Dead Parrot Society

The skies were sunny for the Pirate Night Duck Dodge and there was mostly decent wind to make things even better. Full Moon crew Art “50 Cent” Teller, Debra “Top of the Game” Ricard, Dave “Spaghetti Sheets” Pulsifer, Judy “Sun-Bather” Tiffany, Daniel “What Parrot?” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Close Call” Mengedoht were set up for a good if relatively conservative starboard tack start near the Committee Boat. Unfortunately, Gift Horse slipped in to windward and just ahead. Even more unfortunately, Gift Horse didn’t have enough speed up to tack in front of other boats coming from behind, leaving Full Moon pinned to leeward for what felt like several minutes until Gift Horse finally tacked away toward the Freeway buoy.

Full Moon full of pirates.

While old-rival Zephyr was behind, even-older-rival Ignitor was ahead and it was time for a Full Moon comeback. A straight shot with good speed to the Freeway buoy and then another to the Aurora buoy helped. A quick launch of the mighty Equalizer spinnaker helped even more, allowing Full Moon to pick off several boats and gain on several more on the long downwind/reach to the AGC buoy.

Art's work is done with the Equalizer flying.

Once around the AGC, Ignitor was left behind, and Full Moon was tasked with holding off a white T-bird just to windward and behind. The lee-bow effect worked well until the T-bird tacked away to make it across the start-finish line to complete the first lap. Full Moon carried on a short distance before tacking as well but then had to dodge a couple of third-start boats, losing a bit of distance in the process.

Zephyr and Mata Hari behind with many more behind them.

By the Freeway buoy, Full Moon had worked up to at least mid-fleet with speedy Scat and the J30 Slingshot not too far ahead. After another nice spinnaker run, it was great to look back and see several J-Boats, at least one T-bird, and even 36’ Mata Hari comfortably behind. All in all, it was a great evening on the water, complete with many well-dressed pirates and even some cannon-fire!

Yet another gorgeous evening on Lake Union.

Jammie Time!

Full Moon crew Michael “Butt Cleat” Medina, Chuck “Noser” Weldy, Kate “Sleeper” Austin, Jeremy “Shorts” Jones, Daniel “Tunes” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Nightshirt” Mengedoht enjoyed a relatively great start for the Pajama Night Duck Dodge, zipping across the line on port tack near the buoy end with the Hotfoot 27 Flashpoint and a couple of J24s. Full Moon held off speedy Flashpoint for most of the first leg to the Freeway buoy and rounded in the top ten boats.

Full Moon is dead center in this shot of the second start.

A delayed tack after the buoy provided a straight shot to the Aurora buoy and then a quick launch of the mighty Equalizer spinnaker. The wind had faded a bit at this point and it took a little time and two jibes to really get going but then the wind filled back in for a nice romp to the AGC buoy. The Equalizer came down fairly smoothly and Full Moon was soon heading back upwind and fending off challenges from T-birds Havoc and then Selchie. Full Moon held on across the line to complete the first lap and then nearly to the Freeway buoy before the T-birds finally got by.

Full Moon is just visible to the right, flying the Equalizer.

The next leg was compromised by the appearance of a big barge and pusher tug heading west. Full Moon had to sail a lower angle than desired to allow room for the barge past Gasworks and then put in two tacks to round the Aurora buoy. Once again, the Equalizer was launched, this time with good breeze onto a beam reach. Unfortunately, the wind went flat in a large zone around the AGC buoy, leaving a giant pile-up of drifting boats. Full Moon’s momentum carried to within 50 yards or so the buoy but some gentle fending off was required to keep the bow of the J30 Slingshot from making contact from behind.

The amazing June weather has continued!

Once around the buoy, the game was on to guess where the wind would fill in and from which direction. Full Moon gambled on heading east, if only to get away from the tight cluster of drifting boats. The wind eventually filled in from the north, though, and the gamble did not pay off. Necessary Evil, a Catalina 30, was further west and got going a bit sooner to pass ahead. Full Moon played the developing shifts and was able to point higher into the wind, though, eventually crossing tacks just ahead and crossing the finish line just ahead of Gift Horse, still ahead of Necessarily Evil and at least one T-bird (Zoe) and a few J-boats.

Duck What?

Full Moon crew Dave “Low Rider” Pulsifer, Judy “Slippery” Tiffany, Kelly “Baba Ganoush” Laleman, Troy “Ready” Charlesworth, Daniel “Skirt” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Prudent” Mengedoht were fresh out of camouflage and fake beards for the Duck Dodgesty Duck Dodge but well stocked with cold beer to enjoy yet another amazing sunny June evening. With a lot of boats out and relatively strong wind, Full Moon attempted a starboard tack start but the line was angled so as to make that very difficult. A well-timed tack to port took care of business, though, and Full Moon was off and zipping along not far back from the leaders. (Third start apparently had a three-boat crash. The Race Committee could do a lot to reduce port-starboard collision potential by setting the start line either square to the wind or favoring starboard tack. Oh, wait, this is the Duck Dodge. Never mind…)

The starting line buoy was a bit different for this race!

A short time and a couple of tacks later, Full Moon was around the Aurora buoy and heading south. However, with a fairly strong breeze and a beginner slated to deal with the foredeck, the skipper elected to keep the oversized nylon monster safely contained in the turtle bag. Gybing out toward the middle of the lake worked out reasonably well, though, and, while the San Juan 28 Zephyr got past under spinnaker, they took a wide slow turn at the AGC buoy, allowing Full Moon room to slip inside and back in front.

Full Moon at the starting line with Tenacious just beyond.

The wind continued to be gusty and shifty for the long leg north to the Freeway buoy. Full Moon was still hanging in there with a couple of J24s and even the J30 Slingshot, though Gift Horse (30’?) eventually managed to get past to windward. The short leg to the Aurora buoy then proved to be a straight shot, though just barely as Full Moon squeaked around with only a foot or two to spare.

Zephyr gets past under spinnaker but Full Moon would return the favor upwind.

Once again, the Equalizer remained tucked away for the southbound leg and once again Zephyr got past under spinnaker, as did our old rival Ignitor. Once around the AGC buoy, though, Ignitor fell behind and the chase was on to catch Zephyr. Full Moon maintained a good line directly to the Freeway buoy while Zephyr faded to the east and had to tack. This put Full Moon back in front for good, though the Catalina 30 Necessary Evil rounded just behind and quickly put their spinnaker to work, passing Full Moon about halfway to the finish line and returning the favor from last week.

Too Cold For Shorts

The weather was gray with scattered showers for the “Mom Jeans and Dad Shorts” Duck Dodge but at least there was a little wind. Michael “Bungie Cord” Medina, Marcelle “First Pack” Van Houten, Erin “Nauti-Mom” Osberg, Troy “GQ” Charlesworth, and skipper John “Leopard Slug” Mengedoht enjoyed a decent start near the middle of the line, though boats closer to the buoy seemed to fare a bit better.

Erin and Michael show off their Dad Shorts.

A couple of tacks were needed to clear both the AGC buoy plus a bit of traffic going around but Full Moon soon took off north on a close reach with the mighty Equalizer spinnaker. The wind clocked further north about three quarters of the way to the Freeway buoy and the Equalizer came down again, though not without a fight as the wind wanted to push it out behind the boat.

Full Moon battles Necessary Evil under spinnaker.

The relatively short leg past Gasworks to the Aurora buoy was uneventful. With the wind angle change, the next leg south was good for a spinnaker but, unfortunately, the Equalizer and pole were not ready for action and Full Moon lost some ground to boats that could fly theirs immediately. Then, a few hundred yards from the AGC buoy, the wind clocked back into the southwest (possibly a velocity header) and Full Moon quickly dropped the spinnaker. Not far behind, the Catalina 30 Necessary Evil kept their spinnaker up and, as the fickle wind swung back to a westerly, were able to slide past to round the buoy just in front of Full Moon.

The Equalizer looking good.

The long leg north was a close reach with enough wind that Full Moon could not catch Necessary Evil. Once around the Freeway buoy, though, it was a different story as Full Moon could sail much closer to the wind. Fifty yards from the Aurora buoy, the boats crossed tacks with Full Moon ahead. This time, the Equalizer was ready for launch at the buoy and Full Moon easily held the lead to the finish line.