July 2, 2014: It's been over a year since Chameleon has been on the water due to time constraints and injuries over the 2013 season. July is a tad late to start a new season also, but better late than never. Today promised to be the PERFECT day for a sail. So much so that the Admiral took a day of vacation midweek so we could all enjoy the day. The weather was forecasted to be 75, partly cloudy with 15 mph winds. That never happens here in Missouri during July! What we actually got was just a smidge different. The day started beautiful. Lots of sun and light winds...
We took our time loading everything needed for a fun day on the water including lunch (which got left at home in the refrigerator...) and some awesome thick cut pork chops for dinner which we used to break in the magma grill. By the time we got set up and on the water at Longview the weather was still pleasant but dark clouds were moving in and the wind had jumped up to 16 mph. We decided to just sail under the main and leave the genny furled so we didn't have so much to contend with should the wind pick up even more. For about an hour we had a very pleasant sail often hitting 4.6 knots with main alone. I was somewhat perplexed to find that often times when we would tack we would come to a complete stop and point into the wind, almost as if we were hove to. I'm curious if this would have been the case if we had the genny flying but I wasn't curious enough to put it up in this wind.
Around 14:30 while at the south end of the lake we were hit by a freak wind that healed us over hard. I turned into the wind thinking it was just a gust and would pass only to see the lake suddenly covered in heavy white caps. We dropped the main and fired up the motor before we could be pushed up on the shore. With no sign of subsiding, we motored slowly towards the marina thinking we were going to have to pull out. I only had about 5 gal. of fuel on board so decided to pull up to the fuel dock and fill one of the 12 gal. tanks while we were there. By the time I had finished paying and come back outside, the wind had subsided back to 16. The chart showed we had been out in a steady 29 mph wind!
With the wind once again cooperating, we decided to continue our fun and head back to the southern end of the lake. It was now around 16:30 and we planned on anchoring just south of the swim beach to fire up the grill for the first time. The temp had now dropped to 67*. Three months ago we would have welcomed a temp this warm, but now that we are acclimated to our summer temps plus the stiff wind, this was getting into the downright cold zone. Being close to our anchorage we decided to tough it out and prep dinner. While waiting on the charcoal to get hot, the wind had died to nearly a light breeze. The coals were hot and the chops went on. 20 minutes later we were feasting on some of the best pork chops I've had.
With our bellies warmed by dinner and coffee we motored back to the marina and began taking out the boat. We got lots of compliments from those on dock and a friendly helping hand tying off by a couple sitting on the end of the dock. We did pretty good on our set up and take down time for having such a long stretch in between seasons. About 40 minutes on both though I was too tired to actually time our take down. All in all it was an awesome day on the lake!
September 21, 2014: PERFECT day for sailing. Temp 75, winds NNW 10-15. Beautiful polarized blue sky. We planned for an afternoon-evening sail. Loaded up the cooler with drinks, snacks and pulled another package of those extra thick pork chops from the freezer. We didn't add any ice figuring the chops would be enough to keep everything cold and thanks to the Igloo Cube that is exactly what they did.
We were rigged and launched in record time and received many compliments while prepping the boat. One dingy sailor in particular was quite admirable of Chameleon and was surprised to see a "real" sailboat on the lake. Actually there were four sailboats out that afternoon, the most I had seen at one time on Longview. We tacked back and forth across the lake for several hours with a top speed of 3.1 knots using only the main.
Around 1700 hours we began searching for a sheltered cove in order to make dinner. Near our favored anchoring spot near the swim beach, about 60 ft offshore we discovered what is apparently an uncharted shelf on the lake bed. The depth went from 12 ft to 5.5 instantly and this odd thump, thump, thump sound emanated from the depths up through the hull. I realized what was going on after the first thump but it took two more before I could reach the centerboard line and raise it. We were true sailors now having hit bottom! Interestingly, I have been over this area hundreds of times and never encountered shallows here. It was quite a surprise. As it turned out, the effort was also in vain. With the north wind, the beach area was too exposed for a comfortable anchorage so we turned east to check out another cove that is well sheltered but tight for a "big" boat. We arrived to find it perfectly calm as expected but with a 28' Chris Craft cabin cruiser already occupying the coveted cove. What kind of numskull puts a boat that size on this little lake?... um, wait a minute... nvm. Why then should he feel the need to be out on the same day as us!? Well, one possibility left. Back to the other side of the lake. I had always stayed out of this area even with the jetski because it just looks shallow and there is no chart data on it. Keeping a nervous eye on the depth readings, we motor into this little cove and find it is actually quite deep. 8-10 ft in fact. It would have been the perfect anchorage except for five or six extremely loud and obnoxious locals splashing around on the shore (which is illegal without a boat). Oh where art thou mr. park ranger when someone else is intentionally breaking thy rules? Alas, not here, not tonight... We decide to stay regardless, mainly because we were out of their reach (I don't think they could swim since they stayed close to shore) and had the stereo to somewhat drown out their shenanigans, but also because by now I was starving and wanted dinner. I got the coals going while the Admiral was busy in the galley. It turns out neither of us had thought to bring the seasoning for the chops so like all good boaters we improvised. We had a bag of Chili Cheese Fritos on board and thought that would make an excellent rub if they were crushed. The big issue was when we brought the chops out to prep them they were still a block of ice. Apparently even without ice in the cooler, the Igloo is so well insulated that after 4 hours they hadn't even begun to thaw. Plan B: Dump the now ready coals overboard, stow the grill and break out the cheese and crackers. I still plan on trying the Frito encrusted chops as they sound awesome. It may be a new recipe to add to Galley Talk! Now that we've had some sustenance, it was time to weigh anchor and get loaded up so the crew can grab a late dinner and get to bed early enough that they won't sleep through their classes tomorrow. Breaking down went very smooth. I even remembered to disconnect the wiring before bringing the mast forward! YEA!! The same dingy sailor who was going out at the same time we were also came in right behind us. He is new to sailing and stops for a chat after he has loaded his boat on his trailer. He's an older gentleman with an interesting accent. Very friendly and I hope we cross wakes again.
We stop at McDonalds on the way home for a quick bite and pull into the driveway a little after 2100 hours. We are all too tired to put the boat back in the boathouse so we leave everything hooked up and I will take care of all that in the morning. For now, bed is calling. Life is good!
October 5, 2014: The promise of yet another perfect day beckons. The high today was 75 with the wind at 16 mph out of the NW and partly sunny skies. There is definitely an autumnal feel to the days now. The broken, low hanging clouds go scudding off to the east on their endless quest to find the horizon. I know nothing has changed with the water but the water knows something has change. It has taken on that gun metal gray hue that only comes during the beginning or end of the season here. A harbinger of things to come. The lake level is extremely high due to the 6.25 inches of rain that fell two days before. The docks are only 6 inches above the water line which makes it difficult to climb aboard the boat. Unlike previous visits here, there are only a handful of boats out on the lake along with a lone Hunter 19 sailboat. Rigging took a little longer than normal today. The furler line had fouled, not allowing the mast to move backward far enough to step. It was several minutes before we realized the problem wasn't the usual snagged shroud. Besides that incident, setup went smoothly. In no time we were in the middle of the lake, pointed into the wind and raising the main. The sailing was outstanding! Even in the middle of the lake where normally a vacuous void perpetually exists, there was airflow. After several enjoyable hours we began to succumb to hunger. Instead of messing with the anchor we decided to try something new. We would attempt to heave-to off the lee shore and serve up an applewood smoked rotisserie chicken for dinner. With only one other boat in sight, I wasn't terribly concerned about drifting should heaving to fail. It turned out it worked perfectly. The entire time we ate dinner, I don't think we moved more than 20 feet from our original position. After a scrumptious meal we dropped sail and motored back to the marina since we would be heading directly into the wind. There was one other boat on the ramp. A SeaRay who was running the last of his fuel out. This was to be their last outing of the year. Nice folks. His Admiral even assisted with our dock lines as we came in.
We had hoped to do an overnight this weekend but with the lows dropping into the mid 30's the crew threatened mutiny should they be forced to endure such harsh conditions. Maybe we'll get lucky and catch a warm weekend before the close of the season. If not, well, this was still one of the best sails of the year!
We took our time loading everything needed for a fun day on the water including lunch (which got left at home in the refrigerator...) and some awesome thick cut pork chops for dinner which we used to break in the magma grill. By the time we got set up and on the water at Longview the weather was still pleasant but dark clouds were moving in and the wind had jumped up to 16 mph. We decided to just sail under the main and leave the genny furled so we didn't have so much to contend with should the wind pick up even more. For about an hour we had a very pleasant sail often hitting 4.6 knots with main alone. I was somewhat perplexed to find that often times when we would tack we would come to a complete stop and point into the wind, almost as if we were hove to. I'm curious if this would have been the case if we had the genny flying but I wasn't curious enough to put it up in this wind.
Around 14:30 while at the south end of the lake we were hit by a freak wind that healed us over hard. I turned into the wind thinking it was just a gust and would pass only to see the lake suddenly covered in heavy white caps. We dropped the main and fired up the motor before we could be pushed up on the shore. With no sign of subsiding, we motored slowly towards the marina thinking we were going to have to pull out. I only had about 5 gal. of fuel on board so decided to pull up to the fuel dock and fill one of the 12 gal. tanks while we were there. By the time I had finished paying and come back outside, the wind had subsided back to 16. The chart showed we had been out in a steady 29 mph wind!
With the wind once again cooperating, we decided to continue our fun and head back to the southern end of the lake. It was now around 16:30 and we planned on anchoring just south of the swim beach to fire up the grill for the first time. The temp had now dropped to 67*. Three months ago we would have welcomed a temp this warm, but now that we are acclimated to our summer temps plus the stiff wind, this was getting into the downright cold zone. Being close to our anchorage we decided to tough it out and prep dinner. While waiting on the charcoal to get hot, the wind had died to nearly a light breeze. The coals were hot and the chops went on. 20 minutes later we were feasting on some of the best pork chops I've had.
With our bellies warmed by dinner and coffee we motored back to the marina and began taking out the boat. We got lots of compliments from those on dock and a friendly helping hand tying off by a couple sitting on the end of the dock. We did pretty good on our set up and take down time for having such a long stretch in between seasons. About 40 minutes on both though I was too tired to actually time our take down. All in all it was an awesome day on the lake!
September 21, 2014: PERFECT day for sailing. Temp 75, winds NNW 10-15. Beautiful polarized blue sky. We planned for an afternoon-evening sail. Loaded up the cooler with drinks, snacks and pulled another package of those extra thick pork chops from the freezer. We didn't add any ice figuring the chops would be enough to keep everything cold and thanks to the Igloo Cube that is exactly what they did.
We were rigged and launched in record time and received many compliments while prepping the boat. One dingy sailor in particular was quite admirable of Chameleon and was surprised to see a "real" sailboat on the lake. Actually there were four sailboats out that afternoon, the most I had seen at one time on Longview. We tacked back and forth across the lake for several hours with a top speed of 3.1 knots using only the main.
Around 1700 hours we began searching for a sheltered cove in order to make dinner. Near our favored anchoring spot near the swim beach, about 60 ft offshore we discovered what is apparently an uncharted shelf on the lake bed. The depth went from 12 ft to 5.5 instantly and this odd thump, thump, thump sound emanated from the depths up through the hull. I realized what was going on after the first thump but it took two more before I could reach the centerboard line and raise it. We were true sailors now having hit bottom! Interestingly, I have been over this area hundreds of times and never encountered shallows here. It was quite a surprise. As it turned out, the effort was also in vain. With the north wind, the beach area was too exposed for a comfortable anchorage so we turned east to check out another cove that is well sheltered but tight for a "big" boat. We arrived to find it perfectly calm as expected but with a 28' Chris Craft cabin cruiser already occupying the coveted cove. What kind of numskull puts a boat that size on this little lake?... um, wait a minute... nvm. Why then should he feel the need to be out on the same day as us!? Well, one possibility left. Back to the other side of the lake. I had always stayed out of this area even with the jetski because it just looks shallow and there is no chart data on it. Keeping a nervous eye on the depth readings, we motor into this little cove and find it is actually quite deep. 8-10 ft in fact. It would have been the perfect anchorage except for five or six extremely loud and obnoxious locals splashing around on the shore (which is illegal without a boat). Oh where art thou mr. park ranger when someone else is intentionally breaking thy rules? Alas, not here, not tonight... We decide to stay regardless, mainly because we were out of their reach (I don't think they could swim since they stayed close to shore) and had the stereo to somewhat drown out their shenanigans, but also because by now I was starving and wanted dinner. I got the coals going while the Admiral was busy in the galley. It turns out neither of us had thought to bring the seasoning for the chops so like all good boaters we improvised. We had a bag of Chili Cheese Fritos on board and thought that would make an excellent rub if they were crushed. The big issue was when we brought the chops out to prep them they were still a block of ice. Apparently even without ice in the cooler, the Igloo is so well insulated that after 4 hours they hadn't even begun to thaw. Plan B: Dump the now ready coals overboard, stow the grill and break out the cheese and crackers. I still plan on trying the Frito encrusted chops as they sound awesome. It may be a new recipe to add to Galley Talk! Now that we've had some sustenance, it was time to weigh anchor and get loaded up so the crew can grab a late dinner and get to bed early enough that they won't sleep through their classes tomorrow. Breaking down went very smooth. I even remembered to disconnect the wiring before bringing the mast forward! YEA!! The same dingy sailor who was going out at the same time we were also came in right behind us. He is new to sailing and stops for a chat after he has loaded his boat on his trailer. He's an older gentleman with an interesting accent. Very friendly and I hope we cross wakes again.
We stop at McDonalds on the way home for a quick bite and pull into the driveway a little after 2100 hours. We are all too tired to put the boat back in the boathouse so we leave everything hooked up and I will take care of all that in the morning. For now, bed is calling. Life is good!
October 5, 2014: The promise of yet another perfect day beckons. The high today was 75 with the wind at 16 mph out of the NW and partly sunny skies. There is definitely an autumnal feel to the days now. The broken, low hanging clouds go scudding off to the east on their endless quest to find the horizon. I know nothing has changed with the water but the water knows something has change. It has taken on that gun metal gray hue that only comes during the beginning or end of the season here. A harbinger of things to come. The lake level is extremely high due to the 6.25 inches of rain that fell two days before. The docks are only 6 inches above the water line which makes it difficult to climb aboard the boat. Unlike previous visits here, there are only a handful of boats out on the lake along with a lone Hunter 19 sailboat. Rigging took a little longer than normal today. The furler line had fouled, not allowing the mast to move backward far enough to step. It was several minutes before we realized the problem wasn't the usual snagged shroud. Besides that incident, setup went smoothly. In no time we were in the middle of the lake, pointed into the wind and raising the main. The sailing was outstanding! Even in the middle of the lake where normally a vacuous void perpetually exists, there was airflow. After several enjoyable hours we began to succumb to hunger. Instead of messing with the anchor we decided to try something new. We would attempt to heave-to off the lee shore and serve up an applewood smoked rotisserie chicken for dinner. With only one other boat in sight, I wasn't terribly concerned about drifting should heaving to fail. It turned out it worked perfectly. The entire time we ate dinner, I don't think we moved more than 20 feet from our original position. After a scrumptious meal we dropped sail and motored back to the marina since we would be heading directly into the wind. There was one other boat on the ramp. A SeaRay who was running the last of his fuel out. This was to be their last outing of the year. Nice folks. His Admiral even assisted with our dock lines as we came in.
We had hoped to do an overnight this weekend but with the lows dropping into the mid 30's the crew threatened mutiny should they be forced to endure such harsh conditions. Maybe we'll get lucky and catch a warm weekend before the close of the season. If not, well, this was still one of the best sails of the year!