Fleet 276 Fall Fun Sail

October 2, 2004

Cass Lake, MI

Dave Rexroth (Ch. 7 weather guy) finally got one right.  He said it would be rainy and cool Saturday morning, turning sunny and windy.  Well, that is exactly what happened.  With a flurry of last minute emails and phone calls on Friday night/Saturday morning, a decision was made to go for it.  I’ve learned (through mistakes) that you should stick with any plans you made months ago.  Don’t worry about the weather.  This IS Michigan.  If you don’t like the way it is now wait 15 minutes. And go for it we did! 

Tim called me early.  It was rainy and no one had shown up yet.  I told him to be patient.  The fleet will arrive.  Sure enough fleet members began arriving at our favorite Cass Lake rigging area.   Paul K. and Kim #1 (boatless), Mark C. (16), Dan R. (16), Gregg K. (20), Tim H. and Kim #2 (16), Jim and Jan VDJ (18) and yours truly (Tiger) made the commitment to sail.  Granted the weather was ugly in the morning but it cleared off, the sun came out and the wind was up…way up.  Mark’s 16 did capsize on the beach..I mean grass.  No damage other than to pride.  Although it was a bit on the cool side, we readied boats for the last fleet fun sail of 2004. 

There was no formal agenda for the day.  Basically it was go, sail your heart out (while trying to stay warm) and come back in when you’ve had enough.  Given the wind conditions, several boats went upside down.  Dan got a chance to test out his “new to him” drysuit and Tim was also seen in the keels up position.  No worries.  Boats were righted (with the help of Gregg and Mark) and the sailing continued. 

Paul and I unleashed the Tiger for one last sprint on local water.  We positioned ourselves for a downwind run.  Paul hoisted the spin and shot across the lake at warp factor 6.  Driving deep to avoid stuffing the leeward bow, we quickly ran out of water and had to douse ASAP.  We spent the remainder of the afternoon with the spin safely tucked away in the snuffer.  It didn’t really matter.  We were pushing the boat hard and going just as fast downwind without it. 

The cool temps started taking a toll.  One by one the boats made there way to shore, were wheeled up to their trailers and made road ready.  Girlfriend Linda showed up (a little late but better than never) and took in all that is Trailer Baby.  With the last boat on the trailer we all proceeded to Matt and Laurie’s for a BYOD&M (drinks and meat) BBQ, a backyard campfire, marsh mellow roasting and camaraderie.  Tim gets the prize for marsh mellow roasting after he flung one onto his shoes, hands, grass…while smoking a stogie…well you get the picture.  

Thank you Matt and Laurie for hosting the after sail gathering and thank you to the fleet members who made the effort (despite the weather forecasts) to come out and sail one more time on local waters. As with all good things…the sailing season must end.   But that doesn’t mean that our fleet activities end.  Just the soft water stuff.  We have lots of gatherings, parties, meetings, year-end banquet and hard water fun activities in the works.  So stay tuned and check the website for periodic updates. 

Was your last sailing fix big enough to make it through the winter?  Hmmm…don’t know.  You can NEVER get enough.  Here is a remedy if you are having sailing withdrawals…put your wetsuit, harness and life jacket on.  Turn your shower on to COLD.  Step into shower (snort salt if you want the “ocean” effect) and hoot at the top of your lungs while smiling.  Hopefully you’ll make it to April!

See you all at the beach or on the slopes but NOT in your shower. 

Commodore John