Two Drink Minimum

Michael caught documenting the evidence.

Randy, Tammy, and Galina, ready for cocktails!

It just gets dark too early these days!

The final Duck Dodge is always Martini Night on Full Moon and crew Randy “Vanilla Vodka” Olsen, Galina “Viable” Gordeeva, Tammy “No Cheese” Cross, Michael “Cut the Cheese” Medina, Debra “Stinky Cheese” Ricard, and skipper John “Three Olives” Mengedoht came prepared with a variety of Vodka-based concoctions as well as some very nice (and alcohol-absorbent?) food. With the essentials squared away, Full Moon had a decent but conservative start. Apparently a lot of boats did better, though, as Michael announced from the bow that seventeen boats were ahead – including old rivals Fortis and Shogun!

Time to go fast. Full Moon rolled a San Juan 28 and held a good line to the Freeway buoy, picking off Shogun, a J24 and several others while staying ahead of speedy Scat and Katrinka Finkelsplat. Full Moon passed Fortis soon after rounding the buoy but Scat and, yes, Shogun eventually got by while Full Moon again pinched off the San Juan 28 threatening from behind.

Rounding the Aurora buoy, the mighty Equalizer was instantly deployed to good advantage. After crossing (non-verbal) jibes with Shogun, Full Moon pulled ahead for good and passed yet another boat or two, though 36’ Mata Hari got by in the fairly strong breeze.

At the AGC buoy, Full Moon was up to twelfth with only the final leg to go. A red Santana 20 tacked and crossed behind. Eleventh! True Blue (Ranger 22) tacked and crossed ahead but just barely. Full Moon was then lifted almost to the Committee Boat. A final two quick tacks and Full Moon finished an excellent tenth, not far behind Scat and still ahead of Katrinka Finkelsplat for a great comeback in a short, one-lap race.

As always, it was a fun summer of racing and sad to see it all end. Full Moon will return for the Goosebumps in January and will hopefully have a few adventures in between. Stay tuned!

This is August?

Randy and Galina on the high side.

Sara has a good time.

Cap'n John enjoys the wind and, yes, it is way too dark!

On the final evening of August, the string of sunny Tuesdays came to an abrupt end with dark low clouds and a boisterous southerly breeze. Full Moon crew Randy “Buoy-Finder” Olsen, Galina “Little Bit” Gordeeva, Sara “Grinder” Skinner, and skipper John “Fat Lady” Mengedoht hunkered down in the gusts and were set for a good start until an errant jib sheet made hash of the final tack for the line.
Overpowered upwind with full main and genoa, Full Moon fought to avoid rounding up but made steady progress to the AGC buoy, crossing tacks with old rival Shogun. Once around the buoy, Shogun and a white T-bird threatened but Full Moon held them off with good speed in the fast reach to the Challenger buoy.

With the wind holding strong Full Moon elected not to fly a spinnaker, though it would have helped on the long downwind run to the Aurora buoy. Fortis flew one and extended their lead to become uncatchable. The white T-bird hoisted theirs after waiting a bit while Shogun slogged on with the genoa. Shogun rode a gust to pass Full Moon and took the opportunity to gloat at finally beating Full Moon for the first time all summer – but were quickly reminded that the race was not yet over!

Once around the Aurora buoy, Full Moon was able to point much higher than Shogun upwind and to also get by the white T-bird. The T-bird made a race of it all the way to the finish but couldn’t quite catch up, even with Full Moon caught in round-up right at the line, and Shogun skipped the line altogether, perhaps embarrassed at losing to Full Moon once again! In the end, Full Moon was about eighth in a reduced fleet – a solid finish given the conditions.