I am in a boat catalog

Triton Boats hired me on August 7th to be in a photoshoot for their new pontoon boat. Does that 4.6 look about right for the conditions? :)

Here are the photos:

Karla is off to Aruba!

Karla and her sister fly to Aruba today. I can't wait to hear how it went!

Day 27 on the lake

Wind: Lots of glass, 8 in the gusts
Air Temp: HOT!

I've been dying to sail with Jamey R. He sailed a "barge" in the 80's has barely been on a board since, and just bought a Mistral NTrance with a 6.5 Ezzy Superlight rig.

He's got a bad habit of going downwind on Port, but he can pretty much get where he wants to go. We sailed most of the way to Bear Island, but Jamey turned and headed back for the beach when it threatened to die.

When we got 1/3 mile from the beach, the wind shifted north, which was offshore. He did a great job of getting back. I look forward to sailing with him this fall.

Day 26 on the lake

Forecast: SW 10-20
Wind Speed 4 mph / 9 km/h ()
Max Wind Speed 17 mph / 28 km/h
Max Gust Speed low 30's
(wunderground says Max Gust 24 mph; bull)
Max Temperature 97 °F / 36 °C

According to wunderground, max gusts were 24, but they were definitely 30 and the whole synopsis of today is bull. It was often low 20's with gusts to low 30's.

I was supposed to meet Bob H. at Cook at 11:00, but I ran 1/2 hour late. I got to Cook, found no Bob in sight and began rigging the 7.5, but as it picked up, I left the 7.5 with a mast in her and rigged a 5.5 for the 101 liter Veloce.

Bob finally showed up and rigged a 7.5 (he's 230 lbs.) as it blew like stink. We got on the water at 12:45 and both of us had lots of good runs, but there were holes. John C. showed up and was rigging 6.0 for his Screamer, but broke his mast. I lent him my 460, so that took my 7.5 out of the picture, which I was planning to switch to. Oh well, it was worth it to see John sail.

I quit at 2:45 as my legs were tired and the wind was too variable for my taste. Bob & John came in 30 minutes later.

It is a Hot & Dry August

We've seen several new record high temps this August; it's been over 100 degrees for 11 of the last 12 days, we are in a severe draught, and we have had 11 heat-related deaths in the state. Most nights it is still in the mid 90's at 10:00 PM and next week brings more of the same.

The lake's surface water temperature is 87.0 degrees Fahrenheit, and 86.5 degrees at 10 feet. That's too warm to be refreshing. Lake level is 8/10ths below normal summer pool and that makes a difference; I've dinged the Superlight centerboard several times at Hamilton Creek.

Daily forecasts are never better than 5-10, but many days we see 6-20 or something equally lousy. Sometimes we see a good 12 knot breeze for 10 minutes and then it's gone. I sure don't want to be stuck in the middle of the lake holding a 9.5 when it dies.

Mistral NTrance: What a Nice Board

I sailed a Mistral NTrance XL today in 5 mph wind and thought it was fabulous. The 58 year old owner sailed an original tanker in the mid-80's and had not been on a board since. After I took it for a test ride, he went out and did really well.

He bought it with an Ezzy Superlight 6.5, which as you can see from Ezzy's site is not a high-end sail, but feels great and responsive and is well made.

Ezzy says the package comes with a 30% 460, but his came with a 450, which I hate to see. Why stick us with a non-standard mast length? I fault the shop for that. He also got a no-name mast base and the cleat is so wide that the line would not cleat off. I had Formuline and two other nice types of line and thank God the black/blue Chinook line worked in this base. I would recommend that any beginner who buys gear ask for a Chinook or other well known base as well as a standard length mast.

I don't see the NTrance on Mistral's site, so here are the specs from another site:

volume: 240
length: 290
width: 90
weight (kg): 13.9
construction: hrs composite / EVA
rec. sailsize: 6.8-10.5
freeride fin: 34