Far, Far Away

Full Moon on approach to the starting line, two boats to the right of Kitiwake's stern.

Full Moon skipped Duck Dodge No. 2 (skipper was out of town) but returned for Star Wars Night. Crew Randy “Jibe Ho!” Olsen, Chuck “The Count” Weldy, Tina “Skewers” Hein, Ian “Jawa” Mengedoht, Daniel “Yoda” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Obi Wan” Mengedoht enjoyed a pretty decent start in clear (but very light) air. Finding or staying in pockets of better breeze would be the mode all evening but Full Moon did pretty well on the first leg to the Freeway buoy.

Full Moon leads Tuesday to the AGC buoy on the second lap.

With an unusual easterly wind, spinnakers were flown to advantage on the leg to the Aurora buoy, which, thankfully, was not moving around this week. The long leg to the AGC buoy was mostly a reach but not deep enough for a symmetrical spinnaker. Then it was back upwind to start the second lap. Rinse and repeat…

Full Moon (left) finishes in the waning light.

With two laps and light air, the race took quite a while but Full Moon did fairly well given six people and two full coolers aboard. Old rival Ignitor was never a threat and we even managed to stay ahead of one J24!

A classic light air evening on the lake.

Gettin' the Bugs Out

Full Moon lookin' good.

Full Moon returned to racing with the first Duck Dodge of the year. Crew Randy “Back in the Saddle” Olsen, Michael “Rusty” Medina, Dave “Shorts” Pulsifer, Judy “Skirt” Tiffany, Ian “Beermeister” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Lee Bow Effect” Mengedoht enjoyed a gorgeous evening on Lake Union, though the wind was relatively light for much of the race.

3rd Start fleet in a typical Duck Dodge scene.

Full Moon managed a decent start near the Committee Boat but would have done better flying a spinnaker for the first leg as the beam reach turned into more of a run. A tidy rounding of the AGC buoy led to a long close-hauled leg and lots of interaction with the J22 Freedom and the relative giant 40’ Stella Blue. Our old rival Ignitor somehow made it past on this leg, though we’d fix that on the second lap.

 

Lots of boats were out. That may be Full Moon on approach to the AGC buoy under spinnaker.

After rounding the Freeway buoy, the search was on for the Aurora buoy, which proved to be a moving target, a number of boats snagging the buoy mooring line and dragging it toward the south. Full Moon also fell prey to this trouble as the mooring line was mostly floating near the surface, making it impossible to get around without taking a very wide approach. Perhaps a heavier line or a shorter scope would be helpful in the future?

 

Ignitor finishing behind as the sun sets.

Once clear of the snag, the Equalizer was hoisted to good effect and Full Moon began to gain on boats ahead. Traffic approaching the AGC buoy led to a late drop and, unfortunately, the pole snagged in the jib sheets as Full Moon returned upwind. This was soon cleared up and the game was on to choose the best places to tack in the decreasing wind. Full Moon did pretty well with this, though the final approach to the Freeway buoy brought us very close to one marina.

 

It was full dark coming back to the marina.

Crossing the lake to the west, it was evident that the Aurora buoy had been dragged even farther south and close to the Westlake shore. Full Moon headed for it and then bailed as we got close as yet another boat fouled the mooring line, leaving it questionable whether there would be room to get around. The Equalizer was hoisted, initially with a classic “Mae West,” and Full Moon headed slowly for the finish line in the fading light. In the end, we had a lot of fun in the sun and it was great to be back doing the Duck Dodge again!