Touch N' Go

It will soon be much closer than this at the start.

Full Moon crew Randy “Pleasure Point” Olsen, Michael “Cabin Boy” Medina, Anne “Birthday Girl” Gustavson, Daniel “Seizure Story” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Shhhhh” Mengedoht set up for a starboard tack start like most of the fleet for the Band Night Duck Dodge. This was complicated by a boat that was essentially stalled and very much in the way of a lot of boats. Then Necessary Evil (Catalina 30) pushed up from leeward, making side to side contact several times with Full Moon, which had been dealing with another boat to windward. I could drone on about rules, but an essential one is that hitting another boat is not okay if it can be avoided… Thankfully, there was no damage.

Boys on the Boat - Daniel, Randy, and Michael.

Full Moon did eventually pull clear to windward and gained sufficient room to tack in front of a Harbor 20. Things were then looking very good, with only Tailwind (Capri 25) apparently in front but a J22 and Makima (Thunderbird) were on a tighter line to the freeway buoy and Full Moon rounded in fourth.

The boats behind will soon be much farther behind!

It was a straight shot to the Aurora buoy. Once around, it took a minute or two for a gybe set but then it was onto the reach/run to the AGC buoy with the Equalizer. Full Moon gained a bit on the leaders and quite a bit on the boats behind, but it wasn’t enough to change positions. With a clean drop at the buoy, Full Moon headed upwind for the finish to place fourth.

Avast There!

Full Moon approaches the line on port tack.

The forecast for the Pirate Night Duck Dodge was for another light wind drifter but we were blessed with fairly robust wind out of the south. Full Moon crew Michael “Halyards” Medina, Ben “Takedown” Spicer, Daniel “Pointy End” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Long Tack First” Mengedoht ended up approaching the starting line on port tack and had to duck a Buchan 37 before tacking to cross the line in fifth place. The Buchan proved to be in the way, behind and just to leeward, for much of the first leg until there was finally room to tack westward. Ducking Rajun Cajun (J24) wasn’t too painful but then Honey Bee (Ranger 26) plugged the works with no steerage right at the AGC buoy.

Full Moon has ducked and tacked behind the Buchan 37, still a decent start.

Once around, Full Moon headed northeast with the genoa before gybing and hoisting the Equalizer, which kept Full Moon in the hunt on the long leg north. Tacking after rounding the Freeway buoy placed Full Moon in the center of the lake for the best wind. Unfortunately, the Buchan had reappeared behind and to leeward, once again preventing a desired tack. In the end Full Moon had to duck behind the Buchan and finished fifth, just ahead of Honey Bee.

August Drifter #2

Full Moon (far right) chasing the leaders.

The Wrestling Night Duck Dodge featured extremely light wind with apparently random shifts. Full Moon crew Randy “Stay in the Middle” Olsen, Rob “Jib Sheets” Lane, Logan “Fancy Knots” Pulsifer, Daniel “Low Pole” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Giant Jib” Mengedoht set up for a starboard tack start near the pin end of the line but were a bit late on timing (skipper error), crossing ahead of a few port tack boats but behind six other boats. The good news, if any, is that the first tack resulted in a course directly to the Freeway buoy once all the wind shifts were through.

Parking lot at the AGC buoy.

With no Aurora buoy (shortened course), the Equalizer was hoisted for the long leg south, but the wind had shifted from a northerly to a west to southwest direction, resulting in flying the symmetrical chute more like a badly cut genoa. The wind held for much of the leg but faded out near the AGC buoy. This allowed Full Moon to catch up with boats ahead until running into the same dead air, while also allowing boats from behind to catch up.

Full Moon (top right) heading for the finish. Some boats are still heading to the AGC buoy.

Rounding the AGC buoy was slow and painful, and the wind remained extremely light and confused. Some boats were able to eventually do well with spinnakers, but it wasn’t worth the effort to repack the Equalizer. In the end, Full Moon finished about sixth in second start, not bad at all given the conditions.

The Lady Washington was out and ended up at Full Moon's marina! Let's hope they're around for Pirate Night.

Rockin' The Pink

Full Moon crosses the start line near the front of the pack.

Full Moon crew Michael “Left” Medina, Daniel “Right” Mengedoht, Marcelle “Great Grapes” van Houten, Anne “Layers” Gustavson, and skipper John “Shifty” Mengedoht enjoyed a decent start in extremely light wind for the Pink Boat Duck Dodge. Staying to windward of most boats helped on the first leg and Full Moon rounded the Freeway buoy in first place, already mixing it up with boats from earlier starts.

Full Moon on the first leg. Lots of boats behind!

The Aurora buoy was set far to the west, making for a long and painful leg as the wind remained light to nonexistent. Things were not improved when the old ferry/party boat Trek opted to cruise through the fleet hailing loudly about boats in “the shipping lanes” needing to get out of the way. Unlike Puget Sound, there are no shipping lanes on Lake Union, and it isn’t like sailboats ghosting along in light wind can suddenly scamper out of the way. Meanwhile, Trek is reasonably maneuverable, clearly saw the sailboats ahead, and could have picked a course around the sailboats to the north instead of through them.

Full Moon about to round the Freeway buoy with lots of second start boats.

Anyway, once around the Aurora buoy, the Equalizer was set for the long reaching leg southward. Amazingly, the wind was sufficient to keep the nylon monster flying. After a clean drop at the AGC, it was on to the final upwind leg in gathering darkness. Approaching the finish line, the Race Committee announced a 9 PM time limit. With some vigorous kinetics (and some minor clock fudging by the Committee), Full Moon was awarded the Gold Duck for first place.

Adding the Gold Duck sticker to the mast in the dark.