Reality Check

Daniel hangs on to the jib sheet as Eileen supervises and Dad eyes the competition.

Tammy pulls in the sheet after another nice tack.

Art enjoys his post-launch handiwork as the Mighty Isis flies downwind.

Rounding the Freeway buoy before the dash to the finish line.

Full Moon crew Art “Matzo” Teller, Doug “Clouds” Schoemaker, Tammy “Twister” Cross, Eileen “Cookies” McHugh, Daniel “Stuffer” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Ray Charles” Mengedoht went for a conservative starboard tack start for Egyptian Night but got caught up in traffic and took a while to find a clear lane to windward. Sailing nearly to Gasworks paid off fairly well before tacking west toward the Aurora buoy, which was set pretty far north and close to moored barges and ships. Fellow-Mooner Michael Medina hovered near the buoy in a kayak and told us we were in 11^th place, having already passed several boats, including Penelope from the first start.

A quick launch of the Mighty Isis (aka the Equalizer) and a move toward the center of the lake got Full Moon past the Olson 25 Iolar and a light blue Capri 25 plus Rachel from the first start. Unfortunately, the Ranger 26 Runner went even further toward the east and found enough more breeze to slide by to leeward before rounding the AGC buoy.

Heading back upwind and then around the Freeway buoy, Full Moon was evenly matched with Runner and the Capri. The Aurora buoy was now in a nearly windless hole with light wind touching down randomly. Runner managed to get past, as did the black Redline (not sure if that is the boat name?) but, once around, Full Moon sat parked with the Capri on one side and Runner on the other, spinnakers drooping. Finally the wind began to fill in from the northeast and Full Moon got by Runner, the Capri, and even the 40’ Bolero on the long reach to the AGC buoy.

Returning upwind, Full Moon held off Runner and the Capri but the Buchan 37 Distance got by in the freshening breeze. Near the Freeway buoy, Full Moon was on starboard tack with the Capri approaching on port. As the Capri ducked behind, Full Moon tacked for a textbook “slam dunk” and, after one more tack, rounded just in front of the Capri. Both boats launched spinnakers for the reach to the finish but Full Moon stayed directly in front to take 8^th place – an excellent finish given the poor start and strong competition.

Red, White and Bronze!

Kate and Jeremy enjoying the sunshine.

Chuck demonstrates being "ship-faced."

The Equalizer just after launch.
Daniel likes going fast as dad steers with his knees.

Daniel prepares to receive the coveted vinyl sticker.

Cap'n John prepares to add to the duck collection on the boom.

With wind out of the NW and the starting line set more or less due east-west, Full Moon crew Michael “Hot Dog” Medina, Chuck “Ship-Faced” Weldy, Kate “Nicknamer” Austin, Jeremy “Justified” Jones, Daniel “Coke Abuse” Mengedoht, and skipper John “The Enabler” Mengedoht opted to try a port tack start at the heavily favored west (Committee Boat) end of the line. Unfortunately, a number of other boats had the same idea, with predictable carnage as the mass of port tackers met the line of starboard tack boats with right of way. Full Moon somehow managed to emerge unscathed and near the front of the fleet, though not exactly according to plan...

The J30 Slingshot powered out ahead of Full Moon, as did a white Thunderbird, but Full Moon did very well on the next tack to the west, nailing the approach to the Aurora buoy and passing several boats including the white T-bird and always-speedy Selchie. With a quick launch of the mighty Equalizer spinnaker, Full Moon took off on a hot reach southward, putting substantial distance on boats behind and reeling in Slingshot before rounding the AGC buoy. Heading back north to complete the first lap, Full Moon was up to sixth place, just behind relative giant Bolero and a dark blue Olson 25.

Some well-timed tacks approaching the Freeway buoy saw both Bolero and the Olson drop behind and suddenly Full Moon was fourth and not far behind the J-27 Summer Babe in third. A crowded rounding of the Aurora buoy caused Summer Babe to lose ground and Full Moon managed to round inside and into third!

The Equalizer did its thing on another smoking reach to the AGC buoy, which was another crowded rounding as the lead second start boats started passing some first starters as well as lapping some slow third start boats. Full Moon got by first-starters Penelope (C&C 99) and a heavily loaded Heart Attack (J-80) on the long upwind leg back to the Freeway buoy, then threaded through tight traffic at the buoy before launching the Equalizer one last time for the reach to the finish. Summer Babe and Slingshot were not too far behind but couldn’t catch Full Moon as she scored the Bronze Duck for an astounding third place finish, our first duck in second start in a long long time. Huzzah!!!

Drenched!

Fierce pirates John, Marcelle, and Randy at the dock.

Michael puts his one eye to work.

Cap'n John appears to have found the rum while Daniel stays warm and dry.

According to Derek Zoolander the merman, “Moisture is the essence of wetness and wetness is the essence of beauty.” Thus, Lake Union was full of very beautiful pirates this week as the rain dumped hard on the Duck Dodge fleet. Full Moon crew Randy “Sour Lime” Olsen, Michael “Floatus” Medina, Marcelle “Squishy” Lynde, Daniel “Soggy” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Main Rain” Mengedoht nailed the start, though with ample company on both sides. Speedy Selchie was behind at first but managed to get by before the AGC buoy.

Under spinnaker, Full Moon held her own toward the Freeway buoy while battling the Buchan 37 Distance. Then the wind shifted forward and died. Full Moon somehow harnessed tiny hints of breeze to pull well ahead of Distance, pass the J30 Slingshot, and gain substantially on Selchie as the wind began to fill back in. After a clean drop of the soaking wet spinnaker, Full Moon then maintained a tight angle to the Aurora buoy. Selchie and Slingshot needed two tacks to lay the mark and Full Moon rounded ahead of both boats, staying ahead to complete the first lap.

Randy embraces the wetness while John peers ahead through the rain.

The sun breaks out at last!

Unfortunately, Selchie again managed to get past before the AGC buoy, though Slingshot could not quite catch up. Under spinnaker, Slingshot slowly gained and rounded the Freeway buoy just behind Full Moon. On the line to the Aurora buoy, Slingshot was forced to sail in the disturbed wind behind Full Moon and still could not get past. As the wind got lighter near the Aurora buoy, Full Moon pulled ahead and then maintained the lead to the finish to take an outstanding seventh, not far behind Selchie.

A rainbow appears over Capitol Hill after the race.

Michael and Marcelle enjoy some post-race beverages.

Inconsistent Shift

Cap'n John catches flies while watching the Windex as Dave and Daniel hang on upwind.

Judy shows off the Big Hat for Wild West Night.

J-boats, dead ahead! (Slingshot in red)

The Hot Tub boat was out again enjoying the sun.

The Wild West Duck Dodge proved wild indeed with strong, gusty wind at the beginning and one very serious t-bone collision that nearly resulted in a sunken boat, though, thankfully, no injuries were reported. Full Moon crew Art “Water Boy” Teller, Dave “Trapped” Pulsifer, Judy “I’m Pulling!” Tiffany, Daniel “Beer Anyone?” Mengedoht and skipper John “Sneaky” Mengedoht were a bit early for the start and, even after a doughnut to kill time, ended up nearly at the pin before heading up to cross the line. The bad news is that this was the disadvantaged end of the line. The good news is that this was well away from the dense traffic at the other end!

The first leg to the Aurora buoy included one full round-up in a gust and a couple of painful extra tacks near the buoy but otherwise went well. The wind was strong enough that any plans to fly the Equalizer on the northbound leg were abandoned and the bulk of the trip to the Freeway buoy was spent swapping over to the standard pole and spinnaker while still making somewhat decent speed with just the jib and main.

The Aurora buoy was set very far north, somewhat close to a barge, and in the usual zone of light wind. Full Moon stayed above the direct line to the buoy and was able to nip right around, passing Runner (Ranger 26), Iolar (Olson 25), and several other boats in one easy move. Heading back south upwind, Full Moon held off any challengers from behind while gaining a bit on a J24. The wind, meanwhile, had gone a fair bit lighter, though with lots of random shifts and puffs to provide some frustrating driving conditions.

After rounding the AGC buoy, the shifty wind made unplanned jibes a constant threat until things settled down into a beam reach in the north half of the lake as the wind clocked into the NE. The Equalizer would have been helpful in the now-lighter breeze but the ancient orange chute still got the job done. Rounding the Freeway buoy and then heading west to the Aurora buoy, Full Moon was not far behind the J30 Slingshot and still well ahead of rivals such as Zephyr.

Heading for the finish line, a spinnaker would have been helpful at first, though the wind angle changed to a very tight reach as Full Moon headed south. Slingshot stayed ahead under spinnaker but barely cleared the end of the finish line. In the end, Full Moon was about 12^th with Runner and Iolar a few places back and Zephyr a full ten boats behind. The thundershowers that had been forecast never appeared and the sun remained out until well past the end of the race. Wind and sun two races in a row!

A fun time-lapse of the race from Gasworks Park can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_nAc0X-2Gqs. 

Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge!

Don and John, heading out from the marina.

Tammy and Marcelle enjoy the sun. Is that a Thrift Shop coat? 

The sun starts heading down through the Aurora Bridge. 

Yep, he's a teen now, caught looking grumpy, though he wasn't!

The Thriftshop Night Duck Dodge defied the forecast with sunny skies and strong and gusty wind. Full Moon crew Michael “Twinkle Toes” Medina, Marcelle “Color Coat” Lynde, Tammy “Fast Tack” Cross, Don “Pinball” Caffrey, Daniel “Hoody” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Deck Wash” Mengedoht were about 30 seconds late for the start near the Committee Boat and then bashed upwind with a bit too much sail up, trying not to round up in the gusts.

Approaching the AGC buoy, Full Moon ended up just to windward of the J24 Fat Chance, which then appeared to have some kind of trouble tacking, overstanding the mark by a wide margin. Once around, Full Moon delayed hoisting the spinnaker as it was set up for what turned out to be the wrong side of the boat. Once launched, the oversized Equalizer quickly proved to be WAY too much to handle, sending Full Moon flying at around 8 knots prior to a fairly spectacular broach! The nylon beast was brought back under control just in time for a clean douse at the Freeway buoy, though the pole ended up fouled in the jib sheets.

Foredeck cleanup was more than a little perilous as Full Moon zipped along toward the Aurora buoy and, unfortunately, the vintage 1978 foreguy shackle chose this moment to expire, launching the pin and spring into the lake. With the wind continuing strong, it was decided to skip trying to re-rig for the smaller spinnaker and pole and take our chances with just the jib. With all that, Full Moon still rounded the Aurora buoy ahead of Fat Chance and with a solid lead on rival Zephyr!

Full Moon continued to hold off all comers upwind with the exception of relative giant Verity and another even bigger boat, Thundorca. Approaching the AGC buoy, though, a last-second tack went wrong and speedy Fat Chance got by. Sailing “wing and wing” downwind, Full Moon then maneuvered behind Fat Chance, “stole” her wind, and managed to get by before the Freeway buoy. With good tactical positioning, Full Moon stayed ahead to the Aurora buoy, rounded, and then tightened up on port tack before tacking for the beat to the finish.

Fat Chance (behind) and Verity (ahead) both tacked right at the buoy, which put them on a lower course. Full Moon then played the shifts for a straight shot to the line, beating both boats to take somewhere around 12^th place (it was very hard to keep track!). It was great fun trading places back and forth with Fat Chance and nice to have both wind and sun two weeks in a row! Meanwhile, the San Juan 24 Orca, which blew out her spinnaker in a big gust, has our sympathies. That could just as easily have been Full Moon if we’d flown the ancient standard spinnaker.

Olson Sandwich

Full Moon in the prestart.

A bigger than usual turnout.

The mighty Equalizer reaches down the lake.

Full Moon is near the left side of this shot.

Kate and Jeremy enjoy their first Duck Dodge on Full Moon.

Mata Hari experiments with spinnaker technology. 

The Hot Tub Boat was out with an all-female crew. Not sure why  there isn't a crowd of guys near by?

Duck Dodge No. 5 brought out more than the usual number of boats, enticed by the beautiful sunny skies and a nice northerly breeze. Full Moon crew Randy “Doubly Perfect” Olsen, Art “Rusty” Teller, Kate “Chaos” Austin, Jeremy “T-Bone” Jones, and skipper John “Contender” Mengedoht absolutely nailed the start near the pin end but unfortunately were helpless to prevent a few rockets (brand new J70) and bigger boats (Mata Hari) from working on by. Still, at the Aurora buoy Full Moon was hanging in there with three Olson 25s, Scat, and other fast boats while comfortably ahead of traditional rivals Ignitor and Zephyr.

After a brief hiccup, the mighty Equalizer was launched for the long reach to the AGC buoy. Full Moon actually passed Scat for a while (no pun intended) but then had difficulty with the wind shadow of boats to windward. At the buoy, a clean spinnaker drop and tight rounding kept Full Moon in the thick of things.

Heading upwind to the Freeway buoy and then across to the Aurora buoy saw Full Moon trading places back and forth with Iolar and another Olson 25 while also passing the Santa Cruz 27 Shazam and first-starter Penelope (C&C 99), which was pretty astounding. After rounding at Aurora, the Equalizer was hoisted again to good effect but, as before, it was challenging to pass anyone to leeward and Full Moon proceeded most of the way south with an Olson 25 on each side.

On the second trip northbound, Full Moon held off Iolar and picked off a J100 from first start as well. Rounding the Freeway buoy and then reaching south to the finish, Full Moon continued to hold off Iolar to take an excellent 11^th in a larger than normal fleet.

Ya Sure, Ya Betcha!

The Race Committee had to rough it this week - it wasn't that warm out.

Approaching the AGC buoy on the first lap.

Randy and Michael relax for a moment after hoisting the mighty Equalizer.

Cap'n John with his game face on.

The clouds briefly cleared away for the start of the Viking Night Duck Dodge and, with a decent wind out of the southwest, Full Moon went for the favored Committee Boat end of the line. Of course, so did a bunch of other boats, including some relatively large ones, and Full Moon was squeezed in a traffic jam. Crew Randy “Perfect Set” Olsen, Michael “Skirt” Medina, Marcelle “Ease N’ Trim” Lynde, Eileen “Kayaks” McHugh, and skipper John “Rolled Again” Mengedoht soon tacked away into clear air but not before giving up some ground to Summer Babe (J27), Selchie (T-bird) and some others which had done better with a clean start near the other end of the line.

Full Moon did well playing the wind shifts, though, and rounded the AGC buoy not too far behind Selchie and Runner (Ranger 26), which had returned to second start after trying third start for a race or two. The decision to do a jibe set of the spinnaker proved a mistake as the wind had clocked into the south but the mighty Equalizer still kept Full Moon in the game, not all that far behind the lead boats.

The Equalizer came down smoothly at the Freeway buoy and Full Moon headed west to the Aurora buoy. Unfortunately, the Aurora buoy was in a wind dead zone. Boats that drifted around just ahead then reached a wind line first and took off and Full Moon was suddenly no longer in reach of the race leaders.

The southbound leg was a battle between Full Moon and much bigger boats like the Buchan 37 Distance, the bigger boats having the edge whenever the breeze came on. Distance got ahead, but not by much, and Runner was also still in striking distance.

Launching the Equalizer ahead to head north, Full Moon held her own, had another clean drop at the Freeway buoy, and sailed a bit south of the rhumb line to provide some cushion at the dead zone remaining near the Aurora buoy. This paid off as Full Moon was able to round inside of both Runner and Distance.

Unfortunately, Runner then caught a puff of wind to windward and was soon close abeam with a Capri 25 just ahead and to windward of them. Full Moon held off Runner for a good distance but the Capri was able to pull ahead and this changed the wind dynamic just enough to allow Runner to forge ahead as well.

In the end, Full Moon was a still-decent ninth, with Runner ahead in seventh, Distance just behind in tenth, and rival Zephyr a shade further back in eleventh.

80% Chance of Weather

Big Dave, John, and Judy heading out from the marina.

Just ahead of Zephyr after a near-perfect start.

Items to leeward are not as close as they appear....

Chasing Selchie in very light air on the long leg to the AGC buoy.

The forecast for Duck Dodge No. 3 (Sam Garvin Memorial Night) called for 80% chance of rain and a consistent 10 knots of breeze out of the southwest. Prepping Full Moon for battle, there certainly was rain but not much wind. Prior to the start, the rain was gone, the sun popped out (for a while), and the lake turned to glass with the faintest hint of air coming out of the west. Not that I’m complaining about the sun, mind you.

Full Moon crew Michael “Highland Park” Medina, Dave “Dry Drop” Pulsifer, Judy “Slow Leak” Tiffany, and skipper John “Hard to Pass” Mengedoht maneuvered just in front of rival Zephyr and nailed the start near the Committee Boat. Farther west, the blue T-bird Selchie and J80 Heart Attack (which we assumed was in first start) were not far behind, though, and both found just enough more wind to squeeze out ahead. With the mighty Equalizer spinnaker up, Full Moon kept up to round the Freeway buoy, presumably in second place (more on that later), and ahead of a few first start boats.

Full Moon continued to chase Selchie across the lake toward the Aurora buoy. Old rival Ignitor snuck up from behind but was never really a threat as they were also a ways off to leeward. Full Moon maintained a good line all the way to the buoy but Selchie came in on starboard tack with right of way, requiring Full Moon to duck behind before rounding.

The long leg to the AGC buoy alternated between a beam reach and close-hauled in very light air. Selchie managed to stretch out their lead as Full Moon held off a couple of bigger boats. After rounding the buoy, the mighty Equalizer was launched again and Full Moon began to slowly reel in Selchie.

However, as Selchie passed the Committee Boat, a horn sounded – the Committee had shortened the race to a single lap! Unfortunately, there was no horn for Full Moon as we were placed fourth, though this was still an excellent finish and cause for celebration. The question was who had finished ahead of Selchie?

It turns out Salsa (J29) was scored in first place, though we never saw her, and Heart Attack was scored in second. Given that Heart Attack’s sister ship Crazy Ivan is typically in first start and a J29 rates the same (PHRF 123), it is a mystery to me why these boats continue to race in second start. While Full Moon dabbled with third start last summer at the suggestion/invitation of the Race Committee, it was clear that her natural competition was in second start and we switched back. Salsa and Heart Attack, please take the hint!

Keep On Swimming...

Debra and Chuck with their funky hats.

Selchie with Full Moon in the background on the first leg. 

Gravel barge coming through! 

J'Estalt leads Selchie on the first downwind run. Full Moon has the orange spinnaker way behind, though we would  be ahead of all these boats at the finish!

Relative to the wind, the "pin" end was favored for the Funky Hat Night Duck Dodge. However, relative to the first buoy, the Committee boat end was heavily favored. Full Moon crew Debra “Shamrock” Ricard, Chuck “Black Butte” Weldy, and skipper John “No Ice” Mengedoht opted to run the line a short distance on starboard and then tack in hopes of avoiding some of the traffic. This worked mostly as planned but the boats starting right at the Committee boat, including rival Zephyr, came out ahead. Once the relative giant (36’) Mata Hari rolled by to windward, Full Moon was ninth heading to the Freeway buoy.

The wind was very light and would remain so throughout the race. Full Moon matched the pace of the fleet across Gasworks Park to the Aurora buoy and, while unable to gain on Zephyr, was mixing it up well with the Thunderbirds and J-24s. Unfortunately, a gravel barge and pusher tug came through under the Freemont Bridge just in time to delay Full Moon from rounding the Aurora buoy.

In deference to the small crew, the vintage 1978 and somewhat porous standard spinnaker was hoisted instead of the mighty Equalizer. This was probably the right choice overall but it was painful not to have the nylon monster to provide the usual speed boost. Still, a move toward the center of the lake did help find a bit more wind and Full Moon closed the gap a bit on Zephyr.

After rounding the ACG buoy to head back upwind, Full Moon managed to hold off the J24 J’Estalt halfway up the leg while gaining a bit more on Zephyr. J’Estalt did manage to get past, though, and after passing the Freeway buoy, Zephyr maintained their lead to the Aurora buoy, where the wind had gone extremely light.

On the second downwind run, it was a challenge to keep the spinnaker flying but Full Moon found the few zones of better wind while many boats closer to the Westlake shore had difficulties. Amazingly, Full Moon managed to pass two J24s, including J’Estalt, the T-bird Selchie, Mata Hari, and a J27 before rounding the AGC buoy. Zephyr, however, remained comfortably ahead.

Full Moon held off any challengers to the finish, placing about eighth followed by Selchie and Mata Hari, the J27, J’Estalt and the rest of the J24s and Thunderbirds. Zephyr finished about fifth while old rivals Ignitor and Fortis were at least half a lap behind. 

Every Which Way but Loose

Dave, Cap'n John, Marcelle, and Don just after leaving the dock.

Milling around before the start in very light air.

That's Full Moon dead center of the photo heading upwind on the first leg.

John, Dave, Daniel, and Marcelle enjoying the sunny weather.

Duck Dodge No. 1 began with a light breeze out of the southwest and sunny skies. Full Moon crew Michael “Supple” Medina, Marcelle “Skirt” Lynde, Don “U-Lock” Caffrey, Dave “Knot Me” Pulsifer, Daniel “Boom” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Guess Which Side” Mengedoht elected to stay away from the pile-up at the favored Committee Boat end of the starting line in hopes of a clear lane but this didn’t pay off. Rival Zephyr, and old rivals Ignitor and Shogun all ended up ahead, though Fortis was somewhere behind.

Full Moon enjoyed swapping tacks with a couple of T-birds and J-24s before rounding the AGC buoy and hoisting the mighty Equalizer spinnaker. The Equalizer performed well until about the middle of the lake when the wind began to die. It soon became obvious that the wind was starting to come out of the north, so the jib went back up and the spinnaker came down to complete the leg to the Freeway buoy.

Crossing past Gasworks Park and heading for the Aurora buoy, Full Moon picked off Shogun but didn’t gain much, if any, on Zephyr or Ignitor. After rounding the buoy, the Equalizer was hoisted again for the second time in a single lap and Full Moon began to reel in 33’ Penelope from the first start. Unfortunately, it proved impossible to pass the bigger boat to leeward. However, Zephyr and a T-bird had stayed to the Westlake side until reminded (ahem!) that they needed to cross the start finish line on the first lap. This brought them across to converge with Full Moon and Penelope close aboard the Committee Boat. Naturally, this was when the wind shut off again and began to fill in from the south!

Unfortunately, Penelope and Zephyr both cleared the dead zone before Full Moon and remained ahead to the AGC buoy to start the second lap. Once again, the Equalizer went up and this time Full Moon sailed a course to pass both Penelope and Zephyr to well to windward before shifting back to the jib once again to cross the doldrums.

Approaching the Freeway buoy, Ignitor was only about 50 yards ahead. Crossing Gasworks Park again, Full Moon slowly gained and eventually pulled ahead. However, the wind was getting very light near the Aurora buoy. Full Moon made it around first and hoisted the Equalizer yet again but the wind died out almost immediately. Down came the Equalizer and the crew went through several tacks trying to make progress out of any hint of breeze. Finally, a wind line began to appear ahead and Full Moon reached it first, zooming away from the pack remaining dead in the water near the buoy. The south wind finally won the lake, filling in very nicely and providing an exhilarating trip to the finish line in the fading light nearly two hours after the start.

With the crazy wind, sail changes, and focus on reeling in our rivals, I am not certain exactly how Full Moon placed but I’ll give it a semi-educated guess of eighth with Ignitor ninth and Zephyr somewhere around twelfth. Meanwhile, with the exception of Salsa (J33), the “fast” boats actually went in first start where they properly belong, a nice change from recent years. Full Moon will never be the fastest boat in second start but it does help to have more reasonable competition!

Ready for the Duck Dodge!

Full Moon was looking a bit scruffy and had a little slime here and there below the water line so she got a quick cleanup last Sunday, to be followed with a more proper scrub and polish as soon as I can get a weekend and a few of the crew together.

Unfortunately, the usually reliable Yamaha F8 outboard would fire and run but not idle without stalling - the minimum running speed would have been a bit scary for shifting into gear. How does this happen when it ran perfectly a month ago??? Without a proper shop manual (Yamaha charges way too much for these and the aftermarket manuals don't cut it for me), I was reticent to mess about with the carburetor but with the first Duck Dodge looming and no time to haul the outboard to a shop, I returned to the boat Tuesday evening and (very carefully!) removed the carburetor.

Fortune smiled upon me - the Yamaha carburetor is a much better design than the one on my old (vintage 80s) Honda 7.5 and it proved easy to access the jets for cleaning. Reinstallation was a bit fiddly lining up the bolts with the air intake, carb, two gaskets, and a spacer (all this was done from the dock with the boat backed up to the dock as close as I dared) but the end result was perfect - the motor now idles very smoothly with no hint of wanting to stall.

There's always more to do, of course, but Full Moon is ready to go for Duck Dodge Committee Appreciation Night next Tuesday. I can't wait!

Spring Has Sprung!

Sorry, no photos, but son Daniel and I had a blast on Lake Union on Saturday enjoying the sunshine and healthy breeze. Full Moon was clearly ready for a romp, too. Using the #3 jib to make life simpler for the two of us, she still popped up over 6 knots at one point and clearly had a speed advantage over a Thunderbird going the same direction. It's always nice to beat a T-bird, even if it wasn't an actual race!

Fun Finale

Holding off Selchie!

Full Moon crew Randy “Sweet Bowline” Olsen, Art “Carnival” Teller, Michael “Half Cup” Medina, Marcelle “Traction Control” Lynde, Daniel “Boxman” Mengedoht, and skipper John “The Kraken” Mengedoht enjoyed an average start for the final Goosebump race in a light southwest breeze. Some of the big boats pulled ahead, along with speedy Cinc-o-sink and the well-sailed T-bird Selchie, but Full Moon matched the pace of two 40-footers, Bolero and Yankee III, rounding the AGC buoy ahead of both, though not by much.

The wind went very light for the second leg and Full Moon had some issues with hoisting the spinnaker pole. Still, Bolero and Yankee III could not pass, the three boats rounding the Cove buoy side by side with Full Moon on the inside. The long reach north saw the wind clock west and then northwest until finally Full Moon had to switch from spinnaker to jib but the Equalizer had taken care of business, allowing Full Moon to gain on Selchie in front and to pull away from Bolero and Yankee III.

After rounding the Freeway buoy, Bolero began to gain but could not sail as tight an angle as Full Moon. Getting closer to the Aurora buoy, Bolero tacked and then had to duck behind Full Moon, which had the right of way on starboard tack. Soon the roles were reversed, though, and Full Moon ended up following Bolero around the buoy.

Fortunately, Bolero did not hoist a spinnaker for the final downwind leg and the Equalizer once again helped Full Moon to pull ahead, though the wind was barely enough to fill the nylon monster. Meanwhile, Selchie had opted to head more toward the middle of the lake, presumably in hopes of finding stronger wind, while Full Moon headed straight for the finish line. As the boats slowly converged, though, it became evident that Full Moon had a (very) slight lead! The challenge would be to stay ahead without allowing Selchie to steal the wind from behind. In the end, Full Moon prevailed, finishing an excellent fifth with Selchie seconds behind in sixth.

Post-race relaxation. Fun times!

Full Moon Sits One Out

Cap'n John was beleaguered by a nasty cold so Full Moon stayed in her slip for Goosebump Race No. 5, which was a shame since the weather was so beautiful. Meanwhile, the official scoring for all races has been posted on the NW Riggers website (http://www.nwriggers.com/blog/2013-goosebump-races/), including a big change on scoring the third race. Initially, a large group of boats had been disqualified from that race for starting some five minutes early. Rather than alienate ten otherwise happy crews, the Race Committee agreed to count their finishes. This is mildly unfair to the boats that started on time, since they effectively raced with a five minute time penalty, but the feeling was that the finishing order would not likely have changed since it was  the ten fastest and/or biggest boats that were over early. All in all, that was a reasonable compromise, though it drops Full Moon from a rare third place finish to eleventh in that race. Oh, well - we still had a lot of fun!

Best Start Ever!

The boys in black, looking very relaxed on the final leg.

Full Moon crew Randy "Wet Spot" Olsen, Michael "Little Sumpin" Medina, and skipper John "Sneaky, Sneaky" Mengedoht went for a port tack start at the pin for Goosebump race no. 4 and absolutely nailed it, crossing the line with full speed a mere second or two after the gun. Crossing in front of the entire fleet would have been icing on the cake but giant Jedi and speedy Tipsy Gypsy were coming on a bit too fast on starboard tack and Full Moon had to duck behind them. Still, that had to rank as Full Moon's best start ever.

The wind was light and shifty up the first leg. Full Moon held off The Black Knight for awhile but both TBK and Surt (C&C 41) got by before the AGC buoy. Heading to the Cove buoy, the Thunderbird Selchie was giving chase but had some issues hoisting their spinnaker while Full Moon had deferred hoisting until the next leg and sailed fairly fast with the jib on a nice beam reach. After rounding the Cove buoy, though, the wind  went very light and shifted from the SW to the SE, necessitating a scramble to switch the pole before hoisting the Equalizer. Naturally, once the spinnaker was up and flying, the wind shifted back, requiring a quick jibe!

Selchie had made up a little ground during the scramble and jibe but then Full Moon pulled a bit farther ahead as things settled down. Approaching the Freeway buoy, it appeared the big boats ahead were carrying their spinnakers onto the next leg and Full Moon did the same, though the wind angle was very tight, especially for a symmetrical spinnaker. Surt gave up and switched to their genoa and Full Moon gained on them for a little while. Meanwhile, Tipsy Gypsy and The Black Knight were locked in a close battle further ahead providing a great show until TBK prevailed rounding the Aurora buoy.

The Equalizer was a little harder than normal to bring down on such a tight reach (especially as we were short-handed) but everything was straightened away as Full Moon went around the Aurora buoy to head upwind to the finish. Selchie was 100 yards or so behind but still a threat given the wind's light and shifty nature. In the end, though, Selchie stayed comfortably behind as Full Moon finished an excellent fifth place, amazingly not all that far behind Surt. Jedi was first, followed by Tipsy Gypsy and TBK.