Taco Night?

Full Moon crew Randy “Ford” Olsen, Ian “Tenor Sax” Mengedoht, Rebecca “Grand Caravan” Herivel, Daniel “Catch 22” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Formula One” Mengedoht prepared for the Toga Night Duck Dodge mainly by making sure to have plenty of cold beverages aboard. Given the level of participation seen on other boats, maybe it is time to retire this theme?

Full Moon (far right) on approach to the Aurora buoy.

Prestart maneuvers were a bit scary as one larger boat coming downwind (starboard gybe) elected to turn and keep turning toward Full Moon for no apparent reason (and despite some loud yelling) until running into Full Moon’s port (stern) quarter. Since Full Moon was on port tack, there wasn’t much to say about right of way other than that you’re supposed to hold your course and not turn to create a collision in a crossing situation when it could easily be avoided. Amazingly, the same boat then proceeded to bash into yet another victim shortly thereafter. I’m not naming names but the Duck Dodge is NOT the place for beginning sailors!

Full Moon (center) shortly after launching the Equalizer.

Despite all that, Full Moon got off to a good start on port tack in clear air near the middle of the line, followed by a straight shot to the Freeway buoy, which was a bit south of its normal location. Heading for Gasworks – but not too close – paid off with Full Moon passing several boats on the way to the Aurora buoy. The Aurora buoy was set very far to the north, making for some challenging tacking in light air while staying clear of moored ships and dodging boats coming the other way under spinnaker. Once around, the mighty Equalizer was hoisted but not very helpful until clearing out of the wind shadow of several much larger boats. The long reach/run to the AGC buoy was a bit slow, Full Moon gaining on boats ahead while worrying about boats gaining from behind.

Full Moon after the finish (boats beyond are from second start).

The final upwind leg felt a bit faster and only two tacks were necessary to hit the line, Full Moon finishing an excellent fourth place.

That Reindeer Was Smoking a Joint!

The Christmas in July Duck Dodge offered some extreme wind variations, even for Lake Union in July. Full Moon crew Daniel “St. Bernese” Mengedoht, Ian “Sax Man” Mengedoht, Chris “Anchor Steam” Beza, Rebecca “Low Brass” Herivel, and skipper John “Knight Bus” Mengedoht were well positioned for a good start until a Seascape 27 with good speed on jammed into the boats congregated at the Committee Boat, pushing most to leeward and up close and personal with Full Moon. The wind at that point was very light so it took quite a while to get any clear air.

Daniel at his usual post.

The wind eventually filled in a bit from the northeast but was then nearly dead at the Freeway buoy, leading to a challenging rounding. Once around, the wind was predominantly from due east but very light and shifty. A few boats attempted to fly spinnakers with limited success. Approaching the area where an Aurora buoy should have been visible, there was no buoy to be found (did the gravel barge take it out?) and the fleet took a left turn to the south.

Boats heading for the AGC buoy before Full Moon arrives with more wind.

The wind then began to fill in rather nicely out of the northwest, allowing Full Moon to gain rapidly on boats ahead, passing quite a few and nearly catching speedy Scat! Naturally, the wind then began to fade approaching the Aurora buoy, allowing a giant Beneteau 41 and a few other boats to catch up. Unfortunately, the Beneteau skipper appeared unfamiliar with the basic windward/leeward rule, squeezing into boats to leeward trying to make it around the buoy, including Full Moon, which was second closest to the buoy. Making matters worse, boats overlapped to windward began to turn as soon as they reached the buoy, making no allowance for leeward boats also trying to go around. Chaos and bumper boats resulted, thankfully with no serious crunching sounds.

Ian and Rebecca enjoy racing thrills.

The final leg, once boats spread out a bit, was drama free, Full Moon finishing somewhere in the upper fourth of the fleet. All in all, it was an entertaining evening, though a few skippers would do well to remember the rules and the need to avoid collisions, even gentle ones.

The Mirror Ball is All

Full Moon returned to racing for Prom Night after two weeks of no Duck Dodge (too hot on June 29 and no race planned for July 6). After so many years of this theme we skipped the prom attire and settled for just hanging the little mirror ball from the backstay. Congratulations to old rival Ignitor, however, which scored the Black Duck.

Ignitor scored the Black Duck!

With a reaching start, crew Randy, Dave, Judy, Daniel and skipper John set up near the buoy end of the start line in hopes that a hotter angle and less congestion would be better than a slightly shorter distance. Unfortunately, Full Moon was over early, though we had company to share in our embarrassment. (Not that the race committee seemed to notice?) Approaching the AGC buoy, the wind got very light (as usual) and traffic got heavy (as usual) and Full Moon actually got pushed onto the buoy by two boats close to windward.

Once around, it was a straight shot upwind to the Freeway buoy with Full Moon close behind Ignitor. Splitting tacks on the way to the Aurora buoy (which was set far to the north) brought Full Moon right onto Ignitor's transom but a leisurely spinnaker hoist allowed the gap to increase. Full Moon almost got by closing in on the AGC buoy but couldn't quite get past the wind shadow of the bigger boat.

The upwind leg to the Freeway buoy was similar to the first lap but Full Moon had better luck on the next leg and managed to round the Aurora buoy just in front of Ignitor. Unfortunately, there were issues with the spinnaker hoist and Ignitor surged back into the lead, this time for good. It was great fun to have some boat to boat racing with our old rival and yet another gorgeous evening on the lake.

Full Moon enjoys the post-race glow (far right).