Time For a Cold One

Flying toward the finish line, looking a bit chilly!

Full Moon crew Randy “Panorama” Olsen, Marcelle “Beach Blanket” Lynde, Michael “Hot Buttered Rum” Medina, Daniel “I’m On a Boat” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Big News” Mengedoht braved the cold but sunny Sunday weather for the first of the Goosebump races on Lake Union. New this year is a two-start format and Full Moon was paired with the giants and rocket ships in first start but perhaps it is gratifying to be considered a “fast boat!”

With the radio tuned to the Seahawks game, Full Moon lined up for the start in nearly windless conditions, the lake revealing hardly a ripple. The giant dark-blue-hulled Jedi (J-145?) managed to keep moving on the left while rival Zephyr (San Juan 28) had the best start at the Committee Boat end. Relatively speaking (the first leg took 45 minutes!), Full Moon did very well at first, oozing around the Freeway buoy not far behind Surt (C&C 41), Jedi, and the always-well-sailed 505 dinghy Cinc-o-sink, having left Zephyr and even the Hobie 33 Payara well behind.

Payara soon caught up, though, and as Full Moon slowly drifted toward the Aurora buoy, the wind filled in a tiny bit for the boats behind. This brought Zephyr, Selchie (Thunderbird), and True Blue (Ranger 22) up and past until the scrap of breeze finally reached Full Moon, too.

The race was intended to include all four corners of the lake but it was clear no boat would make that distance within the 2 hour time limit. All boats headed for the Committee Boat after rounding the Aurora buoy, correctly reasoning that the race would finish there. The wind continued its fickle ways but Full Moon caught some to overtake Selchie and then Zephyr, though True Blue remained farther ahead. In the end, Full Moon finished either 5^th or 6^th, depending on whether True Blue was in the first start or second. Zephyr and Selchie followed Full Moon while little Cinc-o-sink beat all the big boats, taking first.