Sunday Sail, Truman Lake

38.294551,-93.367943, Truman Lake Missouri

My son Derek came home from College in South Dakota this weekend. We headed out early Sunday morning for a day on the lake. This time, I drug Galactica to Truman Lake.

We put in at Sterett Creek Public Access at Sterett Creek Marina. The parking lot was packed. It was difficult to find a place to park to rig the boat. The spaces are tight.

After rigging Galactica, we put in and immediately out of the no wake zone, Derek took the helm while I pulled the boots off off the Genoa and Mainsail. We putted out away from the cove and dropped all three fins: two rudders and the dagger board. rounded up into the wind and hoisted the mainsail then the Genoa.

I took the helm, shut off the motor and let the boat fall off the wind until we were on a starboard tack and moving pretty well. The wind was around 14 knots. We beat to windward for the next 4 or 5 hours.

Eventually, the wind began picking up. I'm comfortable with 15 to 20 degree heel. I admit, when it pops over to 30 degrees lean, I get a bit exhilerated with one hand tight on the main sheet. As some catspaws became more and more visible, we furled the Genoa. The Main Sail alone was enough and we went from a constant 20 degree heel to 10.

We ended up at the main channel not far from the Truman State Park Marina. I wanted to check out that facility before heading back home so we lowered the main sail and started up the motor. I saw a number of masts in the marina so we ghosted into the marina and explored, looking at the sailboats and for other Macgregors. We headed over to a cove dropped the anchor and swam for a short while before we needed to be back at the ramp, de-rigging so we could get home for Sunday family dinner.

As we approached Sterett Creek, I dropped to a slow crawl and helped Derek put the black main sail boot on. We let the boats clear out from the ramp so that we had our choice of docks. There was a very strong current pushing towarded the ramp at a slight angle with a very strong wind at our backs. We put Galactica up to the ramp dock and secured a couple of spring lines. While I ran up to get the tow beast, a lot of boats rushed up. Ominus storm clouds were building and rumbling in the distance; yet the ramp was hot and sunny.

I had to wait a while in line to get onto the ramp as there were boats dropping off and picking up.

Conditions were deteriorating. I noticed that in the close park spaces, someone bumped the new starboard fender and broke off my new running light. sigh. We loaded Galactica onto her trailer and began de-rigging. As we were disconnecting the Genoa furler, the storm started blowing in. The Lake was white with thousands of catspaws. Thunder and lighting began as close as 2 miles away as I lowered the mast. As I tied the mast down and we secured the boat for travel, stinging rain hit.

Poor Derek was sun-burned and he said it was hurting. We had pulled our shirts off to keep them dry. A front hit with 40-50 mph winds as I finished securing everything. We couldn't see as we hopped in the truck. I had to do a brake-bump twice to seat the boat forward enough. I have removed rollers from my old trailer and will install them on Galactica's trailer to eliminate the need to bump the boat forward.

At least all the heavy rains as we left cleaned the hull off! All in all, it was a GREAT day on the water!

Here is a video Sailing Galactica on Truman Lake with Derek manning the Genny Sheets!

Father's Day Sail; Lake of the Ozarks

Gravois Mills Access, 38.309841,-92.81898

My father who ironically got me hooked on Horatio Hornblower novels while younger, had never sailed until this weekend. I took him to the Lake of the Ozarks for Father's Day. The Gravios Mills Access was deserted compared to other ramps I've been to. That made it very pleasant while launching and recovering Galactica. The Dock is sturdy with all the cleats. Some public docks tend to miss cleats.

Launching and docking Galactica went smoothly. Dad parked the tow beast and trailer; I picked him up at the dock. We headed down the long Gravois Arm to the main lake.

I was intending to remove the reef from the mainsail once we were on a wider section of the arm. We had a head wind the entire way. With Saturday offshore boats rocketing every which way, the waves were rogue in every direction and at times, large. At one point near the main Channel, the waves were easily four or more feet. I decided to wait until we were at our cousin Bob's place and reset the sail there. Good thing. We would have been caught by a squall with a 40+ mph front.

We took Bob's truck into Osage Beach and got chicken and salad for lunch. Bob's a Korean and Vietnam vet. Dad's a Vietnam vet. I'm Desert Storm era. It's always interesting to hear their memories.

As we powered past the lighthouse island and headed into Bob's cove, I saw a Macgregor X hoisting his sails in the distance.

We were hot and hungry otherwise I would have headed over to say hi. It would have been fun to find out who the X was and hoist sails along with them!


We docked Galactica so that her rigging didn't touch Bob's roof using a couple spring lines. Dad slept up at Bob's place and I camped out on Galactica. We got up early on Father's day, had Breakfast and headed out. The wind was steady as I replaced the tail tales. As soon as I was done, the wind died; otherwise, I could have sailed straight out of the cove.


Although my family had me on power boats as young as 6 months old when we lived on the east coast, this was Dad's first time sailing. He seemed amazed by the sudden peace and tranquility when you turn off the motor and the sails take over.


We idled out of the cove and raised the sails. The wind was light and sporatic. It took a couple hours to sail less than four miles. Eventually, the wind died so we lowered the sails and motored up the Gravois Arm.

Twice, we sailed for a short while then had to revert to the aluminum Genny. It was a relaxing weekend and I got to teach my Dad something new!