Oops, We Did It Again!

Full Moon is over the line just a bit early...

After two poor starts recently (and one incredible comeback), Full Moon crew Anne “Birthday Girl” Gustavson, Ben “Coach” Spicer, Poorva “Muscles” Joshi, Daniel “Renaissance Man” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Comeback King” Mengedoht went for a relatively aggressive port tack start for the LED Night Duck Dodge. Unfortunately, traffic and the need to avoid starboard tack boats led to Full Moon being over the line early. WAY early!

Full Moon leads the red J24 (no name) to the AGC buoy.

Quickly whipping around the Committee Boat to restart, Full Moon was still in a lot of traffic but, multiple tacks later, finally got out into the middle of the lake and better wind. By the Freeway buoy, Full Moon had somehow crawled back to about sixth, though it was difficult to tell at that point. After rounding, Full Moon tacked north toward Gasworks to escape the wind shadows of a white T-bird (Makima?) and Great Expectations (SJ 24) and in hopes of catching Amorillo (Moore 24). This didn’t pay off in the short term, but Full Moon went nearly to the Westlake shore on the next tack, which set things up for a perfect approach to the Aurora buoy. This brought Full Moon up to Amorillo, just ahead of the T-bird, and a fair way ahead of Great Expectations.

Daniel reaches for the Silver Duck.

The Equalizer was quickly launched for the beam reach south and Full Moon soon pulled away from the others and then powered past a red J24. With a clean drop, Full Moon rounded the AGC buoy to head for the finish line. Unfortunately, the wind then went extremely light, making for a painfully slow final leg. Full Moon kept slowly moving, though, and eventually crossed the line in growing darkness, in second place for the Silver Duck!

A 505 dinghy responds well to the LED Night theme.

Mission Improbable

Full Moon is at the far right middle of this photo taken right after the start.

Full Moon crew Michael “Jack Nicklaus” Medina, Marcelle “Dry Drop” Van Houten, Kristen “Deck Ornament” Rue, Daniel “Topo Chico” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Late Again” Mengedoht suffered a poor start for the Medieval Knight Duck Dodge, crossing the line in 19^th place a full 1 ½ minutes after the horn and at the disadvantaged end of the line. The silver lining to this dark cloud was having relatively clear air, enabling Full Moon to pass a good number of boats before rounding the AGC buoy.

Heading for the Freeway buoy, Full Moon will pass all but one of these boats!

The Equalizer was quickly hoisted for the long beam reach north and Full Moon began picking off more boats in the relatively light breeze and then passing a cluster of boats approaching the Freeway buoy. With a clean drop of the spinnaker, Full Moon rounded the buoy and was on to the final leg south.

Full Moon about to round the Freeway buoy, chasing the J22.

Next up was a J-22 from SYC, usually difficult to pass upwind, but Full Moon got past to leeward and pulled away. On this final leg, there was a large gap ahead and a ton of boats behind. Could it be? Approaching the Committee Boat, we heard one horn then another, and, finally, one more horn for Full Moon for the Bronze Duck! An amazing comeback!

Cap'n John reveals the bronze duck on one of the few bare spots left on the mast (without a ladder).

New Hatch Seals!

The vintage 1978 forward hatch seals on Full Moon haven't been fully watertight for years and I finally got around to replacing them. They are taller than the originals but fairly squishy so I think they'll be fine. Besides, they were inexpensive so it won't be a big deal to swap them out. Now to chase down the leak at the mast!

Rock The Boat, Baby!

Band Night featured a smoky sun, lots of heat, and minimal wind.

Full Moon crew Randy “Go Behind” Olsen, Ian “Starboard” Mengedoht, Daniel “Port” Mengedoht, Rebecca “Day Camp” Herivel, and skipper John “Whatever” Mengedoht were stuck in a windless mess for the start of the Band Night Duck Dodge on the second hottest day of the year. With numerous “tacks” to avoid other boats, it was over 10 minutes before Full Moon oozed across the line. Deciding that a top three finish was not remotely possible, Daniel employed serious “kinetics” (rocking the boat) to propel Full Moon forward and out of the drifting pack. (This would, of course, be cheating in serious racing.)

Since we were out there anyway, it was decided to proceed at least to the Freeway buoy. This took a long time but then the wind filled in enough to keep going to the Aurora buoy, and then to hoist the Equalizer for the long leg south. This worked well until the wind died again on approach to the AGC buoy. Full Moon barely kept moving, just enough to reach the buoy.

The final leg, however, looked dismal. There is typically a 9 PM cut-off for racing, though, and kinetics were put into play once more in hopes of "finishing" before then. Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to us, the Race Committee had decided to call the race at 8:30 and no boats from third start were scored.

Fortunately, we had ample supplies of assorted cold beverages aboard to help beat the heat!

Tropical Fun

Full Moon crew Michael “Mariners” Medina, Daniel “Cup Control” Mengedoht, Troy “Rat Poop” Charlesworth, Poorva “Observer” Joshi, and skipper John “Calm” Mengedoht had a mediocre start for the Tropical Night Duck Dodge, all boats easily crossing the line on starboard tack. A few boats were passed on the first leg to the AGC buoy, though Full Moon lost some ground due to Thundorca apparently motor-sailing with no jib blocking our path!

Full Moon in eighth place just after the start.

The second leg was a straight shot downwind to the floating “island” dispensing beer, Full Moon opting not to hoist the spinnaker until safely past. With multiple Solo cups aboard, the Equalizer was hoisted to good effect, though gusty wind shifts near the Freeway buoy required a slightly early take-down.

Full Moon was able to hold a relatively southward (windward) course past Gasworks and this paid off by not requiring any tacks to make the Aurora buoy and allowing Full Moon to pass Sommerfugl (29’ Dragon) and Necessary Evil (Catalina 30’).

Cap'n John having fun!

The final leg featured lulls and gusts, Full Moon working hard to hold off a J-22 and Necessary Evil. In the end Full Moon was fourth behind Makima (26’ Thunderbird), an excellent result in a large fleet.