Does this really need a title?

July 7, 2006

One of the things I was able to do on my trip back to Michigan, besides be time warped (last entry) was to visit Lake Michigan and get in a day of sailing.

Ok, just so you know and understand, this is not my boat. If it was my boat, I'd be standing on the pontoon hooked to the mast with a trapeze wire, long tiller in my left hand. Its Bill's boat, and his sails are much prettier than mine.

But it's not my boat, and on Lake Michigan that beautiful summer day a good friend let me use his boat, since my was trailered in the desert, some 1,600 miles away.

It was a great day for a sail, and as you can see.. and in fact, when it's as windy as it was, I am quite happy to take along others who might enjoy a ride on the lake. I generally do warn them that I have propensities todward sailing on the edge and if they still want to come along, well, then all's fair.

This particular day I happened to take along a guy who happened to have the same camera and lens that I had and he offered to shoot some images of me so that I could have so shots of the day.

Well....

Sometimes you have to be careful when you are performing in front of a camera, because it catches it all.

I was an even greater day for pushing the limits until over it went, and we have a boat down in the water.

I'd like to say that all you have to do is stand there and get the boat turned into the wind and up and over it goes, but even with my 225 pounds of weight, it's not enough to counterbalance the boat. Fortunately for me, a wave runner driver decided to help me out and jumped off his craft and climbed onto the pontoon of mine.

It has a "self righting" system of ropes and pullys under the boat which, given enough weight, will slowly lift the sail out of the water, dunking the folks on the pontoon. That's the point at which you need to be really really quick, since the boat may take off, or it may just blow right over again.

Generally, I tie off the main sail rope around my life jacket so that if the boat takes off, I'll be a drag in the water and pull the sail tight, causing it to blow right over again.

This time however, I had enough time to scramble on the boat, and be off to the races again.

There really is nothing like a good sail on a Hobi.