Watermelon Beer

Heading upwind on the 3rd leg.

The Pajama Night Duck Dodge was pretty windy before the start and Full Moon crew Chuck “Salty Dog” Weldy, Dave “Learning Experience” Pulsifer, Allison “Watermelon Beer” Bahe, Alex “Rookie” Arreola, Daniel “Pac-Man” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Bucket of Ratchets” Mengedoht opted to set things up with the ancient small spinnaker instead of the Equalizer, partly due to lack of experience on the foredeck. Full Moon got a good start on port tack clear of traffic near the buoy end but boats closer to the Committee Boat were still (mostly) able to lay the Freeway buoy without tacking so some of the faster boats got ahead.

Chuck, Dave, and Daniel in the dimming light.

The course then went directly to the AGC buoy, which meant that boats from behind (or later starts) were sailing directly at boats on the second leg, making for some close calls. Full Moon hoisted the spinnaker on the second leg but it wasn’t much faster, if any, than the genoa, given the wind angle. The spinnaker came down nicely at the AGC buoy rather than jibe for the broad reach to the Chandler’s buoy. Once around Chandler’s, it was a nearly straight upwind shot back to the Freeway buoy, with only two short tacks on final approach.

Another fantastic evening on the water.

The spinnaker stayed in the bag for the “downwind” leg, the wind consistently tighter than a beam reach. Two more legs and Full Moon was done, finishing roughly tenth. It was a beautiful evening on the lake, though the sun sets WAY too early! I can’t believe there are only two more Duck Dodge races!

Equalized Again!

Full Moon in prestart maneuvers. Michelle Mathison photo via Facebook.

From a racing point of view, the Mardi Gras Duck Dodge did not start well for Full Moon crew Art “Traffic” Teller, Debra “XX” Ricard, Sophie “Beautiful” Ricard, Chad “Trucker Hat” Harnish, Daniel “Growing” Mengedoht, and skipper John “King” Mengedoht. First, the start timing horns were inconsistent, causing Full Moon to be farther back from the line than intended when the “real” horn sounded. Then, third start traffic (which should have been nowhere near the starting line) continued to blunder across on starboard tack, preventing Full Moon from tacking and crossing the line. The net result was Full Moon starting very nearly last, our worst start in recent memory. But forget all that. The sun was shining, there was a nice northerly breeze, and we were sailing!

Happy campers Sophie and Debra.

We also had a lot of boats to pass… This began early, picking off a couple of boats on a fast close reach to the Freeway buoy and then a few more heading across to the Aurora buoy. The Equalizer was soon launched for a speedy beam reach down the lake, passing a couple more boats, including old rival Ignitor. Full Moon gained rapidly on 30’ Tenacious but also had to defend against a J22 attempting to pass to windward as Full Moon entered the wind shadow from Tenacious. Fortunately, the J22 ended up going to windward of Tenacious and Full Moon eventually punched through the wind shadow to lead both boats to the AGC buoy. As Full Moon was rounding, another boat poked its bow inside Tenacious (without rights, at least from a racing rules point of view) forcing Tenacious to take a very wide rounding. Full Moon, however, made it around cleanly and was soon flying north on a tight reach, leaving the bumper boats behind.

More happy campers, Art and Daniel after the hoist.

Safari, a large (C&C?) boat compared to Full Moon, began to converge from leeward on approach to the Freeway buoy, getting clear ahead just before the buoy. Then, about 2/3 of the way across the lake, it became apparent that the Aurora buoy had moved or was missing. Safari quickly turned south while Full Moon continued looking for a short while. Meanwhile, Ignitor, which was several hundred yards behind, decided the head south while still only halfway across the lake!

Chad before we found his hat. (You had to be there.)

Time for the Equalizer! Full Moon slowly reeled in first Safari and then Ignitor before a clean drop to round the AGC buoy. Then it was hammer down upwind to the finish, staying ahead of both boats and nearly catching yet another before crossing the line. In the end, Full Moon was somewhere in the middle of the fleet, not at all bad considering the start. 

Equalized!

Full Moon crew in the prestart maneuvers.

The weather wasn’t especially tropical for the Tropical Night Duck Dodge but there was no rain and enough wind from the SW to move. Full Moon crew Michael “Pointy End” Medina, Chuck “Geezer” Weldy, Tammy “Takedown” Cross, Kelly “Buried Alive” Laleman, Daniel “Quick Hoist” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Dull End” Mengedoht enjoyed a decent start about a third of the way down the line from Committee Boat and ended up just to leeward and slightly ahead of old rival Ignitor. The “lee bow” position was effective, causing Ignitor to fall behind and then to leeward. A J24 then elected to tack away to avoid a similar fate.

Cruising upwind not long after the start. The black boat is Ignitor.

Unfortunately, boats closer to Committee Boat enjoyed slightly stronger wind and faced a shorter distance to the AGC buoy. Full Moon tacked west for better wind but then had to deal with traffic, ducking a few boats. Nearing the buoy, Ignitor approached from the east, back ahead of Full Moon. After rounding, it was a very short leg to the floating “island” to snag a few free cups of beer. Full Moon then headed toward the Chandlers buoy before remembering it wasn’t part of the course!

After a quick jibe, the Equalizer was brought into play. A J24 and Ignitor were busy battling each other, leaving a nice lane to pass them both to windward. Nearing the Freeway buoy, Full Moon nearly caught Selchie and was not at all far behind speedy Scat! After rounding, Ignitor was working hard to catch back up, but to no avail. On the long leg south, Full Moon stayed in touch with Scat and Selchie but Ignitor managed so slide by approaching the AGC buoy. Full Moon swung past the “island” again right on Selchie’s stern while Ignitor stayed clear, sailing a bit less distance…

Heading for the finish line...

Then it was time to hoist the Equalizer again and pass Ignitor again. Full Moon nearly got past Selchie as well approaching the Freeway buoy but couldn’t quite get by, though Full Moon had the inside line at the buoy. After rounding, Selchie faded north while Full Moon stayed more on the wind in hopes of laying the Aurora buoy without tacking. This worked just fine, Full Moon rounding ahead of Selchie and still ahead of Ignitor and then maintaining the lead to the finish to take eighth. In fairness to Selchie, they had a LOT of people on board, which can’t have helped much with performance!

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Speeeed!

The happy crew prior to the start.

The wind shifted from the NW to N-NE just prior to the start of the Fleet Week Duck Dodge, messing up the starting strategy for Full Moon crew Michael “Tidy-up” Medina, Dave “Big Pull” Pulsifer, Judy “White Pants” Tiffany, Rolf “Takedown Hero” Van Houten, Daniel “Halyards” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Mast Bend” Mengedoht. Hardening up on starboard tack to cross the line, Full Moon was in close company with several boats, Necessary Evil (Catalina 30) eventually rolling out ahead while old rival Ignitor (Martin 29) tacked away somewhat early. A fortuitous header/lift coincided with Full Moon’s tack bringing us nearly to the (new) layline for the Freeway buoy ahead of both Ignitor and Necessary Evil, though behind speedy Scat, Selchie, a J92S, a sexy brand new Seascape 27 (in second start?), a fairly large boat called Tonic, and a couple of other boats.

The second leg to the Aurora buoy fluctuated between a close reach and a broad reach and Full Moon elected to set up the spinnaker for the much longer third leg rather than try and hoist the Equalizer and jibe it at the buoy. Ignitor and Necessary Evil hoisted spinnakers and slowly gained from behind, Ignitor eventually flying into the mark on starboard jibe, her skipper screaming about right of way over boats that had already jibed onto port in order to round the buoy. While the Duck Dodge does not officially embrace the racing rules, most boats respect the 3 boat-length rule at the buoys in order to keep things somewhat orderly, the result being that a lot of boats were suddenly converging amidst lots of yelling. Full Moon, also still on starboard jibe and leeward of Ignitor, had just enough room to squeak by the buoy before quickly launching the Equalizer. (Prior to Ignitor’s arrival, the plan was to harden up to go astern of the port tack boats.) When the dust had settled, Full Moon had pulled away to a considerable lead over all the boats in the cluster at the buoy, flying along on a beam reach in strong breeze. Thanks, Ignitor!

 

Selchie (left) and the Seascape 27 battle on the first lap.

The takedown, always a challenge on a windy beam reach, went very smoothly at the AGC buoy, Full Moon close behind Tonic. Selchie and Scat had also done very well on the long reaching leg, Selchie still a couple of hundred yards ahead of Full Moon and Scat even farther ahead. The wind had clocked even further into the NE for the fourth leg and Full Moon was able to lay the Freeway buoy without tacking. Amazingly, Distance (Buchan 37) from first start was not far ahead despite a five minute head start.

 

It was a gray evening but there was a little glow on the horizon at sunset.

The second lap was mostly a repeat of the first except that there wasn’t much traffic around Full Moon. A J24 tried valiantly to overtake under spinnaker but could not quite get by on the long leg south. Full Moon enjoyed another smooth takedown at the AGC and put the hammer down for the finish line. The J24 still could not catch up and, to our great surprise, Distance was also behind though coming on very fast. Full Moon maneuvered into a lee bow position to try and slow the much bigger boat and this was just enough to finish ahead. In the end, Scat took first, Selchie was third (way to go!), and Full Moon, we think, was seventh, our best finish of the summer. 

Toga, Toga, Toga!

Full Moon crew Michael “Mister” Medina, Marcelle “Missus” Van Houten, Neil “Jib Sheet” Piispanen, Daniel “No Tunes” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Wind Shadow” Mengedoht managed to pull off a port tack start at the Committee Boat for the Toga Night Duck Dodge, ghosting out ahead of the fleet in very light wind. The advantage didn’t last, however, as boats further west received better breeze, Full Moon rounding the Freeway buoy about sixth.

A massive Chinook helicopter buzzed the Duck Dodge!

Heading nearly to the beach at Gasworks was almost but not quite enough to provide a one-tack leg to the Aurora buoy. Once around, the Equalizer was quickly hoisted to good effect, Full Moon moving nicely on a beam reach. The wind favored the middle of the lake, though, and Full Moon was too far west to benefit, allowing Scat and another boat or two to get past.

Full Moon is on the right, having just tacked at Gasworks.

After a relatively smooth drop at the AGC buoy, it was a straight shot north to complete the first lap and round the Freeway buoy. This time, heading for the beach paid off with no tacks required to round the Aurora buoy. The Equalizer again went up quickly and this time Full Moon headed closer to the middle of the lake. Unfortunately, relative giant Mallory Todd (not sure if they were racing?) crossed ahead and then turned parallel, providing a massive wind shadow. Full Moon struggled for half the leg to gain some lateral separation and break free, finally doing so a couple of hundred yards short of the AGC buoy. Meanwhile, well sailed 22 foot Mustache Ride was able to sneak past to leeward.

The final leg was another straight shot to the finish, Full Moon placing around tenth not far behind Mustache Ride. This was pretty decent considering that second start contained an Olson 30, two Hobie 33s, and a J92S, all rating less than 100 in PHRF NW handicapping. 

Red, White and Green

Full Moon crew Randy “4 AM” Olsen, Debra “Trader Joes” Ricard, Erin “Sparkly” Osberg, Troy “Soggy Chute” Charlesworth, Daniel “Theme Music” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Carburetor” Mengedoht set up for what looked like a very promising start near the “pin” end for the Christmas in July Duck Dodge, the buoy being set comparatively far down the course. Unfortunately, a southerly wind shift and stronger breeze toward the west enabled boats starting near the Committee Boat to come out better and Full Moon rounded the AGC buoy about eighth.

Nice weather!

The short leg to Chandler’s was a nice beam reach with the jib, followed by a long broad to beam reach under the Equalizer up the lake to the Freeway buoy. Full Moon then stayed on port tack for a while before tacking south to start the second lap. Inexplicably, old rival Ignitor managed to out point Full Moon upwind to remain ahead (are those new sails?).

Hangin' with Selchie on a beam reach.

Approaching the AGC buoy, there was a fair bit of traffic, including one very slow boat plodding along fairly close to the buoy. After some classic Duck Dodge close-quarters maneuvering, Full Moon emerged for a short run to the Chandler’s buoy before launching the Equalizer again to head north. This worked well for a while until the wind began clocking around to the NW, rendering the spinnaker useless. What was now an upwind takedown proved challenging and the Equalizer took a bath before being hauled back aboard.

Flying with the Equalizer before the wind shift.

The rest of the leg and the final close reach to the finish proved uneventful, Full Moon finishing about 12^th close behind speedy Selchie and, yes, Ignitor. (Those must be new sails!)

On The Hard

There was no Duck Dodge this week due to Whidbey Island Race Week so Full Moon had a different kind of adventure, becoming a land dweller in order to receive some fresh bottom paint at the Canal Boatyard. There wasn't that much slime before and the fresh paint is a bit rough from the rollers so she may not be any faster but Full Moon will be ready to race again next week.

Full Moon rising!

Fresh bottom paint!

Splash-down!

Red One Down!

Michael and the rest of the crew sporting their red, white and blue.

Full Moon crew Michael “Not Me” Medina, Katie “Guacamole Sole” Freels, Dave “Other Left” Pulsifer, Judy “Suction Cups” Tiffany, and skipper John “Not Last” Mengedoht enjoyed a good start near the center of the line for the Red, White and Blue Duck Dodge. Very light wind and close proximity to old rival Ignitor made it a challenge to get much speed going until the wind filled in about halfway to the AGC buoy.

The second leg to the Chandler’s buoy was short but downwind and the Equalizer was quickly launched to good effect. The next leg to the Freeway buoy should have then been a nice beam reach but 100 yards past the buoy, the wind filled in and shifted to the northwest. This angle didn’t work for the Equalizer, which proved a handful to get back down with the wind coming from ahead of the boat. In the ensuing chaos, the red (port) spinnaker sheet somehow escaped to plunge to a watery grave. Drat!

The wind continued to clock further to the north and Full Moon actually needed to tack twice to reach the Freeway buoy. The leg back south might have worked for the spinnaker but not without a replacement sheet. Still, the genoa provided relatively decent speed to the AGC buoy.

The rest of the second lap was relatively uneventful, Full Moon finishing somewhere in the middle of the second start fleet. Meanwhile, a great time was had by all and it didn’t rain!

Slow Boat

Seven guys, most a bit north of 200 pounds, are not recommended for speed enhancement on a 2400 pound sailboat but crew Randy “Equalizer” Olsen, Art “Cherry” Teller, Doug “Sabbatical” Schoemaker, Troy “Orange Tux” Charlesworth, Ian “Bow Rider” Mengedoht, Daniel “Tunes” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Mobile Ballast” Mengedoht all turned out to enjoy the sunny weather for the Prom Night Duck Dodge. With very light southwesterly wind and a crowd near the Committee Boat, Full Moon opted for the middle of the start line. The wind favored this approach for a while and then filled in closer to the Westlake shore, giving a big advantage to boats that had tacked over in that direction earlier.

 

Full Moon stayed out of this cluster. Yes, that IS an Olson 30 in second start...

Once around the AGC buoy, the short run to the Chandler’s buoy would have benefitted from a spinnaker but the next leg northbound appeared to be a close reach unsuitable for the Equalizer so the nylon monster stayed in the bag to save the hassle. Speed proved to be pretty decent to the Freeway buoy, Full Moon actually gaining on several boats.

 

Second start from another perspective.

Returning upwind to complete the first lap, Full Moon somehow punched out to leeward of the J24 J Estalt, leaving the supposedly faster J Boat behind. Several boats converged at the AGC buoy and Full Moon was able to pick a path avoiding slower cruisers being lapped. After the short leg to the Chandler’s buoy, Full Moon launched the Equalizer for what was now mostly a beam reach north. This worked well until the wind faded and shifted a few hundred yards short of the Freeway buoy. Back under the genoa, Full Moon rounded and then headed to the finish line, chasing – and nearly catching – a much larger Beneteau.

 

Thundorca also enjoyed having a few extra crew!

Despite the weight penalty and finishing behind both Zephyr and Ignitor (a rare event these days!), Full Moon sailed fairly well and stayed in the top 2/3 of the fleet, actually beating a Hobie 33 and the J24. A bit more breeze would have been nice but it was a gorgeous evening on the water.

The "duck boat" was back, zooming around the lake.

Yo Ho Ho!

Full Moon crew Randy “Tilt Pack” Olsen, Dave “Knot In It” Pulsifer, Kristin “Beer Ear” Gasper, Kevin “Drop Beer” Gasper and skipper John “Artful Dodger” Mengedoht sported the requisite big pirate flag and attempted to take no prisoners on a port tack, pin-end start for the Pirate Night Duck Dodge. Unfortunately, numerous other pirate vessels had the same idea, parlaying for room and keeping the gun ports clear for vessels coming in on starboard tack. Booty intact, Full Moon had a decent start, though ships closer to the middle of the line did a bit better.

Yes, there really was canon fire from this pirate ship!

The fleet converged for a congested rounding at the Freeway buoy and then spread out a bit upwind to reach the Aurora buoy with only a couple of tacks. The Equalizer was launched to good effect, Full Moon gaining on several boats, but a relative giant (Oxo-something or other) cast an equally giant wind shadow to slow things back down. With a conservative but clean drop of the Equalizer, Full Moon ended up third boat on the outside of a pinwheel to round the AGC buoy, which allowed stealthy Selchie to slip inside from behind.

Ahhrrrr, mateys!

The long upwind leg back to the Freeway buoy was relatively uneventful, apart from the occasional cannon blast, as was the leg to the Aurora buoy. The Equalizer was a bit slow going up for the second downwind leg but still very effective. Oxo-something or other was present yet again, having passed by upwind, but this time Full Moon was able to get more lateral separation to easily pass the big boat. Full Moon was also able to get the inside position at the AGC buoy for a tidy rounding before heading back upwind to the finish.

Full Moon (beyond) stays in front of Gift Horse upwind.

In the end, it was another great evening on the water enjoying a nice breeze, friendly fellow-pirates, and no rain. It was also the longest Duck Dodge Day of the year, remaining light until well after Full Moon returned to her dock.

Blow Me Down!

The wind was strong out of the south for the Hip Hop Duck Dodge but the truly dark and threatening skies (and all the rain) were all to the north of Lake Union before the start of the race. Full Moon crew Randy “Good Call” Olsen, Dave “Cabin Boy” Pulsifer, Erin “Downwind” Osberg, Adam “Foam Face” Michalak, and skipper John “Sometimes Size Matters” Mengedoht set up for a starboard tack start near the Committee Boat with a lot of company vying for the favored end of the line. This made for slow going until several boats tacked away in search of clear air.

 

Scary clouds prior to the race.

Full Moon was a bit overpowered in the gusts but not bad in between, making good speed to the AGC buoy. With the monster Equalizer spinnaker set to hoist, chaos was likely in the cards until the decision was made to stick with the genoa for the long downwind run to the Freeway buoy. With speeds frequently above five knots and other boats struggling to control their spinnakers, this proved to be a wise choice.

 

Full Moon didn't want to struggle taking down the Equalizer.

It was about this time that a game of cat and mouse developed with the J24 J Estalt, the speedy J boat slipping ahead only to struggle with one thing or another and slipping behind again. So it was that J Estalt forged ahead on the fast close reach to the Aurora buoy but fell behind on the long upwind leg to start the second lap. Rather than risk sending anybody forward to swap the spinnaker and pole, Full Moon again stayed with the genoa downwind after rounding the AGC buoy. J Estalt must have had spinnaker issues or some other trouble because they never regained the lead.

On the final upwind leg to the finish, Full Moon still made a race of it by just holding off a giant Beneteau 423, finishing somewhere in the middle of the fleet. While Full Moon isn’t ideal for heavy air, it was a lot of fun out there!

Cowboys and Aliens

It was great to see another Santana 525, Flying Burrito, out racing for the Western Night Duck Dodge. Welcome to the Duck Dodge!

Crew Michael “Jib, Jab, Jibe” Medina, Marcelle “Twisted” Van Houten, Beth “Jazz Fan 1” Mountsier, Jim “Jazz Fan 2” Peacey, and skipper John “Wrong Way” Mengedoht cruised the starting line on starboard tack but were thwarted from tacking for a great start by a Star boat to windward and just behind. The resulting reach to the Freeway buoy was not fast enough to be in the top ten boats.

Pulling strings on the first downwind run.

The wind dropped quite a bit on the way to the Aurora buoy but the pole was up before rounding and the Equalizer quickly launched for what started as a beam reach. The fickle wind then made a massive shift for an unplanned jibe. Once sorted, the wind naturally shifted back after only a few minutes. Another jibe, Michael! Regardless, Full Moon did well on the leg to the AGC buoy. Unfortunately, after rounding, the skipper forgot the Chandler’s Cove buoy was in play and Full Moon had to broad reach back. This allowed a white Thunderbird to get by and allowed ancient rival Ignitor to nearly catch up.

Keeping out of the wind shadow.

Once northbound again, Full Moon did well with only a few tacks to reach the Freeway buoy and then the wind generally held to the Aurora buoy. The Equalizer was again smoothly launched but this time the wind shifted and then shut down completely, collapsing the nylon monster around the forestay. The mess was just cleared and the jibe completed when the wind filled back in on the other side, initiating yet another jibe. During all this fun, 34’ Runaway got past toward the Westlake shore. Full Moon gave chase but had to contend with a Catalina trying to create a wind shadow from behind.

An awesome sunset to cap a great evening on the water.

Once around the AGC buoy, the Catalina was left well behind and Full Moon gained a bit on Runaway before rounding the Chandler’s Cove buoy. The final leg was a see-saw battle, Runaway just crossing tacks ahead of Full Moon at the line. With a well spread-out fleet, it was tough to tell the exact finishing order but Full Moon appeared to be 12^th, which was excellent given the competition.

Flash Dance

The wind got very light toward the end, many boats appearing to be sailing in random directions.

Full Moon crew Randy “Old-Timer” Olsen, Kelly “Quick Study” Laleman, Troy “Sore Muscles” Charlesworth, and skipper John “Flash Dance” Mengedoht achieved another decent start for the Star Wars Duck Dodge, staying clear of some kind of fracas near the Committee Boat involving a white Moore 24. The first leg to the Freeway buoy was a tight reach followed by a tighter line toward Gasworks and a couple of tacks in decent breeze to round the Aurora buoy.

The mighty Equalizer was soon launched to good effect, helping to hold off the Catalina 30 Necessary Evil and allowing Full Moon to gain nicely on the speedy Hot Foot 27 Flash Point. Approaching the Chandler’s Cove buoy, Full Moon was able to slip to leeward of Flash Point and round on the inside. The spinnaker pole trapped the jib sheets during the take-down, somewhat negating the nice move at the buoy, but Flash Point must have had difficulties of their own as Full Moon retained a lead nearly all the way to the Freeway buoy.

By this time, the wind had faded a bit, though Full Moon still had good speed following Flash Point to the Aurora buoy. Looking down the lake, there were a LOT of boats stacked up near the Chandler’s Cove buoy so it was time to get the very best out of the Equalizer. Dropping the nylon monster a bit early as the wind faded to nearly zero, Full Moon still managed yet again to round inside Flash Point, both boats barely moving and in a lot of traffic. The final leg was a search for wind, Full Moon finishing about tenth, not far behind Flash Point.

Good Karma

Full Moon went for a nice cruise on Memorial Day, exercising the freshly repaired outboard. While touring Portage Bay, a kayak flipped and Full Moon quickly went to the aid of the hapless paddler. Returning to Lake Union, a small sailboat near Gasworks was making very slow progress with a paddle, no motor on board and their main halyard broken. A tow to the Northlake boat ramp was happily provided and greatly appreciated. Glad I was out there for a cruise!