Cool Runnings

Full Moon crew Randy “Cleanup” Olsen, Michael “Strings” Medina, Anne “Layers” Gustavson, Daniel “Seven Words” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Strategery” Mengedoht took advantage of a fairly square starting line for the Band Night Duck Dodge, approaching the line on starboard tack. This paid off as the big Tartan 4300 to leeward intimidated the port tack boats into giving way, though not without drama as two boats collided while tacking a bit late… In any event, Full Moon continued on starboard for a bit, then tacked on the layline for the Freeway buoy, solidly in first place.

Daniel snags the prized gold duck sticker.

The big Tartan hung in there in the fairly strong breeze, along with Endeavor, a speedy Seascape 24, and a few others but Full Moon was still in first at the buoy and already catching up to second start stragglers. Heading for the Aurora buoy, Full Moon was not quite laying the mark and Endeavor was behind but a bit to windward with another boat not far behind. This called for a hard tack to duck Endeavor and cross in front of the second boat to make the buoy.

It was sunny but cold, especially after the race.

With the “turbo” pole preset to starboard in anticipation of the typical NW breeze and the wind having shifted to due north, Full Moon opted to travel a distance on port gybe with the jib rather than monkey around with everything on the foredeck. Then we gybed and hoisted the Equalizer with a good line to the AGC buoy. Meanwhile, Endeavor had traveled well to the east, sailing a “hotter” angle appropriate for their asymmetric spinnaker and bowsprit. When they gybed back, it set them up even with and to leeward of Full Moon, forcing Full Moon to change course a bit. However, this eventually brought them into Full Moon’s wind shadow, slowing them enough for Full Moon to swing across in front with a better angle to the buoy with our symmetrical spinnaker.

Three ducks in a row. We'll be pushed up to second start next week.

The drop went well but, unfortunately, the spinnaker pole snagged the jib sheet going around the AGC buoy, taking a while to clear. This allowed boats behind to gain a bit, but Full Moon still had a straight shot upwind to the finish line. Endeavor was off to leeward (not sure why) and would need to tack to cross the line. In the end, Full Moon crossed ahead by a few boatlengths for the gold duck with Endeavor second and an SYC J22 not far behind in third.

Poo to Two

Full Moon rolls by the Committee Boat prior to the start.

Starboard tack has right of way over port tack, but this doesn’t work to perfection when there are clusters of overlapped port tack boats, some of which can’t even see the starboard tack boats coming. Third start for Sci-Fi Night was just that sort of calamity. Full Moon was forced to do anything and everything possible to avoid collisions, resulting in many close calls and countless tacks just to clear the line. Eventually, crew Randy “12:14” Olsen, Michael “11:46” Medina, Rolf “Take Down” Van Houten, Daniel “Old Pro” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Adrenaline” Mengedoht emerged from the chaos on port tack to leeward of a giant Tartan 4300 but somehow managed to claw ahead into clear air. The good news is that we were then able to lay the Freeway buoy with good speed.

Full Moon zipping along on the first leg upwind.

Full Moon delayed tacking at the buoy, waiting to cross in front of a J30. This was good news/bad news since this put the J30 in a “lee bow” position for a little while until they pulled ahead – but this allowed Full Moon to take advantage of better pointing ability. When the J30 eventually tacked back, they had to duck Full Moon while avoiding the Ranger 26 Where’s The Beef. Preparing for the final tack to the Aurora buoy, Full Moon opted to duck behind Where’s The Beef to ensure making the buoy, then rounded close behind and a bit to windward before launching the Equalizer.

Full Moon with the Equalizer.

Full Moon then slowly pulled away from WTB and began to gain on other boats. About halfway down the lake, Full Moon made it past two SYC J22s battling each other a bit too close to shore in lighter wind. On approach to the AGC buoy, Rolf wrestled the nylon monster down and Full Moon had a nice rounding onto the final leg. Full Moon slowly gained on the San Juan 24 Great Escape but not enough to get by. To our astonishment, Great Escape got the horn for first place, followed by our own horn for second! We had been certain our terrible start had doomed all hopes of a top three finish. Following in third place was the Harbor 20 Scamp. (One of the SYC J22s was actually ahead of Scamp but they hadn't checked in with the race committee before the race.)

Daniel grabs the coveted silver sticker.

Yes, we have lots of duck stickers but we've been dodging ducks since 1995...

Solid Gold!

Quite a few boats turned out for Pajama Night.

Every once in a very great while, Full Moon ends up perfectly positioned for a start and so it was for the Pajama Night Duck Dodge. Crew Randy “Extra Credit” Olsen, Michael “Green Fleck” Medina, Marcelle “Take Down” Van Houten, Daniel “Foredude” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Smokin’” Mengedoht nailed the timing close to the Committee Boat and enjoyed a straight shot in clear air to the Freeway buoy, putting distance on the entire third start fleet.

Cap'n John loves leading the fleet!

Full Moon then enjoyed a nice, consistent breeze and only a few tacks to the Aurora buoy, increasing our lead and passing some second-start boats. Once around, Daniel did his first tour of duty on the foredeck, with supervision by veteran Randy. With the Equalizer up and flying well, Full Moon not only pulled even further ahead but passed still more of the second start boats.

Full Moon has the blue, white and black spinnaker. All the boats in front are from second start!

After a conservative take-down approaching the AGC buoy, it was time for a romp to the finish line and a horn for first place! While the J22 Freedom and a boat with a wide green stripe stayed somewhat close on the first leg, it was a different story at the finish, Freedom taking second a full five minutes after Full Moon. Great starts always help a lot, but this was amazing!

Daniel snags the coveted gold duck sticker from the Committee.

Horror Movie

Some pre-start action. Nice weather for early May!

Full Moon skipped the first Duck Dodge but returned to racing action for Horror Movie Night. With a smaller crew than normal, it was decided to forgo the spinnaker and try out the new fourth start, which is basically third start without spinnakers. Crew Randy “Palm Springs” Olsen, Daniel “Live Band” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Rusty” Mengedoht ended up at the unfavored end of the starting line on starboard tack, Cap’n John perhaps unconsciously wanting to avoid the pile-up of boats vying for space on port tack at the heavily favored Committee Boat end. This was safe but not a recipe for racing success and it took multiple tacks to make it to the Freeway buoy.

Boats headed for the AGC buoy, including first start boats on their second lap.

Full Moon sailed the second leg to the Aurora buoy hard on the wind in a straight shot, passing several boats. There was a bit of traffic at the Aurora buoy, and it took a little time to get clear before turning fully downwind. In theory, it is fastest to sail “hotter” angles downwind (requiring a number of jibes) but, with sufficient wind, it is also possible to sail “wing and wing” with the jib opposite the mainsail. Full Moon successfully employed this tactic, holding dead even with a Ranger 26 under spinnaker for most of the leg and gaining on other boats ahead flying spinnakers, all from third start. If Full Moon returns to fourth start for another race, though, we’ll probably try the hotter angles approach, which would also allow staying closer to the middle of the lake where there is often a bit more wind.

The final leg was another straight shot upwind, Full Moon passing a few more boats but not quite able to reach the top three finishers. Meanwhile, it was a beautiful evening, if still a bit chilly when the sun started dropping behind Queen Anne Hill.

Fun Finale

 

Daniel holds forth from the pit.

Way back in 1996, the Full Moon crew responded to a “politically incorrect” theme with Martinis and cigars. Ever since, the final Duck Dodge of summer has been Martini Night aboard Full Moon, though only the skipper actually enjoyed one this year, the rest of the crew opting for other assorted beverages.

Cap'n John BEFORE the Martini.

Choosing the less-crowded second start, Full Moon crew Randy “Where's The Carmel” Olsen, Michael “Wrong Hole” Medina, Marcelle “First Cut” Van Houten, Daniel “Gotta Sleep” Mengedoht, Logan “Muscles” Pulsifer, and skipper John “Big Martini” Mengedoht mostly avoided the tight pack at the Committee Boat with a decent spot a few boat-lengths down the line. This worked pretty well until the 40’ giant Thundorca passed to windward, briefly blocking out the wind. Once Thundorca moved on, Full Moon got up to speed and held off a larger Catalina to the Freeway buoy.

Michael and Randy kickin' back on the rail.

Full Moon continued north toward Gasworks, hoping to reduce the number of tacks necessary to make the Aurora buoy. This may have been a poor choice, though, as the wind may have been better a bit further south. All the same, Full Moon managed to pass both a J30 and a zippy Harbor 20 before rounding the buoy and hoisting the Equalizer.

Duck Dodge rookie Logan likes the Equalizer.

Up to that point, the wind had been pretty consistent but constant trimming of the spinnaker was necessary heading south with the wind shifting and fading. Getting closer to the AGC buoy, the wind shifted well aft. Full Moon stayed on the rhumb line, as did the J30 (now well behind) but the Harbor 20 gybed away, which was probably necessary with an asymmetric spinnaker. This worked well for them as they nearly caught Full Moon just before rounding.

Marcelle supervises the trimming of the spinnaker.

The final leg was a straight shot on port tack but the Harbor 20 tacked to stay closer to the central west side of the lake. This paid off as they caught up to Full Moon right at the finish line. After dropping the jib, it was time for beverages and munchies and celebrating yet another beautiful evening to cap off the series.

The wind gets lighter to the south.

The Seattle skyline is pretty spectacular from the lake.

Team Spirit

Full Moon crew Randy “Cheap Streaming” Olsen, Dave “Pink Drinks” Pulsifer, Judy “Sleepy” Tiffany, Anne “Short Day” Gustavson, Daniel “Tunes” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Copycat” Mengedoht attempted to emulate Scat’s successful strategy for first start but found that a bunch of boats had the same idea, crowding tightly together right next to the Committee Boat. One boat lightly contacted the dinghy hung from the Committee Boat and a few had gentle side-to-side collisions, but Full Moon emerged unscathed, though suffering from bad air from all the surrounding boats.

Once boats dispersed a bit, Full Moon had a nice line to the Freeway buoy, though Necessary Evil (Catalina 30) managed to slowly work ahead to windward. (Sometimes size does matter!) Full Moon then continued toward Gasworks until traffic dictated a tack, then went most of the way across the lake before tacking again to head toward the Aurora buoy.

Full Moon rounded the buoy a behind Necessary Evil and a J30 and began to gain significantly once the Equalizer was hoisted. While just ahead of the J30 for a while, the J30 pulled back ahead before rounding the AGC buoy in light air.

Nothing changed for the final upwind leg to the finish, Full Moon being somewhere in the top ten as best we can tell. Not bad with all the fast boats in second start.

Decade of Confusion

The Seattle skyline is always awesome from the lake.

Full Moon crew Randy “Low Side” Olsen, Michael “Bundle Up” Medina, Marcelle “Spider Legs” Van Houten, Ben “Sail Marketing” Spicer, Daniel “Just Visiting” Mengedoht, and skipper John “6.5 Decades” Mengedoht opted to try second start for the Decades Night Duck Dodge in hopes of reduced traffic. The plan was a port tack start near, but not at, the Committee Boat and this happened – but only by tacking late and not having full speed at the start. Still, Full Moon got moving pretty well after clearing a little traffic and ended up with nearly a rhumb line approach to the Freeway buoy.

Daniel, Randy and Ben with different things on their minds.

After sailing nearly to the Gasworks shore, Full Moon ended up only needing a couple of tacks to make the Aurora buoy. Unfortunately, the Equalizer halyard and jib halyard got fouled, making for a slow hoist. With the Equalizer powered up, Full Moon then pulled ahead of all boats behind and made significant gains on the boats ahead, apart from a zippy Ultimate 20 that was nearly planing down the lake under asymmetric spinnaker.

Only a few of the many boats behind Full Moon during the final leg.

The Equalizer had to come down before the jib could go back up due to the halyard mess, which slowed Full Moon down a bit. Then the wind dropped to next to nothing approaching the AGC buoy, making for a painful slow rounding.

Michael is snug and warm in the sunset glow.

The final leg was a straight and fairly speedy shot to the finish line once the wind filled back in. Full Moon was nowhere near the second start leaders but stayed ahead of a number of fast boats all the same and was probably somewhere in the middle of the fleet. The sunset was gorgeous if way too early as the days get shorter. Only two more races, noooo!!!!

One more sunset picture...

Beads, Not Boobs

Full Moon crew Michael “Sweet” Medina, Marcelle “Screen Time” van Houten, Doug “Halyards” Schoemaker, Chad “Bike Builder” Harnish, and skipper John “Hard To Pass” Mengedoht got a better start for the Mardi Gras Duck Dodge but still wasn’t quite up with the leaders at the favored end of the line. I’d blame the wind angle (port tack has been necessary to cross the starting line for all three races thus far) but it’s really on the skipper not wanting to risk contact.

Marcelle, Doug, John, and Chad enjoying another awesome evening.

The wind was better toward the middle of the lake and Full Moon soon tacked out, leaving a beautiful big Tartan 3800 well behind (size is good, mass not so much). The next tack was right on the layline for the Freeway buoy. Full Moon then opted to keep going toward Gasworks before tacking west. A few more tacks were necessary to reach the Aurora buoy but a nice approach on starboard left ample time to set up the spinnaker, which then went up very smoothly.

Michael supervises as John stares at the Equalizer.

At that point, Full Moon should have been well ahead of the single-handed Ranger 22 Anakena but we were astounded to watch as the skipper abandoned the tiller to hoist a spinnaker! Way to go, dude! Fortunately, the Equalizer performed its usual magic and Full Moon quickly pulled ahead and proceeded to pass quite a few boats on the way to the AGC buoy, including a big Catalina 38 Tranquilitee (their spelling, not mine!).

Full Moon is on the left, the crew enjoying the post-race sunset.

The spinnaker drop went smoothly and it was on to the final upwind leg, hoping to keep ahead of Tranquilitee and maybe catch the relatively large Krystal. We achieved the first goal, not the second, but also had to contend with a hard-charging J22 coming up from behind. Full Moon doesn’t seem her normal self, upwind on port tack, but we still prevailed over the J-Boat. Whew!

Hot Christmas

Marcelle and John during the prestart. It was hot out there!

Full Moon crew Randy “Pointy End” Olsen, Michael “Buoys Are Optional” Medina, Marcelle “Chips N’ Dip” van Houten, Anne “Clockwise” Gustavson, and skipper John “Tequila” Mengedoht were lined up for a pretty good start for the Christmas in July Duck Dodge until the wind filled in during the final minute, causing some radical turns to try and stay behind the starting line. The result was being close to the unfavored Eastlake end of the line and not having full speed at the starting horn. Tacking to reach the Freeway buoy proved challenging with Full Moon pinned to leeward of another boat and unable to reach the buoy without having to bail out with a 360 degree turn. Given that we were far off the pace of the leaders, Full Moon settled for a DSQ and skipped the buoy.

Michael holds forth from the pit.

However, Full Moon continued racing all the same. Rounding the Aurora buoy on the stern of Kari-J (San Juan 28, looks identical to Zephyr?) led to being stuck in “bad air” from a couple of boats as the spinnaker was hoisted. Eventually, Full Moon pulled clear and was able to pass four or five boats on the long downwind leg to the AGC buoy.

Anne is amused by the Captain trimming while driving as Randy focuses on the competition ahead.

The wind began to fade on the final leg until Full Moon was ultimately “parked” in hot, dead air. Rather than just sit in the heat (Seattle set a record for the day!), the jib was dropped, and the iron sail fired up to create some breeze. Some cold beverages took the edge off, too. While not much of a race for Full Moon, it was nice to get out on the lake and have some fun.

Full Moon under spinnaker.

Since Full Moon was in third start again this week (the crew doesn’t want to do two laps), there is risk of “the pot calling the kettle black” but we were surprised to see a Hobie 33, J92S and some very large boats in third start. A Hobie 33 and J92S should both have similar performance to first start perennial Typsy Gypsy (Soverel 33).

The obligatory sunset shot during the post-race libations.

Rusty Swords

After time off for college graduation (the “Cabin Boy” graduated summa cum laude from Cal State Northridge!) and some overdue boat projects, Full Moon finally returned to racing action for the Pirate Night Duck Dodge. With everyone aboard rusty at racing, the hope was to go in third start and the Race Committee appeared to assume that was appropriate. We may ask for second start in the future if only because there are fewer boats, though it is more work for the crew to do two laps. (The Cabin Boy used to repack the spinnaker and set it up for the second lap, but he can’t commute from LA…)

With decent wind out of the northwest and a relatively short starting line close to the Eastlake shore, port tack was necessary to cross the line. Rather than battle it out with the large cluster of boats going for the favored Committee Boat end (west end), Full Moon crew Randy, Dave, Judy, and skipper John approached the line on starboard before tacking near the “pin” end. The result was a pretty good start in relatively clear air with no yelling, screaming or… collisions. (It didn’t sound happy at the other end!)

Only two tacks were needed to reach the Freeway buoy, a minor miracle given all the drifting power boats and paddle boards. Full Moon then stayed on starboard tack nearly to the Westlake shore before tacking north to the Aurora buoy. This worked pretty well, though we were dismayed to see our old rival Ignitor (with new owner/skipper) ahead of us. Unfortunately, it took a while to get the spinnaker up for the long downwind leg (a well-oiled crew, we are not!) but, once it was up, Full Moon passed a couple of boats while holding off a Hobie 33.

Getting the spinnaker down to round the AGC buoy took a little longer than anticipated, though we managed to make the turn about 40’ past the buoy. Making this hilarious, though, was the Hobie 33 skipper yelling for Full Moon to give him “mark room!” Why hilarious? First, there was easily room for about three or four boats to round inside of Full Moon so “mark room” should not have been an issue at all. Second, the Racing Rules such as “mark room” do not apply in the Duck Dodge, just the basic “rules of the road,” though avoiding collision is always the highest priority. Third, even under the Racing Rules, you have to have an overlap to claim “mark room” and the Hobie never established an overlap before reaching the buoy.

The final leg north to the finish turned out to be a straight shot for Full Moon on port tack. Ignitor was still ahead but much farther east and would clearly need two tacks to cross the line. The J24 Cobalt was a little ahead but also farther east. In the end, Ignitor stayed ahead by just enough, but Cobalt’s tacks allowed Full Moon to cross the line ahead. However, the story doesn’t end there – it turns out that both Ignitor and Cobalt were in second start with an entire lap still to go! Full Moon had started a full five minutes behind both boats and did very well to catch them in a single lap.

It was a gorgeous sunny and warm evening on the lake, and it was fantastic to finally be racing again. We were too busy to take photos, sorry!

Early Solstice Cruise

Full Moon went for a "solstice" cruise two days early as the weather forecast for the 21st looks like a lot of rain. It was beautiful on the 19th, though, the sun taking the edge off the chilly temperatures.

Fantastic Start to Fall

Full Moon elected to forgo the Rum Run on Saturday but still got out to enjoy the sunny warm weather (high of 79 degrees!). After a trip home and back for the Yamaha to change the oil, a spin around the lake was inevitable. We'll have rain this week but fall is often great sailing weather!

The outboard is prepared for a trip home and an oil change. It barely fits on the hand-truck but it works better than the dock carts.

You wouldn't know it from this photo but the lake was packed with boats, kayaks, and paddle boards.

Halyard Hunter!

Marcelle on her way back down the mast, halyard in hand.

After a few weeks of head-scratching on the best and safest way to retrieve Full Moon's main halyard from the top of the mast (see the Invisible Mainsail post), Marcelle "Halyard Hunter" Van Houten volunteered for a trip up the mast in a bosun's chair, with Michael "Muscles" Medina and skipper John "Safety Line" Mengedoht grinding both the jib halyard and standard spinnaker halyard. Since these two halyards don't go to the top of the mast (Full Moon has a fractional rig), Marcelle made use of a lightweight extension pole with "hand-crafted" hook to snag the main halyard and bring it down. Thanks, Marcelle!

Invisible Mainsail

The Duck Dodge finale, “Martini Night” aboard Full Moon, had a challenging beginning as the main halyard parted ways with the mainsail at the top of the mast as it was being hoisted. Crew Randy “KJR” Olsen, Michael “Two Toots” Medina, Marcelle “Olives, Please” Van Houten, Adam “Ascot” Michalak, Katharina “Fancy Dress” Stoll, and skipper John “Captain Solo” Mengedoht swiftly decided to begin the race with just the jib. Unfortunately, Full Moon does not sail at all well without the mainsail, as prestart maneuvers clearly demonstrated.

The Invisible Mainsail deployed upwind.

It was then swiftly decided to make use of the “invisible mainsail” (outboard), to “sail” the course rather than just cruise the lake. The invisible sail proved highly effective as Full Moon easily passed all third start boats and moved up into the second start fleet. (Care was taken not to cause difficulty to other boats due to the wake, especially since the wind had faded to nearly zero.) After rounding the Freeway and Aurora buoys, the Equalizer was launched and the invisible mainsail was deactivated, though still dragging through the water, ready for quick redeployment.

It's much easier to see the spinnaker through the Invisible Mainsail!

Surprisingly, the Equalizer alone was sufficient for Full Moon to maintain pace with second start boats, including a Capri 25 and a J22, on the long reach/run to the AGC buoy. The jib was rehoisted and the Equalizer dropped cleanly to the deck just before rounding the buoy.

Full Moon's spinnaker is just visible at the far left. The wind was very light!

The invisible mainsail was again deployed for the final leg to the “finish,” where Full Moon was greeted with a siren and whooping from the Committee Boat. Martinis were soon dispensed to the thirsty crew as Full Moon continued “sailing” and enjoying a very pleasant evening on the lake.

Many stern lights are visible as quite a few boats struggled to finish in the dark.

Slow Boat to Aurora

Daniel, Judy, Anne, John, and Dave. We'll miss you Daniel but best of luck for your senior year!

Full Moon crew Michael Medina, Dave Pulsifer, Judy Tiffany, Anne Gustavson, Daniel Mengedoht, and skipper John Mengedoht were well-positioned for the start of the Team Spirit Duck Dodge and looking forward to having some decent wind for the race. Unfortunately, the wind faded to near-nothing approaching the Freeway buoy, leading to a large group of boats barely making way. Full Moon is usually a great light air boat but suffered greatly in the congestion. The extremely light wind continued to the Aurora buoy, though Full Moon did find a few pockets of breeze here and there.

Full Moon is caught in the pack heading for the Aurora buoy. We passed virtually all of these boats before the finish! 

Once around the Aurora buoy, there was enough wind for the Equalizer, enabling Full Moon to pass quite a few boats that had gotten by around the Freeway buoy. The drop and rounding of the AGC buoy went well and it was on to the finish line in the fading light. Light winds or not, a great time was had by all!