Somewhere it has been written: Don’t believe everything you read. We can now confidently apply that dictum to the weather report. I searched many sites looking for wind this morning and found none. Where did I eventually find it? Ruffling the pines outside as I did the taxes, and then in hatfulls on Damariscotta Lake. By eleven we were sailing in a blustery snow squall, some boats with storm sails. An hour later the sun came out, the Southerly settled in at 10kts, and about a dozen boats frolicked the day away, stopping for the occasional reflective moment:

Doug Raymond organized scratch racing using islands and fish shacks as marks. In the light air we’d do one lap, heavier air two. As always, a great skill building exercise and something we need to do more often. Thanks Doug.
Lloyd got the Cheapskate to hike by offsetting the hull on the plank, creating in effect a seven foot plank on one tack and a nine on the other. He got his hikes, and feels the boat even looks more streamlined with the short plank.

A few of us took a late afternoon gamble and headed for the south end. It’s a long walk home, but with such a lovely plate of ice down speckled with islands that it’s always worth the chance. We made it to the bottom of Muscongus Bay, did a couple of deep gybes on the silent ice and headed for home. The SW was flukey, but held, and one of the boats was able to sail the entire eight miles back to the pits non-stop on one tack, including through the narrows. Many people tell me that performance isn’t really important, they just want to go out, have fun and sail around. But to have a well tuned boat gives you the capacity to rise to the challenge of long tours and get back before the wind dies, all the while marveling at the magic of flying on ice. Back to racing, this is where you learn how to go where you need to get to.

Regarding yesterday’s report of a lunch-eating-beast, we now have no excuse for loosing our food:

Thanks Trixie: forewarned is lunch in the bag.

Forecast for Sebago looks like no snow, but rain later in the week and possibly on the weekend. But please take note of the above comments on the forecast. Rain is coming to Moosehead next week, so we’re looking for wet-out there and then a deep freeze on a Friday…