Early Retirement

Deception disguised as a limousine for Prom Night.

Full Moon crew Randy “It’s Wet” Olsen, Dave “Wounded Knee” Pulsifer, Judy “It's The Green Line” Tiffany, Adam “Liveaboard” Michalak, Daniel “Hard Pull” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Twisted” Mengedoht enjoyed a rare near-perfect start for the Prom Night Duck Dodge, though hampered a bit by surrounding traffic. The middle of the lake provided better wind so Full Moon delayed tacking to the west toward the AGC buoy. Unfortunately, even a delayed tack led to troubles in the light air near the buoy and a couple of extra tacks were necessary to clear the buoy.

Once around, Mighty Isis (aka The Equalizer) was hoisted but with greater difficulty than normal. Worse, it would go no higher than the forestay instead of to the masthead, leaving the foot to dip into the lake during lulls and obscuring vision forward. It was clear the halyard was fouled but there was no simple fix so Full Moon persevered toward the Freeway buoy, still making good speed.

The jib was then raised a bit early in anticipation that the spinnaker might balk at coming down smoothly and, sure enough, it was jammed. Fortunately, it was possible to collapse the foot but a tack in the wrong direction was necessary to free the halyard and bring down the nylon cloud. Worse, it proved necessary to drop the jib in order to clear the fouled halyard. At this point, the back half of the third start fleet was cruising by and it was decided to just complete the first lap for style points and then retire to enjoy some “coldies.”

Double Trouble

The June Gloom, aka Junuary, finally put in an appearance for the Mardi Gras Duck Dodge. Crew Michael “Sixty-four” Medina, Debra “Winch Wench” Ricard, Sophie “The Graduate” Ricard, Tina “Kabob” Hein, Ian “Euphonium” Mengedoht, Daniel “Zero Days” Mengedoht, and skipper John “The Crown” Mengedoht set up for an excellent start but tacking across the line went awry as the topping lift fouled the jib sheets. This was quickly remedied, only to reoccur on the next tack! Once fully sorted, Full Moon made good speed to the Freeway buoy followed by a straight reach to the Aurora buoy.

Full Moon doesn't always get too far into the themes but we usually do something!

After a jibe at the buoy, the Equalizer was quickly launched for a relatively fast run to the AGC buoy. Full Moon was passed by 34’ Tonic but was able to get by the Catalina 30, Necessary Evil, setting up a battle that would last for most of the race. The approach to the buoy grew complicated with the Moore 24 Amarillo coming right back through the fleet on starboard tack (with right of way). Once around, Full Moon delayed tacking a bit, both to avoid a similar conflict and to keep out of the disturbed air of all the spinnakers coming the other way.

It's good to have both sons aboard!

Full Moon stayed toward the west on the long leg northward, which paid off with better wind than the eastern side of the lake. Necessary Evil made up some ground on this leg but Full Moon stayed in front around the Freeway and Aurora buoys. Returning downwind, Full Moon was stuck to leeward of a white T-bird and unable to make any significant gains. Meanwhile, Necessary Evil slowly gained from behind, nearly catching Full Moon at the AGC buoy. The final leg proved decisive, though, as Necessary Evil split tacks to try and gain an advantage that never appeared, Full Moon finishing well ahead in about tenth place.

Lost Decade

Full Moon chases Scat and Runaway just before tacking to cross the start line.

Full Moon crew Randy “Bow Rider” Olsen, Amy “Clockwise” Stokes, Doug “Backup” Schoemaker, Jeffrey “Buried Alive” Schoemaker, Daniel “Count to 12” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Buoy Finder” Mengedoht managed an excellent start for the Pick a Decade Duck Dodge, followed by a straight shot upwind to the Freeway buoy. Only two tacks were needed to reach the Aurora buoy where the Equalizer was quickly hoisted. Romping downwind, Full Moon passed a few boats and even managed to get by speedy Scat and a Seascape 27 before a late but clean drop at the AGC buoy.

The Schoemaker boys like this stuff!

Scat returned the favor on the long upwind leg, along with a red Olson 30, the Seascape 27, and the Norlin 34 Runaway (all fast boats), but Full Moon was still in the top 10 boats rounding the Freeway buoy for the second lap. The leg to the Aurora buoy looked to be a repeat of the first lap but there proved to be a lot of slow-moving third start boats gathering at the buoy and Full Moon had to take a wide line to get around them all. Not so for the yellow Moore 24 Amarillo coming in on port tack (!), which shot into a narrow gap between big boats and then tacked right at the buoy.

Daniel pulls the halyards, grinds the sheet winches, and repacks the chute. What a guy!

This time, Scat was too far ahead to catch downwind (they had rounded the Aurora buoy before the converging mass of slow boats arrived) but Full Moon did pass the Olson 30, which was not flying a spinnaker. Unfortunately, something went wrong during the spinnaker take-down, resulting in the pole fouling the jib sheets for the final leg. The Olson 30 was then able to get past as we approached the finish line. Still, Full Moon hung in there with many theoretically faster boats plus it was a perfect sailing evening with solid breeze, sunny and fairly warm!

Randy enjoys the peace and quiet on the bow. Until it's time to drop that chute!

Rainbow Wigs!

Full Moon runs past the Committee Boat in the prestart.

Full Moon took a week off so the Cap’n and Cabin Man could go to the Snarky Puppy concert. Alas, the Cap’n got sick and couldn’t make the show, though he couldn’t have sailed, either… Regardless, Full Moon crew Marcelle “Cleat Sitter” van Houten, Michael “Tiny Bubbles” Medina, Alex “Dry Drop” Almerico, Clay “Low Rider” Anderson, Daniel “Perfect Pack” Mengedoht, and skipper John “The Impaler” Mengedoht returned to racing for the Crazy Wig Duck Dodge. A good start near the middle of the line paid off fairly well with relatively clear air for the close reaching first leg, though the breeze seemed a bit stronger toward the west.

Full Moon was doing a decent job holding off the yellow Ranger until the spinnaker pole snagged a yellow buoy!

Converging traffic on approach to the AGC buoy made for a congested rounding but Full Moon was on the inside for once, passing a few boats in the process before heading upwind towards the Freeway buoy. This proved to be a straight shot with no tacks, Full Moon then continuing toward Gasworks before tacking toward the Aurora buoy. A couple more tacks were needed to round and then the mighty Isis was launched to great effect for the reach/run to the AGC, Full Moon hitting nearly six knots.

Heading for the finish. It looks pretty calm but we hit over six knots on this final leg!

After a clean drop and rounding, it was back upwind again. Unfortunately, the “turbo” spinnaker pole projecting from the starboard bow was positioned perfectly to skewer the top metal hoops on one of the yellow buoys marking the “speed zone” in the middle of the lake. This led to a sudden full stop and 180 degree turn before the pole could be disengaged. Thankfully, there was no damage to the boat, pole, or buoy! With a quick recovery, it was on to the Freeway buoy and Aurora buoy where Full Moon took a very wide line to avoid a very slow moving Catalina 270. Mighty Isis was again deployed for the final leg, allowing Full Moon to slide past 40’ Stella Blue to finish roughly tenth. It was great to have both sun and wind, though the temperature still doesn’t feel like summer.