Two Laps of Fun

Full Moon (far left) avoids carnage at the Committee Boat.

Full Moon crew Randy “Halyards” Olsen, Daniel “Packer” Mengedoht, Eileen “Port” McHugh, Michael “Starboard” Ward and skipper John “Busy” Mengedoht enjoyed a solid start on starboard tack for the Pink Boat Duck Dodge, avoiding the pile-up at the Committee Boat. With decent wind, however, it wasn’t long before much bigger boats caught up, though the Capri 25 Tailwind was holding their own, eventually taking first place.

Daniel retrieves the bag after helping launch the Equalizer.

With a Paddleboard Rave happening off Gasworks, the first buoy was the Aurora buoy, Full Moon rounding with speedy Iskra (S2 7.9) and just behind Makima (Thunderbird). With the Equalizer deployed, Full Moon passed Makima and then traffic slowed Iskra, allowing Full Moon to round the AGC buoy ahead. Unfortunately, skipper John briefly forgot about the Chandlers Cove buoy before correcting course. It appeared that some boats forgot about the requirement to cross the finish line on the first lap, though it didn’t matter all that much.

Full Moon gets the inside line at the AGC buoy on the first lap.

The second lap was similar to the first, Full Moon losing ground to some boats upwind only to pass or gain on boats downwind. In the end, Full Moon was about tenth on a beautiful warm evening.

Full Moon (left) on approach to the AGC buoy on the second lap.

Full Moon will miss the Summerween Duck Dodge next week, getting a long-overdue haul-out for fresh bottom paint. We’ll return to third start for Toga Night, having completed our second start penance for doing a little too well earlier in the season.

Post-race, several boats drifted among the hundreds of paddle-boards.