With near perfect
wind conditions and a PHRF of 240, I ended up with 2nd place out of 5 in my
class. The temperature was hot and that made the Saturday night BBQ ribs taste
great! 
(Don't forget a Float Plan!)
Attached are a couple of photos of myself in the ADA race. When the total was figured out, this charitable event raised over $25,000 for the American Diabetes Association.
With near perfect
wind conditions and a PHRF of 240, I ended up with 2nd place out of 5 in my
class. The temperature was hot and that made the Saturday night BBQ ribs taste
great!
All skippers are
invited next year to have as much fun as I did. If at least three A, C, or R
model Santana 2023s show up, we then get our own fleet to race with trophy's.
Forward this to any skippers you know of. That includes any sailboat. If you're interested, you're invited! It should be around the third weekend of July.
Any further questions please contact Rudy:
Higgins Lake, Michigan
|
 A
small sail was planned-out by the Michigan "Go Potters" group. Every
year they sail a couple times and invite who ever has a trailerable sailboat to
join in, with W. W. Potters as the main bunch. For the past three years I've
been wanting to visit the very "loose" group during a sail and this
year I was able to make it!As I entered the ramp area, ton's of powerboats were "powering" about. Walking to one of the docks with a Potter on it, the owner's first words were not "hello" but, "Your going to smoke past all these Potters!" I responded that racing was not my intention, having fun is. The first picture shows my Santana 2023A beached in the Michigan South Higgins Lake State Park's protected cove next to the campsite, (opposite the ramp site). A W.W. Potter 15 is directly on my port. The other Potters were out on the lake somewhere. Later that evening, powerboats lined the shore. This was just after a really wild three hour sail! I say wild because although the sun was shinning bright, the winds were from the South West at 15 to 20 M.P.H. with higher gusts thrown in here and there for good measure! The lake had shallow waters near the shore for about 50 yards then it suddenly dropped off! My depth finder was marking three to five feet as I left the cove then the beautiful blue water came and the water depth went to 20 feet real fast then what seemed like 50 feet later I was cruising in 70 feet. The change was really that fast!  After getting things set up, I was nearly knocked down when one of the gusts hit. About a mile from shore the wind was able to create a few white caps and a few times they showed up sooner. The other two pictures were about a half mile out in the "protected" areas. Having a Tall Mast, I originally put in about a four foot reef. Close to the standard 27' mast configuration. After a half hour pasted I surprised myself by thinking it was boring not being able to exceed 5 M.P.H.. With that though I let everything fully out with the main and jib very loose to spill out some of the larger wind gusts. I'm sure if I had a bunch of rail meat, the sails could have been brought in tight but with the non-synchronized gusts I thought it best to play it safe.  Most of the time I had a 25 to 30 degrees list as I sat on the rail just aft of the cabin hatch with my feet dangling over the side and getting an occasional bath. The tiller extender I made a couple years ago really works well. After an hour or so, I was able to read the gusts pretty good. Each time I saw one coming, I'd just do as the pro's did and turn slightly into it and prevented rounding up. Really neat stuff! My speeds were ranging from 6 to 7.5 M.P.H. and I was loving it! The more confidant I felt the more I tried to increase leaning over. It was fabulous sitting on the rail and seeing about six to eight feet of air between me and the water! Basically I was able to list about 35 to 40 degrees before G Marlyn rounded up! The second picture was a local guy with an old fashion sailboat. He and his wife, (?), were doing about the same as I was The third picture was a newbie W.W. Potter sailer having a great time also. Next year they plan on setting up something up in the Huron Channel for a week long cruise. All that island hopping and gunk-holing is really-really tempting! |
Yeah, looking back I suppose it was kind of funny! (11/11/2002) |
| Veterans Day is a day off were I work. Being a
Monday and last in the season, the normally conjested lake was like a ghost
town with the exception of an occasional tumble weed-like fisherman heading to
their spot. My plan was to make it my last single handed sail before prepping for winter. Everything looked great with exception of low winds until the afternoon when 10 to 15 m.p.h. winds were to arrive as a cold front rolled through the area. Come late Monday morning, I did a few things around the house, confirmed last nights weather report, and hooked up my trailer about eleven-ish to head toward the water. My pocket VHF radio kept repeating two to five m.p.h. winds until the afternoon but I didn't care, after all it was the last time this year and I could always use some practice on low winds. Driving to the DNR ramp site the winds actually seemed around five m.p.h. which made me feel great. Shortly after leaving the ramp for the main lake, the winds fell off to zero. The NOAA weather was correct with their prediction of two m.p.h. except that it only reached that high in the puffs and those were rare! For three hours I only made about 1/2 mile. During that time I kept telling myself about how I would enjoy the 10 to 15 m.p.h. winds that was due soon. From noon to 3:30, I had fun maxing everything for any little puff that I could find. That was interesting and very good practice. Off in the distance I saw a few ripples. Not having any speed to turn towards it I just waited for it to come. Right around 3:45, the wind reached me which allowed me to start building up speed. This was really neat! From near zero to around five m.p.h. for about 15 minutes. The wind slowly increased as I was finding myself going seven m.p.h. running with the wind. Sure enough, the 10 to 15 had arrived! Shortly, the wind really started to blow. According to my wind meter and GPS reading, I was running at over seven m.p.h. and had 25 m.p.h. winds to boot! That started to get a little spooky after I realized land was not to far in front of me. Quickly I went up to the mast in an attempt to reef the main in preparation to come about but the main halyard had a different idea and just would not drop the main!. Next I returned to the cockpit to furl the jib. The jib was being blown on so much that I was only able to wrap about 3/4 of it. I had never seen the jib wrapped that tight before but the worst part was that I had run out of line to continue with. That was my newly formed storm jib even though it's improper to have it furled part way. What else could I do? With my tall mast main up fully and about five feet of jib I started to come about. This was a fun part. Everything went smoothly so I kept reaching Southward until the formerly aproaching land was not a concern. Now to attempt another reefing. Going up to my mast, I found that it was at first impossible to lower the main. Visions of future troubles kept going through my head. At this time my secured tiller had brough the boat into irons with me still standing at the mast. Slowly but surelymy speed fell off to zero then I started building up speed in reverse! All this time I was working on the halyard pulling it up then pulling the mainsail itself downward. G Marlyn was actually going backwards at much greater speeds than I wanted but before I could return back to the tillerit had turned broad to the wind. This left me with only two options, hold on to the mast or go swimming. The latter was not a good one so I held on! During the next brief moment I witnessed something no one should ever see. That was the port spreader dipping very near the water! My thoughts at that time were; "I don't want to sink on my last sail of the year!" Fortuneatly, the well build Santana 2023's just popped back up. Still giving the mast a bear hug, the wind blew me over again. What ever the list was during those two tmies I can only guess at around 70 to 80 degrees. All of a sudden my clipped on VHF broke the silence with; "Sailboat. Are you in trouble?" Just them the wind hit and belw me over to repeat my list. Again I heard; "Sailboat. Are you in trouble?" I really appreceate the call but I ask you, who could respond when I had both hands tied up? After popping back up, I started thinking about alternate ways to bring the main in. With one last big pull I pulled the main loose and it fell to the deck. Looking at the halyard I saw the reason. About a foot from the top was a large amount of bird nest all wrapped up and intertwined. Stupid birds, (Stupid ME letting it happen in the first place!). As I began to wind the main onto the roller boom, I noticed a large commercial ship slowly steaming away. They must have been the ones that tried to hail me, no one else was in sight. After all my excitement for the day I made it back to the ramp and then home. Even at the ramp the wind was in the 20 to 30 m.p.h. range. My VHF radio was still broadcasting 10 to 15 m.p.h. winds. I wonder if NOAA weather took Veterans Day off also? |
Brookville Lake, IN
|
| Well I finally did it! I went on an out of state
weekend trip and met several other trailerable sailers. The trip was only a
short 250 miles. Several other Trailer Sailor's were going there from several states. No other Santana's, but good friends with a variety of sailboats. After buying a small amount of provisions, I hooked up G Marlyn and left the house Friday morning. Mapquest had routed me from Eastern Michigan through the center of the state and reported 10 hours for the trip. My only guess is that the Detroit area had massive amounts of road construction at that time and it figured the longer travel was an easier drive. Having traveled the same general route many times before, I knew a couple ways to get around and back to the direct route. With the cuts I found that the trip took less than six hours. Four of us made it on the first day. As we arrived we rigged for the water. Being late in the afternoon we slowly went towards the dock area and tied up. My compliment to the Indiana DNR. They had set up two separate ramps and docking areas, one for sailboats only and at another location was another for powerboats. (Michigan should take notice!) After walking around to viewed the sights, everyone turned in. The first night was very peaceful and quiet. The last time I experienced the such a wonderful night was back in High School days when I traveled the country by motorcycle. Saturday brought a beautiful but hazy morning. After 10ish, the winds picked up and blew the haze away. At that time I went out for a quick sail on the lake. The winds were finicky. They were going from near zero to about 10 m.p.h.. Returning about 11am, I heard about a local club race that was scheduled at 1 PM. Never having raced G Marlyn before, I signed up just to see what would happen. Sailing single handed is normal but I heard a club member was looking for a ride and we joined up. He knew the rules and the lake, I had the boat. This was a perfect match! After the tricky spaghetti-like start we started second but due to the finicky winds, soon fell back to mid pack. The ones passing me had ton's of racing gear and all but one boat was much larger. One 33 foot tricked out racer was owned by a sailboat store and these guys weren't kidding around! I had my stock 110 working jib and main plus I was hauling around a 120 pound motor, six gallons of gas, battery and camping gear. Every local had at least a 150 genoa and a much lighter motor. Talk about one sided! (I know... it's my fault!)  During a constant wind, the others slowly passed or stayed even. I had the advantage of being able to point real good and had a much quicker accelerating boat from the light puffs. After the near hour long race heard that I had finished sixth out of 15 overall with a corrected time putting my near top place. The only thing bad was that me not being a member was not included in the final tallies. Still it was not to bad when you think about the race goodies the other boats had. My crew member really liked the Santana 2023 allot. After the race we went around the lake for a few hours. I "sat back and put my feet up" while he kept talking about how well the Santana was balanced and handled. Coming from a 30 year racer, I think that was a good compliment. That evening we came in and prepared for the hog roast and festivities to follow. Later I called it quits and had another great sleep. Sunday morning, the lake was blanketed with fog. I was going to stay another day but promised an early Sunday return. Thank goodness the weather report claimed less than 3 m.p.h. winds all day. That made me feel much better. Around noon I packed up things and left for home. Here are a few things you might be interested in hearing. 1) While driving through many construction sites, I had no problems driving through the barrels with my 8'6" beam. (Many non-owners claim the Santana 2023 as being 8' 9" wide. I own one and insist it is not wider than the trailer and that is 8' 6" wide. How they get a wider beam size, I don't know?) 2) Several other boat owners picked up a fuel/dirt stain ring on their hull and they use a good wax. I use Starbrite's Premium polish with teflon and picked up almost no fuel/dirt ring on my hull. What I did pick up seemed to disappear on my drive home. 3) While driving I kept the outboard motor on the transom. The motor is an OMC - 9.9hp - 4 stroke - electric start and it's weight is 120 pounds, (add the weight of the gas, wires and battery). My transom has a regular 3/8" piece of scrap plywood on the outside and a small patch of vibration material on the inside for the outboard to mount on, but that's all. After four years with no problems are showing I realize the transom is plenty strong. My transom drains are slightly cracked at the peened over bend. I was told the the transom was flexing while driving, is the cause but I wonder about that. It's been there ever since I can remember. The entire weekend was great! I can hardly wait to make return trip. |
Lake Mead
|
| The enjoyment of the quiet evenings and wildlife in
many coves is hard to beat as mentioned by Steve. He writes; "While we were there, we had our choice of one great cove after another to hang our hats. This time of year, the lake is pretty much devoid of your average boater. I anchored in several great spots, one in particular, where the beach was gently sloping and a sand bottom. The evening was the best of Mead. The moon rose over the stern, the air temp 70, water 74, and no wind. The reflection of the moon and stars was spectacular. In the morning, a small pack of coyotes came down to the water for a drink. I've also had Big Horn sheep visit me on previous trips." This trip sounded great until he was pushed around one evening by high winds. "It was as though the lake was giving us one final lesson..." |
Monterey, California
|
| Having near perfect weather and 4-6
knots of wind, Joe decided to spend a weekend at Monterey, CA. This is still sort-of like a shake down cruise, it being only his second time out. Several habits are yet to be formed but overall everything is working great. While dock side, people next to him suggested trolling while sailing. He was thrilled to find out they pulled in two large Salmons just a few miles out. (After hearing this I know what his next project will be!) |
"G Marlyn" 10/4/2000 |
| My play ground is around South Eastern Mi, generally
Lake St. Clair and Anchor Bay area. Last week my family joined me just to see
the sights. Nothing special but as we all know, "A day sailing is
worth..." :) :) :) :) The winds were out of the South about 10-15 knots. Lot's of other sailboats were also enjoying the day. As we returned to the ramp, a family owning a Newport 17 approached and asked about our "Santa". They were looking for a larger trailerable sailboat and really admired my boat. While I got "G Marlyn" ready for the road, we talked. Maybe I talked too much because he told me I sounded like a salesman. Most owners seem to like their Santana 2023, as reflected on the "Owners and Sellers" page. 'till later, :) George N. |
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