Toga, Toga, Toga!

Full Moon crew Michael “Mister” Medina, Marcelle “Missus” Van Houten, Neil “Jib Sheet” Piispanen, Daniel “No Tunes” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Wind Shadow” Mengedoht managed to pull off a port tack start at the Committee Boat for the Toga Night Duck Dodge, ghosting out ahead of the fleet in very light wind. The advantage didn’t last, however, as boats further west received better breeze, Full Moon rounding the Freeway buoy about sixth.

A massive Chinook helicopter buzzed the Duck Dodge!

Heading nearly to the beach at Gasworks was almost but not quite enough to provide a one-tack leg to the Aurora buoy. Once around, the Equalizer was quickly hoisted to good effect, Full Moon moving nicely on a beam reach. The wind favored the middle of the lake, though, and Full Moon was too far west to benefit, allowing Scat and another boat or two to get past.

Full Moon is on the right, having just tacked at Gasworks.

After a relatively smooth drop at the AGC buoy, it was a straight shot north to complete the first lap and round the Freeway buoy. This time, heading for the beach paid off with no tacks required to round the Aurora buoy. The Equalizer again went up quickly and this time Full Moon headed closer to the middle of the lake. Unfortunately, relative giant Mallory Todd (not sure if they were racing?) crossed ahead and then turned parallel, providing a massive wind shadow. Full Moon struggled for half the leg to gain some lateral separation and break free, finally doing so a couple of hundred yards short of the AGC buoy. Meanwhile, well sailed 22 foot Mustache Ride was able to sneak past to leeward.

The final leg was another straight shot to the finish, Full Moon placing around tenth not far behind Mustache Ride. This was pretty decent considering that second start contained an Olson 30, two Hobie 33s, and a J92S, all rating less than 100 in PHRF NW handicapping. 

Red, White and Green

Full Moon crew Randy “4 AM” Olsen, Debra “Trader Joes” Ricard, Erin “Sparkly” Osberg, Troy “Soggy Chute” Charlesworth, Daniel “Theme Music” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Carburetor” Mengedoht set up for what looked like a very promising start near the “pin” end for the Christmas in July Duck Dodge, the buoy being set comparatively far down the course. Unfortunately, a southerly wind shift and stronger breeze toward the west enabled boats starting near the Committee Boat to come out better and Full Moon rounded the AGC buoy about eighth.

Nice weather!

The short leg to Chandler’s was a nice beam reach with the jib, followed by a long broad to beam reach under the Equalizer up the lake to the Freeway buoy. Full Moon then stayed on port tack for a while before tacking south to start the second lap. Inexplicably, old rival Ignitor managed to out point Full Moon upwind to remain ahead (are those new sails?).

Hangin' with Selchie on a beam reach.

Approaching the AGC buoy, there was a fair bit of traffic, including one very slow boat plodding along fairly close to the buoy. After some classic Duck Dodge close-quarters maneuvering, Full Moon emerged for a short run to the Chandler’s buoy before launching the Equalizer again to head north. This worked well for a while until the wind began clocking around to the NW, rendering the spinnaker useless. What was now an upwind takedown proved challenging and the Equalizer took a bath before being hauled back aboard.

Flying with the Equalizer before the wind shift.

The rest of the leg and the final close reach to the finish proved uneventful, Full Moon finishing about 12^th close behind speedy Selchie and, yes, Ignitor. (Those must be new sails!)

On The Hard

There was no Duck Dodge this week due to Whidbey Island Race Week so Full Moon had a different kind of adventure, becoming a land dweller in order to receive some fresh bottom paint at the Canal Boatyard. There wasn't that much slime before and the fresh paint is a bit rough from the rollers so she may not be any faster but Full Moon will be ready to race again next week.

Full Moon rising!

Fresh bottom paint!

Splash-down!

Red One Down!

Michael and the rest of the crew sporting their red, white and blue.

Full Moon crew Michael “Not Me” Medina, Katie “Guacamole Sole” Freels, Dave “Other Left” Pulsifer, Judy “Suction Cups” Tiffany, and skipper John “Not Last” Mengedoht enjoyed a good start near the center of the line for the Red, White and Blue Duck Dodge. Very light wind and close proximity to old rival Ignitor made it a challenge to get much speed going until the wind filled in about halfway to the AGC buoy.

The second leg to the Chandler’s buoy was short but downwind and the Equalizer was quickly launched to good effect. The next leg to the Freeway buoy should have then been a nice beam reach but 100 yards past the buoy, the wind filled in and shifted to the northwest. This angle didn’t work for the Equalizer, which proved a handful to get back down with the wind coming from ahead of the boat. In the ensuing chaos, the red (port) spinnaker sheet somehow escaped to plunge to a watery grave. Drat!

The wind continued to clock further to the north and Full Moon actually needed to tack twice to reach the Freeway buoy. The leg back south might have worked for the spinnaker but not without a replacement sheet. Still, the genoa provided relatively decent speed to the AGC buoy.

The rest of the second lap was relatively uneventful, Full Moon finishing somewhere in the middle of the second start fleet. Meanwhile, a great time was had by all and it didn’t rain!