Another long shot, but the strong coastal SE wind might just penetrate far enough inland to take the still off Lake St. George. Looks like there is a window with a nice breeze before the rain/snow sets in. The plate is small, just the boat launch bay, but the wind will be on it directly up and down. A mark at each end will make it interesting and fun, and good training.

Sometime between noon and sundown, but check your forecast before making the call yourself.

About alignment. We all know how critical this is to successful sailing. I just performed four alignments on three different boats: a stern steerer, a super DN, and two sets of runners on a DN. Conventional wisdom has it that you set up the boat on the floor, put the runners on the triangles, set yourself in the boat with thirty pounds and observe for corrections.

Or, if it’s a nice day, do it on the ice. But good luck trying to get shim tape to stick when it’s cold.

Not being a floor person I decided to try it on the table, sans boat, plank initially not deflected. Everything is at a nice working hight. The plank is secured such that when you do sit on it with fifty pounds in your pocket the plank is level. The runners are shimmed until you get perfect alignment, checking each time by climbing onto the plank and bouncing on it.

I checked every alignment later on the boat on the floor in the conventional manner and there wasn’tt a change in any of them: perfect across the board. So if your back and knees aren’t what they used to be, here’s a nice alternative.

And that ice in the photo above? That’s boat launch bay, Lake St. George.