A Series of Unfortunate Events

Full Moon opted to run near the starting line on starboard tack and then tacked when faced with a wall of port-tack boats. This worked until it didn’t, a jumble of boats on opposite tacks playing bumper boats. Full Moon eventually bailed out entirely with a 270-degree gybe before finally crossing the starting line for the Masquerade Ball Duck Dodge. Crew Michael “Bun Dip” Medina, Anne “Always Cold” Gustavson, Leslie “Premature Release” Synnestvedt, Daniel “Crazy Pole” Mengedoht and skipper John “Shift Misser” Mengedoht then made the best of things to try to crawl back into the top ten boats. Only two tacks were needed to round the Freeway buoy, followed by a relatively straight shot to the Aurora buoy.

Full Moon is stuck in the middle with nowhere to go. Yes, several boats were over early.

Unfortunately, the wind had shifted significantly to the northeast and Full Moon’s “turbo” spinnaker pole was preset on the wrong side for the long reach south. Once the Equalizer was deployed, things improved considerably, though there was no hope of getting near the lead boats.

The Equalizer came down nicely, but several boats converged at the AGC buoy, Full Moon managing to emerge just ahead of the cluster. It looked at first that a single tack would nicely lay the finish line, but the fickle wind had other ideas, Full Moon needing one last tack at the Committee Boat to cross. In the end, Full Moon was about 10th and behind all traditional rivals, but the sun was still up, and the beverages were cold and a good time was had by all.

Red, White and Bronze!

Full Moon crew Randy “Halyards” Olsen, Chad “Pickleball” Harnish, Karolyne “Damp Drop” Courville, Daniel “Boomwalker” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Telltales” Mengedoht enjoyed a good start for the Red, White and Blue Duck Dodge, battling with Sommerfugl (Dragon) for much of the first leg. Unfortunately, we tacked at exactly the wrong moment into a massive header and ended up with three more tacks before rounding the AGC buoy behind a Rocket 22, Sommerfugl, Mr. Nibbles (Ultimate 20) and a couple of other boats.

Daniel holds the duck while photographing the rest of the happy crew.

The Equalizer was soon launched, though, and Full Moon began to take places back while gaining on the leaders. The Equalizer got a bit wet on the douse but not enough to slow us down and Full Moon rounded the Freeway buoy in the thick of the competition.

Daniel adds to the duck collection on the mast. Yes, we have a lot of those but we've been racing in the Duck Dodge since 1995!

The leg to the Aurora buoy was nearly a straight shot, though the wind was a bit light and shifty. A final tack to the buoy proved slightly premature but Full Moon was able to head up just enough to round the buoy, ahead of Mr. Nibbles. On the final upwind leg, Full Moon managed to pull farther ahead of Mr. Nibbles and, a bit to our surprise, Full Moon got the horn for third place!

Crash Course

Boats seemed determined to collide for the Pride Night Duck Dodge. Full Moon crew Michael “Rope Burn” Medina, Marcelle “Gimpy” VanHouten, Anne “Ready” Gustafson, Daniel “Jib Sheet” Mengedoht and skipper John “Old Man” Mengedoht worked hard to avoid two boats bashing right at the start, zipping right by the Committee Boat. There were other collisions reported and many near-misses in the prestart.

Full Moon (right) passes the Dragon and Makima.

Sommerfugl (Dragon) was ahead and to leeward (the “lee bow” position) and hampered speed for a while but Full Moon was able to point high and eventually manage to lay the Freeway buoy without tacking, rounding the buoy in first place. Heading for Gasworks usually pays off but not this time as Mouse (J30) and SYC 4 (J22) crossed tacks ahead on the beat to the Aurora buoy. Worse, Sommerfugl and Makima (Thunderbird) managed to get past on final approach to the buoy.

Daniel steps on the boom to reach the top of the duck stickers collection.

The Equalizer was then launched for the long reach southward with Full Moon passing and pulling away from Makima and Sommerfugl while gaining substantially on SYC 4. With decent wind, speeds over 7 knots were observed, Full Moon trying to surf! A tidy drop and clean rounding brought Full Moon onto the final upwind leg, unable to gain on SYC 4 but handily holding off the others to score the Bronze Duck for 3^rd!

Aurora Triangle

Daniel mans the "pit."

Full Moon crew Randy “Stripes” Olsen, Daniel “Tidy Foredeck” Mengedoht, Leslie “Rookie Again” Synnestvedt, Lilian “ASA 101” Ha, and skipper John “Hard To Pass” Mengedoht had to make a last minute maneuver to get by a J22 that wasn’t even in our start, getting away about ninth for the Barbie Night Duck Dodge. Racing in second start once again, there were several large boats, but Full Moon managed to peel off one of them on the first leg by using a drifting pontoon boat as a screen.

Randy checks the rigging.

Higher pointing and judicious tacks kept Full Moon in front of Necessary Evil (Catalina 30) at the Freeway buoy and held them off to the Aurora buoy in the NE breeze. Unfortunately, the breeze faded to zero, resulting in a large cluster of boats struggling to get around the buoy. This also created an opportunity for third-start boats to gain from behind. Once around, the mighty Equalizer was hoisted but it took a while for the breeze to build back.

Leslie takes a selfie.

Once moving, Full Moon pulled away from several boats, including Necessary Evil, eventually ending up parallel with 40-foot Thundorca to windward. Mouse (J30) then tried to sneak between from behind, but Full Moon wasn’t about to allow an overtake to windward! Unfortunately, Mouse was able to zip behind and around Full Moon to leeward and create a Full Moon sandwich. Meanwhile Makima (Thunderbird) from third start (!) got past all of us to windward.

Lilian enjoys a quieter moment.

The wind faded again on approach to the AGC buoy, leading to another cluster of boats squeezing together. As boats “pinwheeled” around the buoy, an opening was created for Full Moon to go around inside. The final leg was straightforward. In the end, Full Moon was about ninth with Necessary Evil and Mouse behind.

Rampage scores the Black Duck.

Wind and Wiring!

With the wind howling all afternoon Tuesday, Full Moon opted not to race in the "Ducks Night" Duck Dodge. You might think sailors would love a lot of wind but it can be dangerous on Lake Union with a lot of boats, not all of which have skilled crews. Live to race another day!

On Sunday, foredeck crew Daniel and skipper John went to the boat for a nice afternoon sail and to beat the heat. Minutes after climbing on board, truly nasty smoke began swirling in the cabin coming from the stern area. With no visible fire, there was nothing to point an extinguisher at. And with truly toxic smoke pushing us out of the cabin, there was nothing to do other than make sure the shore power was disconnected (it already was). The breakers are always turned off unless in active use.

After a bit, the smoke dissipated enough for skipper John to carefully disconnect the battery. It turned out the wires from the outboard's alternator to the battery had developed a short, probably where the wires went through the transom. Unlike the shore power charger, it turns out there was no fuse for these wires, something that will be rectified in the repairs!

It was incredibly lucky that we happened to arrive at the boat when we did. The wires melted enough on their own to eventually break the short but it would not have taken much for something else to catch fire. The battery checks out okay, which is good news. 

The offending wires, or what is left of them!

Over Early!

Full Moon is just a bit early across the line. The Hobie was from another start.

Since scoring three “ducks” in third start in four tries, Full Moon advanced to second start for the Derby Night Duck Dodge. With very light wind out of the northwest, Full Moon was positioned close to the starting line but left no room to maneuver vs. other boats and was forced across the line early. (It didn’t help that two dinghies were still checking in with the Race Committee on the starting line side!) With virtually no hope of a top three finish, Full Moon elected to just continue sailing rather than spend ages trying to re-round the Committee Boat for a clean start. (It’s the Duck Dodge! We race for fun!)

Full Moon briefly, if illegally, in the lead!

Crew Michael “Gallery” Medina, Troy “Non-man-splaning” Charlesworth, Kaylee “Snacks” Charlesworth, Daniel “Trainee” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Low Pole” Mengedoht were thus near the front of the fleet initially until slowly being passed by bigger and faster boats before reaching the Freeway buoy. Full Moon played the shifts on the upwind leg to the Aurora buoy, holding our own, while dodging the many paddle boards, kayaks, and drifting power boats.

Something you don't often see, Full Moon (far right) ahead of a J70.

After rounding, the mighty Equalizer was soon hoisted for the long reach south. The Equalizer allowed Full Moon to take back a few places. Then, as often happens, the wind began to fade and shift approaching the AGC buoy. Full Moon dropped the Equalizer in favor of flexibility with the jib, switching from upwind one moment to directly downwind the next.

Troy still can't believe she married him...

After rounding the AGC buoy, it was on to the final upwind leg. Full Moon had to tack a few times but managed to hold off any boats from behind (including rival Necessary Evil) and even got past the speedy Moore 24 Amorillo. In the end, though it didn’t count, Full Moon finished about 10^th, all of us thoroughly enjoying the warm sunny evening.

Convergence Zone

The wind was unexpectedly out of the East/Northeast prior to the start of the Space Night Duck Dodge, then dropped to nothing, then filled in nicely from the North-Northwest. Full Moon crew Randy “That’s a Horn” Olsen, Daniel “Pole Control” Mengedoht, Poorva “On Time” Joshi, Lilian “It’s Over?” Ha, and skipper John “Sixth” Mengedoht managed a good start near the favored Committee Boat end of the line but still had a lot of traffic to contend with. A couple of tacks were needed to reach the Freeway buoy.

Full Moon chases Slingshot, just rounding the AGC buoy.

Heading west past Gasworks, it almost looked like it could be a straight shot (no tacks) but the wind inevitably faded a bit and shifted, requiring a couple of tacks to round the Aurora buoy. Once around, the Equalizer was soon launched to good effect, Full Moon passing several boats and gaining on Slingshot (J30) before dropping the spinnaker to round the AGC buoy.

Post-race selfie: Randy, Poorva, Daniel, Lilian, and John left to right.

The final leg saw no changes, though relative giant Solara (40’) and Mouse (J30) were gaining from behind. It can be difficult to discern which boats are in which start at this point and skipper John figured Full Moon to be about sixth. Much to our surprise, Slingshot received a horn at the line and so did Full Moon for third place!

Equalized!

The wind was light out of the northwest for the Goth Night Duck Dodge and the starting line angle made a starboard tack approach impossible. Full Moon crew Michael “What’s The Score” Medina, Marcelle “In My Pocket” Van Houten, Daniel “Tippy Toes” Mengedoht, Poorva “Runner” Joshi, and skipper John “Channeling Randy” Mengedoht were very nearly over early but managed a good start and briefly led the fleet. Tailwind (Capri 25) had more speed crossing the line and was able to roll by to windward to take the lead.

Full Moon leads third start, at least for a while.

Wildfire (Mirage 24) and Necessary Evil (Catalina 30) converged just in front at the Freeway buoy while Mouse (J30) and Slingshot (J30) closed from behind. Full Moon tacked to avoid sitting in disturbed wind from the boats right in front, gambling that the wind would be somewhat consistent across the north end of the lake. Wildfire fell back but the J30s pulled ahead, Full Moon rounding the Aurora buoy in fifth place.

Full Moon closes in on Tailwind, left, Mouse, center, and Slingshot right. The blue boat was from second start.

The Equalizer was soon launched and, following many years of advice from Original Crew Randy Olsen, Full Moon headed more toward the middle of the lake while the leaders battled it out closer to the Westlake shore. The combination of the mighty oversized spinnaker and course was magic as Full Moon reeled in and passed all the boats save Necessary Evil before rounding the AGC buoy.

Full Moon on approach to the AGC buoy.

With a smooth spinnaker takedown, Full Moon was off on a straight shot to the finish line, getting the horn for second place and the Silver Duck! Mouse was third, followed by Tailwind and Slingshot.

We were treated to a beautiful sunset, post race.

From Zero to Holdin' On!

Lake Union was nearly glassy smooth prior to second start.

Full Moon crew Randy “NA” Olsen, Ian “Ballast” Mengedoht, Rebecca “Safety First” Herivel, Daniel “Pole Control” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Target Aquired” Mengedoht arrived to literally zero wind speed prior to the Sleepover Duck Dodge. Miraculously, the wind filled in from the southwest as the second start got underway. Full Moon approached the start line on port tack, which required a late tack to cross the line in about ninth place. Heading down the lake, Full Moon was well back from the leaders but managed to move up to fifth rounding the AGC buoy.

Due to traffic, Full Moon delayed a jibe but then turned behind the J30 Slingshot and launched the Equalizer to move into fourth. It was then a speedy straight shot up the lake, Full Moon gaining some more but not enough to catch the leaders as the wind provided all boats with good speed.

Full Moon rips along with the Equalizer just prior to dropping the jib.

The take-down went smoothly before the Freeway buoy and Full Moon romped on another straight shot to the Aurora buoy. The final leg went well, though Slingshot managed to get past, their size helping a lot in a good breeze. In the end, Full Moon was fifth, an excellent finish given the mediocre start!

Gold?

Full Moon is the fourth boat from the left - great start!

The wind was out of the southwest for the first Duck Dodge of 2026. The goal for Full Moon was to start at or near the buoy end, which worked out pretty well with Full Moon first or close to first across the line.

Full Moon is squeezed between late-tacking Solara and a J22 at the AGC buoy.

Crew Randy “Untwisted” Olsen, Michael “Mariners” Medina, Chad “Beer Meister” Harnish, Daniel “Twisted” Mengedoht and skipper John “Patience” Mengedoht then sailed a solid first leg, nearly laying the AGC buoy. A late tack required ducking speedy Scamp (Harbor 20) then tacking back just inside a J22 from SYC. Unfortunately, relative giant Solara (40’) came in on port before tacking right in front of Full Moon, creating a tight squeeze with the J22. Collision was averted, Full Moon rounding the buoy in third place.

Full Moon buzzes the Committee Boat while gaining on Scamp.

It took a while to launch the mighty Equalizer (we haven’t done this since September), but it paid off as always, allowing Full Moon to eventually get by Scamp while Solara faded back without a spinnaker up. The Freeway buoy was farther north than normal but Full Moon rounded in first place, just behind the last of the second start boats.

Crew post-race with gold duck!

Unfortunately, that boat was then directly in front of Full Moon for the westward leg, making it difficult to get by or to sail fast in the “dirty air.” This allowed boats behind to gain a bit, Necessary Evil (Catalina 30) nearly catching Full Moon at the Aurora buoy as the wind went light. Necessary Evil did get past on the final leg, though Full Moon returned the favor a bit later. Meanwhile, Scamp was still in the mix, sailing a bit closer to the middle of the lake where the wind was slightly better, and giant Solara was charging up from behind (sometimes size does matter!). At the finish, Solara got a horn followed in quick succession by a horn for Full Moon and another for Scamp. And then another for Necessary Evil.

Cap'n John stretches to install one more duck on the mast.

Full Moon dropped the jib and swung around to collect our duck sticker from the Race Committee, expecting silver. Much to our surprise, it was gold! We then encountered Solara, who let us know they, too, received a gold duck for third start. As it turns out, Solara was scored as being in fourth start. There is no way to unravel that so we'll just roll with it!

Drifting in the Dark

Full Moon is fourth across the starting line, though to leeward of a lot of boats.

Full Moon crew Ian “Beer Meister” Mengedoht, Rebecca “Mom Texts” Herivel, Daniel “Double Deluxe” Mengedoht, Kaylee “Snacks” Charlesworth, Troy “Coach” Charlesworth, and skipper John “Patience” Mengedoht opted for a relatively conservative starboard tack approach to the start for the final Duck Dodge (“Martini Night” aboard Full Moon) and this paid off somewhat in avoiding a cluster of boats on port tack at the Committee Boat. With decent wind, the fleet spread out, tacking back and forth. A final tack nailed the layline to the Freeway buoy, Full Moon pulling ahead of 22’ Anakena and overlapped on the inside of a 29’ Dragon.

Full Moon then continued north to Gasworks before tacking west nearly to the Westlake shore, then tacked north on another perfect layline to the Aurora buoy. This enabled Full Moon to round just (barely) ahead of Necessary Evil (Catalina 30) with Slingshot (J30) just behind. Unfortunately, both 30 footers came in ready to launch their spinnakers while Full Moon still needed to get the pole up, having just tacked at the buoy. This allowed both 30-footers to pull ahead and to windward.

Full Moon trails Necessary Evil and Slinghot to the AGC buoy.

Thus began a long battle south, Full Moon not quite able to punch through the wind shadow of both boats while Necessarily Evil could similarly not escape Slingshot. The good news is that all three were slowly reeling in Makima (26’ T-bird). Approaching the AGC buoy in fading wind, a Beneteau 423 from second start entered the mix. Makima made it around safely in front. A (very) late spinnaker drop on Full Moon allowed rounding inside the big Beneteau, but the ensuing cleanup also allowed them back out in front. Full Moon tacked away but by this time the wind had dropped to nearly nothing.

The final leg was agonizingly slow. Makima eventually crossed the line first, followed by Necessary Evil many minutes later. This left Full Moon and Slingshot to battle for third until Brushfiire (Mirage 24’) snuck past toward the Eastlake shore. Full Moon ultimately prevailed over Slingshot to take fourth, both boats barely moving.

Lots of boats never made it to the AGC buoy before abandoning the race.

This was Full Moon’s 30^th year of dodging ducks going back to 1995. (There were no races in 2020 due to COVID.) We sailed in seventeen out of eighteen races, skipping just one when the boat was hauled out for bottom paint. Amazingly, we also only had rain for one race in May. Keeping with tradition, twenty different people rotated through the crew, including four “newbies.” We managed to score one gold duck, two silvers, and five bronze ducks. Our average finish was 4.5 and our mean finish was 4^th place. Not bad for a 47-year-old boat!

New Moons

After replacing the vinyl letters for the name and the registration numbers, I finally got around to replacing the crumbling moons. I bought the vinyl online and cut it myself - not bad for an amateur.

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!