MacGregor 26M Sail Log: Fantastic Sailing and Annual MTLSA Autumn BBQ

14-15 October, 2011 - Mark Twain Lake

Winds: 12-15mph
Max speed under sail: 6.9 knots!

Miles Sailed: 19 miles

We provisioned Galactica for a short trip Thursday evening. On Friday, I got up earlier than normal for ranch chores and was able to stop at the town car wash which has bays large enough for farm equipment--so Galactica barely fits. I took her to work with me.

Galactica's bath time, getting pretty for a trip to work.

After work, Angie met me there along with our cooler.  We stopped at Long Horn Steak restaurant with Galactica dominating the parking lot. Afterwards, we headed up to MTL to rig and get onto the water.   Temperatures were dropping fast by the time I had her rigged.

I've put together a video on my youtube channel:   FANTASTIC SAILING WEEKEND ON MTL

We enjoyed a moonlight sail under strong winds as the temperature was plummeting to 42 degrees and there I was, in shorts and sandals.   Angie stayed bundled in her big purple blanket with just her eyes visible. We sailed until wind and spray started making me numb.

Captain Douglas: Sailing with the wind and spray--it was COLD!

I dropped the sail and powered to Full Moon cove to anchor but at the last moment, continued over to Ski Cove since Full Moon had lee shores.

With the new 24 foot chain, our Danforth Anchor held us extremely well even though winds increased to 18 mph over night.

The aroma of frying bacon filled the cabin with warmth!

We basically packed ourselves into the vberth with lots of blankets and were toasty all night. In the morning, Angie made bacon, coffee and cheesey scrambled eggs with eggs just harvested from our chickens. The aroma in the cabin was incredible! We relaxed for a while and I read some of a novel I've been working on.

I motored us over to the public swimming beach which was closed for the season with the thought of trying to pay for our trips with a cheap metal detector. I beached Galactica in a head wind and proceeded to try to get the detector working correctly. Angie stayed below cleaning the dishes, cleaning the remnants of Florida sandy beaches and re-organizing the cabin.

My Galactica....adrift and me....beached!

I normally pull the danforth out and secure the boat to the beach. Normally. I looked up and my precious beloved boat was gone.

Angie returning with my boat!!!

Looking further, she was drifting in the wind-- quickly. I knew I could not have run around the bay in time to catch her on the windward shore so I began calling Angie. She came up, pulled in the bowline, dropped the motor and brought the boat back to the beach! MY HERO!!!! She saved my boat! I couldn't stop laughing. For some reason, I thought it was funny.

Great Sailing!!!

We raised the sails and enjoyed a day of sailing around. We saw several boats we hadn't seen before and sailed along with them briefly. One, had come into the bay off the main channel clearly struggling with sails and were obviously shaken. It was only their 2nd time out and the strong winds that day shook them. After relaxing some, they raised their mainsail and stayed in the bay for the day learning their boat! I remember how nervous I would get the first season. This season, we are having a blast and are more at ease with the capabilities of Galactica!

We regularly sailed above 6 knots that day!!!

At one point, we sailed near a 32' Catalina which was being reviewed by Good Old Boat Magazine.

Wind Dancer

We then followed the sailboat Mac II into our ramp's cove. They had a trailer crew made up of sailors from a half dozen boats in the MTL Sailing Association. Not needing our help, we powersailed in circles under the Main for the bulk of an hour watching how may keelboat sailors it took to load onto a trailer. ;)

Mac II being hauled out for winter maintenance.

We headed back out to enjoy more sailing afterwards. At one point, we were heeled over pretty far perhaps 35-40 degrees when a big gust hit us. I lost steerage and instead of laying over on her side, Galactica simply rounded up into the wind in a corkscrew path. It was fun even though lots of things came loose and crashed down in the cabin. Angie said that the inclinometer pegged at 50 degrees (as far as it measures)!