was quite bizarre being the only person in the boat! It wasn't too far, and it sure as heck wasn't perfect (there was time in irons and oh possibly a bit of a bump with another boat while rounding a buoy) but I'm looking forward to more practice time tomorrow.

And in closing - did you ever know lettuce could be so pretty? It was a good week for the garden, lots of rain and lots of sun. The lettuce is going crazy! I'll have to have another homegrown salad with dinner tomorrow.


(cross-posted at Frogma blog)