La Conner Christmas Boat Parade

[blt2ski]

Kyrie looked happy in her slip half an hr ago. or about 3:15 local time any how.

The docks had quite a bit of ice on them in the outside portion, the covered portions were nice and dry. Not to mention cold down there with winds in the 20's, white caps all around. The staff mentioned one guy went out for a sail a couple of hours earlier, got about 400 yds and did a U'ee! 2-4' waves out there, windchill close to 0F!

Marty

[djodenda]

Thanks Marty...

I was aboard a couple of hours ago.. It was warmer down below.. The heaters and the seawater kept things reasonable down there..

I put the 75 watt heater down by the water heater in the lazarette, and put the space heater on low with the thermostat at the lowest setting.

I think she'll be fine..

If she's on fire when I'm gone, save the anchor lamp.. It's a family heirloom.

Our family has weird heirlooms.

David

[blt2ski]

Will do! Have fun down there, neighbor jut came back from down there, client, I seem to recall another person or two down there right now, heading or just getting back too. Someday maybe..........

marty

[djodenda]

Thanks.. I've never been to anyplace like this. It's an all-inclusive resort.

I hope to find catamarans to sail!

Oh.. and by the way... my father is paying for it! (Family reunion)

David

[jrd22]

David, no, she's tied to the fuel float. I wouldn't trust the mooring this time of year. The wind has been screaming through Peavine Pass since Friday night, I don't think it has been below 30 knots, gusts high enough to make you worry about getting blown off the float. I could have moved her into the marina today, the tides are OK now, but the wind was blowing so hard even inside that I was worried about getting her in the slip. The fuel float is covered in thick ice, makes it treacherous to walk out there, about lost the dog this morning when he went running towards the boat and then skid for about 20'! Dontcha just love winter?

John

[Faster]

Originally Posted by jrd22

Dontcha just love winter?

NO!... I tell you, after this coming week I'll be ready for spring on Dec 26th.

[djodenda]

John:

BIS says that the winds should drop by tomorrow evening....Take care of her until you get around to correcting the spelling of the Lori Ann and turn her over to us...

David

[jrd22]

Faster- I'm with you, I've had about enough of this global warming!

David- LOL, I forgot about the spelling mixup, I'll get on that as soon as the weather warms up and the wind dies down.

John

[djodenda]

OK... We're back from Mexico, and had a great time. Kyrie is safe and sound, with no snow on the deck, and the space heater is now unplugged..

Couldn't believe how much snow was left on the ground at my house...

The resort had 3 Hobie Waves, which are a 14' roto-molded catamarans. They remind me a bit of our old Hobie 14, but are fuller in the bows, have no boom, but still fun to sail.

The boats were free, but reserved on a sign-up sheet. I got a 20 minute sail the first day when the prospective sailor never showed. My daughter and I had a nice sail in about 5-8 knots of wind and 2' seas.

We had the first sail of the day the next morning, when the wind quickly ramped up from 5 to a solid 15 knots. What a blast!.. I haven't sailed a catamaran in that much wind in over 20 years. Hope was at the helm until the downwind landing at the beach. She kept complaining about me crowding her aft on the trampoline, but understood the necessity as I pointed out to her what would happen if the lee bow dug in.

We returned tired and happy.

There was much carnage later in the day as the wind continued to increase and resulted in multiple capsizes and them canceling all sailing for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately, the high winds continued all week, and that was the last of the sailing for us.

I don't blame the resort for canceling sailing, since they had no way of knowing skill levels of the prospective sailors, and it's pretty easy to get in trouble with that type of boat in that kind of wind, especially over a coral reef.


Here's the beach:



And an unhappy me, hoping to sail again....



David

[Faster]

Looks good, David.. I think the heavy winds/lee shore situation is not unusual there, and we had similar issues a couple of years ago with the same boats a few miles south of you. I did roll one over a (fortunately artificial) reef before managing to get out into open water.

You certainly missed a snowy Christmas this time around.