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| Daniel holds forth from the pit. |
Way back in 1996, the Full Moon
crew responded to a “politically incorrect” theme with Martinis and cigars. Ever
since, the final Duck Dodge of summer has been Martini Night aboard Full
Moon, though only the skipper actually enjoyed one this year, the rest of
the crew opting for other assorted beverages.
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| Cap'n John BEFORE the Martini. |
Choosing the less-crowded second start,
Full Moon crew Randy “Where's The Carmel” Olsen, Michael “Wrong Hole” Medina,
Marcelle “First Cut” Van Houten, Daniel “Gotta Sleep” Mengedoht, Logan “Muscles”
Pulsifer, and skipper John “Big Martini” Mengedoht mostly avoided the tight pack
at the Committee Boat with a decent spot a few boat-lengths down the line. This
worked pretty well until the 40’ giant Thundorca passed to windward, briefly
blocking out the wind. Once Thundorca moved on, Full Moon got up
to speed and held off a larger Catalina to the Freeway buoy.
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| Michael and Randy kickin' back on the rail. |
Full Moon continued north toward Gasworks,
hoping to reduce the number of tacks necessary to make the Aurora buoy. This
may have been a poor choice, though, as the wind may have been better a bit
further south. All the same,
Full Moon managed to pass both a J30 and a zippy
Harbor 20 before rounding the buoy and hoisting the Equalizer.
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| Duck Dodge rookie Logan likes the Equalizer. |
Up to that point, the wind had
been pretty consistent but constant trimming of the spinnaker was necessary
heading south with the wind shifting and fading. Getting closer to the AGC
buoy, the wind shifted well aft. Full Moon stayed on the rhumb line, as
did the J30 (now well behind) but the Harbor 20 gybed away, which was probably
necessary with an asymmetric spinnaker. This worked well for them as they
nearly caught Full Moon just before rounding.
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| Marcelle supervises the trimming of the spinnaker. |
The final leg was a straight shot
on port tack but the Harbor 20 tacked to stay closer to the central west side
of the lake. This paid off as they caught up to Full Moon right at the finish
line. After dropping the jib, it was time for beverages and munchies and
celebrating yet another beautiful evening to cap off the series.
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| The wind gets lighter to the south. |
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| The Seattle skyline is pretty spectacular from the lake. |
