That Reindeer Was Smoking a Joint!

The Christmas in July Duck Dodge offered some extreme wind variations, even for Lake Union in July. Full Moon crew Daniel “St. Bernese” Mengedoht, Ian “Sax Man” Mengedoht, Chris “Anchor Steam” Beza, Rebecca “Low Brass” Herivel, and skipper John “Knight Bus” Mengedoht were well positioned for a good start until a Seascape 27 with good speed on jammed into the boats congregated at the Committee Boat, pushing most to leeward and up close and personal with Full Moon. The wind at that point was very light so it took quite a while to get any clear air.

Daniel at his usual post.

The wind eventually filled in a bit from the northeast but was then nearly dead at the Freeway buoy, leading to a challenging rounding. Once around, the wind was predominantly from due east but very light and shifty. A few boats attempted to fly spinnakers with limited success. Approaching the area where an Aurora buoy should have been visible, there was no buoy to be found (did the gravel barge take it out?) and the fleet took a left turn to the south.

Boats heading for the AGC buoy before Full Moon arrives with more wind.

The wind then began to fill in rather nicely out of the northwest, allowing Full Moon to gain rapidly on boats ahead, passing quite a few and nearly catching speedy Scat! Naturally, the wind then began to fade approaching the Aurora buoy, allowing a giant Beneteau 41 and a few other boats to catch up. Unfortunately, the Beneteau skipper appeared unfamiliar with the basic windward/leeward rule, squeezing into boats to leeward trying to make it around the buoy, including Full Moon, which was second closest to the buoy. Making matters worse, boats overlapped to windward began to turn as soon as they reached the buoy, making no allowance for leeward boats also trying to go around. Chaos and bumper boats resulted, thankfully with no serious crunching sounds.

Ian and Rebecca enjoy racing thrills.

The final leg, once boats spread out a bit, was drama free, Full Moon finishing somewhere in the upper fourth of the fleet. All in all, it was an entertaining evening, though a few skippers would do well to remember the rules and the need to avoid collisions, even gentle ones.