Off Season Activities

Sailing season is over. Now it is time to complete the "winterizing" of the cottage. A couple weeks ago we did most of the work. All that was left to complete yesterday were three tasks: 1) Get the dock legs out of the water 2) Winterize the motorboat 3) Blow out the pipes of the cottages. I had 6 hours to accomplish this. I assumed 2 of those hours would involve a hammock and a nap. I assumed wrong.

When I arrived the motorboat was in the shade and the dock in the sun. So I opted to do the dock first. The picture at the left is the end result. The dock was pulled in, but still had wheels on the bottom of the lake.

My plan hatched over the past few weeks was simple. Six teenagers, a woman, and myself (strength equivalent of 2 people) were unable to simply lift the dock up onto the pier a couple weeks ago. This was going to require ingenuity and cunning, of which I had plenty.

For this endeavor I planned on using :

1. Two strap wrenches
2. Two 30 foot ropes
3. a 15/16" wrench
4. a Ford Expedition

I also ended up using:

1. 30 foot chain
2. 6 foot 4X4
3. garden rake
4. 200 pound magnet
5. 8 feet of string
6. a finger
7. a change of underwear
8. a 10-foot pole
9. 2 additional strap wrenches
10. a wheelbarrow full of firewood
11. 4 milk crates
12. a come-along
13. a big rock

Step 1: Raising the legs

The general plan is to raise the legs up as high as they go and then lift the dock the last few inches onto the pier. Each set of wheels is attached to a pair of legs. To get these up the poles must be lifted simultaneously or they bind. Simple. I would attach a strap wrench over the top of the dock and down to each wheel. The as I click click the strap wrench both sides rise.

As I am preparing the strap wrench, Woody (my dog) assumes I'm looking at fish in the water. He is at my side looking left and right underwater trying to see the fish. The wind is up from the South. The waves are maybe a half foot high. While I'm trying to hook the wrench I get a couple small splashes on me. I can live with that. I hook one side, extend the strap over the other side and dangle the mechanism, which immediately slide off the strap and sinks to the bottom of the lake. When I reach for it I drop the other end of the strap which sinks to the bottom of the lake.

I went and got the 200-pound magnet on a string. Hanging over the edge I fish for the metal bits of the strap wrench. Now the dog thinks I'm fishing and starts getting real excited. I'm hanging over the corner of the pier reaching out over the dock. The dog wants a better look and muscles in. I lose my balance and head for the lake. I dropped the magnet, grabbed the metal structure of the dock, catch myself and find myself hanging from the underside of the dock with my feet on the pier. All I can think of is my cell phone and wallet in my pockets.

I get my leg up and over the dock and hook a cross piece and somehow climb back up without swimming. A fisherman nearby applauds.

Wallet, phone, and valuables safely stowed in the car, I use the rake to collect the floating string of the magnet. After 10 minutes or so of more fishing (dog in a stay) I get the wrench. It turns out the strap doesn't reach. I use 2 straps, one for each side. I get them assembled and start clicking.

There is not much leverage in a strap wrench handle. The straps stretch and they have lots of friction. After 10 minutes of this I have raised the legs 2 inches. A quick mental calculation shows I will be done by Tuesday. I lock the legs in place with the mounting bolts and dismantle the contraption.

I need more oomph. I get the come-along. My history with this particular come-along involves pinched fingers, bent metal, and lots of swearing. I hate this thing. I hook up the cable and the other end to a rope with the come-along centered over the dock. Clickety click some and the legs move! Well one did. It binds up. I shake and push and jump up and down but it is stuck. I have to pound on the top of the pipe with a big rock. This I do successfully without dropping the rock on my head or falling into the lake.

Restart. Click click...stuck. Too much friction on one side. I can't go an inch without binding. I give up.

The dog gives up on the fish and sleeps.

One hour gone, not much progress.

Plan B - Lift the wheels from the center of the axle so they come up together. The axle is at the bottom of the lake and I have no intention of swimming. The rope doesn't sink. I get the chain. Using the rake and magnet I get the chain around the axle. Now I need to hook the chain to itself as deep as I can. From the waist up I am bent over the end of the pier up to my armpits. A boat goes by 30 feet away. The wake drenches me. I use item #6. They don't see.

I hooked up the chain. Now what. There is nothing to lift against in the center of the dock to hook to. I drag the chain up over the edge of the wall and toward the car. I'll just drive the car forward a bit and raise the wheels. I tie a rope to the chain, tie that to the car, and get ready to drive. Woody stands in front of the car looking like I'm trying to escape without him. I let him in the back seat.

I pull forward. No tension. The chain came off the axle. Over the end of the wall I go again. The dog (I let him out and left the door open) thinks I'm fishing and starts barking again. I get it hooked again, keep tension, and I'm ready.

Back in the car (dog too). I pull forward. MOVEMENT! yes! Nope. Just pulling the dock against the wall a bit. More pull. Nothing. I get out to look. The chain is bending the steel end of the pier. Back to the drawing board.

Two hours gone.

Plan C. A come-along from the shore end of the dock. A rope over a 4X4 down to the center of the axle. I rig it. Click Click...I'm scared. The rope is stretched to the break point. The 4X4 is up against the poles I am lifting, locking them in place. I rerig with the 4X4 in the middle of the dock. Still nothing. I loosen the bolts that are locking the legs in place. (THAT'S why the chain car thing didn't work!) Finally. Success! I have to unbind the motion once in awhile but I get the legs up!

Ten minutes later I have both sets of legs up as high as they go. It turns out this is at least 3 feet below the wall. I have to lift the dock up 3 feet.

Step 2 - Lifting the Dock

The dog gave up. He's asleep in the back seat of the car.

Plan A - use the car. When in doubt, use 300 horsepower to accomplish heavy lifting. I run a rope from the car out over the wall and down to the axle. I do this on each side. This does nothing but pull the dock against the wall and break a rope.

Plan B - lift the light shore end, prop something under the middle and lever up the heavy end using the whole dock. I get firewood. Using the angles of the flat cuts, I prop these up against the side of the dock so that when I lift they fall into place and I can lower the dock onto the upright firewood. Four tries later I give up. The best I could do was lever up the end of the dock about 18 inches. And then I had no way of keeping the dock up while I ran to the other end to prop it up.

Plan C - The come-along. I raise docks when they are in the lake by lifting myself and the dock using a come-along. It's worth a try. But that method forces the leg down and the dock up. I don't want to lower the legs again. I need new legs.

I look around for pipe. Nothing long enough. There is a pile of metal junk up top. I get in the car and head up there, Woody still in the back seat sleeping. I find a 10-foot pipe with a flange on the end. I remember it had mounted on top a pressure-treated bird house I made while drunk one night (beer, screw gun, leftover decking, and that's what you get). I pull the pipe out of the prickers and poison ivy and shove it in the car. It goes over Woody's head and slides all the way to the passenger side up front. I close the hatch and get in.

I start to drive down the hill. A chipmunk runs out of the pipe and starts to run wherever it can. I scream like a schoolgirl, slam on the brakes and jump out of the car. I race after the car and jump back in, hit the brakes, put it in park and jump out into bushes. I have to close the door to get up from the ground. Woody by now is chasing this chipmunk all over the car. When I slammed on the brakes he fell over the center console into the dashboard. The chipmunk then headed for the way back with Woody in chase. At some point one of them stepped on the door lock. By the time I enter to door code and started opening doors, the chipmunk is under a seat with Woody barking like mad.

Laughing so hard I have tears streaming down my face, I find the dog's collar and get it on him and pull him out of the car. I turn off the car. Woody and I sit down and wait. About 5 minutes later the chipmunk pokes his head out the door, jumps down and leaves.

After checking the 10-foot pole for other creatures, Woody and I head back to the dock. I use item #7.

Another hour gone.

With the come-along at the top of the pole, the pole sitting on the bottom of the lake, and the cable attached to the axle, click click...I'm lifting the whole dock end. One foot...two feet...uh oh.

The dock is now fully supported by a come along and one leg. One leg is hard to balance on. I am steadying the dock with my knees and one arm, click click with the other arm. The wheels are just a foot below the edge. All I have to do is go up another....oh crap. The 10-foot pole is between the axle and the pier. It is in the way. I have to set the dock back down. I reverse the come-along. The first click bends the little post that lets the come-along release one click at a time. It is stuck.

If I let the dock go it falls to one side. I have to MacGyver this one. What's within reach? A 4X4, a broken rope, 4 pieces of poorly cut firewood, a big rock, a 15/16 wrench, and a dog. With my feet I gather a piece of firewood. I reach but can't grip it to stand it up. Too short anyway. I get the 4X4 and manage to get one end. I push it out past the end of the pier under the axle. But I can't push down with dock parts in the way. I rearrange and manage to lever up that side of the dock and proped the 4X4 under one side of the dock. If I can lean the whole dock on its 1 leg and one 4X4 I can get it to balance. Success. But one puff of wind will topple it. I take the dog to the car and grab the only things I can see to prop up the dock, plastic milk crates.

A boat goes by. I start running, hurdling things, swinging milk crates. I get to the dock just as the boat waves hit the wheels. I catch it before it crashes off the side of the pier.

Two milk crates hold. I fix the come-along. I put the leg on the outside of the axle and click click up again. I reach the limit of the come-along. The center of the wheels are just above the pier but I can't lift it onto the pier. With milk crates and one leg holding the dock up, I tie ropes to the docks and the car. With one big pull the dock is up on the pier. Ten minutes later after after using the magnet to get the 10-foot pole and the come-along out of the lake, and the manboat to get the milk crates that were floating away. I'm done with one of three tasks for the day.

Wood and I sat and looked at the lake for awhile.

I had just enough time for winterizing and covering the motorboat, pulling the Frissoras' E-Scow, and blowing the pipes. Funny all the help showed up AFTER the whole dock incident.

Woody spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing. At one point I saw him follow a chipmunk on the hillside with his gaze, but didn't move a muscle. Poor dog is probably traumatized.

The Regatta Was Mine to Lose...And I Did

Two races today. I finished 10 and 7 to successfully lose the regatta by a point.

I woke up this morning early, unable to sleep. The first start was scheduled for 10:00. By 9:00 I had the boat ready to launch. I delayed awhile knowing I didn't want to be out on the water too long. It was 46 degrees, blowing 15 from the N NW. I was wearing neoprene shorts, padded shorts, bib overall rain gear pants, a t-shirt, sweatshirt, and a spray top. My ears were still cold.

After launching I sailed to the parts of the course that were not in yesterday's course. The top mark was in a different bay. I noted the shifts, the shore affects, all the scouting I needed to do.

Then I sailed to the starting area, right up against the leeward shore, a shoreline with some height. The wind was lifting up and over. At the right end of the line was a big right, the left end a big left. Puffs rolling down the lake would make one end or the other favored.

I saw the course was right favored but the line left favored. I started at the pin, got quick clear air, and immediately ran out of lake. Tacking over I had to hard duck, then duck again, then duck again. I ended up in a crowd. I tried to get right as planned and eventually succeeded. Of course the left came in and I ended up very deep in the fleet. But I caught a couple critical shifts correctly at the last minute of the leg to pick up 10 or so boats, and get in contact with the lead pack. From there it was work to get into the top 5.

On the last leg of the race, Chris Craig had the race locked up. If I could get to 3rd place I would have the regatta locked up. I was in 6th at the last mark. I picked up Sean to get to 5th, lost him again, then split a little farther left than the pair battling for third. I came back just behind them. I made a couple more moves and gained. All I had to do was cross in front of them on port and tack to the finish on starboard to get 3rd. I had him cleared until a big puff and shift. He got lifted and accelerated, I got headed and stalled. I was too close to duck. I had to tack. I cleated the main to release the board and pull it down (doesn't go by itself) and turned. The first grab on the board failed. The second grab was good but I missed uncleating the main, The boat was already around with me still on the low side. I could still recover. But I was ducking under the over trimmed boom while capsizing, and wearing an entire closet of clothes. The main would not uncleat. I went over.

I stayed dry somehow climbing up the overturned boat like a rat fleeing a sinking ship. I learned from my one prior capsize that I need to take a rope with me. I grab the traveler. I'm standing on the top board now pulling on the traveller. Nothing. The main is still cleated on the low side. Over I go hanging upside down to uncleat it. Back on the board and slowly the boat comes up.

I look to see I'm in maybe 9th place. I spend the last 100 yards of the race cleaning up and cruising in. I know I just blew it. I had the regatta won. It was like getting to match point in tennis and losing the set. The anger sets in. The adrenaline fades. Something is wrong with my left arm. Somehow I hit my arm hard on the outside of my left arm. I have trouble holding a water bottle.

Regatta winners know where they stand after each race. I knew I had a throwout and Sean who was in 3rd had another bad race (ended up 8th I think after doing penalty turns). So Chris Craig is now holding the cards, driving the race.

I know I want to go up the right side for race 5. So like an idiot I get sucked into the great looking pin end. I win it and extend, tack and cross the boats near me. I'm in good company. Chris Craig, Richard Blake are right there. Sean takes his initial tack all the way to shore and come out later on port. And sticking to my plan when I come out, I go all the way across. I beat the left end of the line but ended up deep fleet by the time I got right. Sean banged the left corner and got a great lefty, which meant I was on the wrong side.

Each puff is snappy. I have to trim and ease constantly. My arm is throbbing. I have to wrap the sheet to hold onto it. I have no grip strength.

At the top mark I regained enough boats that I was within striking distance. Downwind I had a great puff that closed the gap more, picking up a few boats. On the second upwind I picked off a few more. But the crowd was keeping me from doing what I wanted when I wanted. By the last leg I was somewhere in the 5-7 range with Chris Craig covering me hard. I timed a tack in a crowd with another boat to drop clear left of him. All I knew was that I had to get to top 5. But now I had a boat on my hip. I was locked out left. When the shift came that boat did not tack. My opportunity was fading. Chris was way out on the right. The split was solid. The hip boat tacked away. I held on until I was almost over stood for the port layline to the finish. I tacked, worked through the shifts for 15 seconds and met Chris at the line. He was very slow on starboard struggling to make the pin. I was very fast on port. I ducked him and shot up. The whistle was less than a second apart. He got the position. In the end my day's finishes were 10 and 7, not very good.

Sailing in I could not tell if we were 5 and 6 or 6 and 7 place. In the end it did not matter. But what neither of us counted on was that Sean winning that race put him also in contention. In the end 2 points covered the first three places. I had 8 hours to drive home and think about this.

The Cowan perpetual trophy is a cow's ass, about 2 feet tall with the cow looking back at you. Maybe I actually won. I cannot imagine that on my mantle.

Cowan is an interesting place to sail. No boats and a small lake means no waves. Getting wet was hard. I showed how though - capsize. Flat water and big shifts means different sail performance. I realized I need to expand my inventory to include more than one regatta sail. I also need to practice slam tacks, capsizing, and other unusual maneuvers.

Thursday one of my employees asked me if there were any hot shots coming. I looked and decided Richard Blake was my competition. He was. In fact I started next to him in 4 of 5 races. I see now Sean is going to be hard to beat at home too. He sailed well.

This was my last regatta of the year. I met great folks this year. I think it was a successful start. I made my name known to a couple hotshots, giving them fits. I didn't have any real goals other than to win the local fleet. This second place will get me on a ranking list. My "new guy" status will be gone.

What this year did for my confidence is probably visible in reading these posts. I started the year having been away from regatta and driving for many years. Now I know I can hang with the big boys. People told me I was a good sailor. I think I can believe it. I'm not great. I need lots more work. But I know what I have to work on. There were race wins in regattas, three of them. I need to put four or five good races into a regatta though. not two or three.I need to learn to clear traffic. I need to work on my boat a little bit. It if fast but has some glitches I need to fix. I need to get in shape. I need to go to more regattas. But I think I'm on the right track.

Leading After Day 1

It has been many years since I led a regatta after day 1. I have 5 points in three races, finishes of 3, 1, 1. Second place is the guy that beat me in the first race. He has 10 points. Behind him there are a few people within a point or two.

The wind was 5 to 18 with more 5 and 18 than 10 to 12. It was a challenge with a small shifty lake.

Tomorrow I need to have one good race out of two. One finish in the top 3 should put the regatta away.

What a weird feeling. With a throwout there may be no need for me to sail the last race.

Although I won 2 races today, it was not easy. There are a bunch of people that could win races here. But I won the pin in each of 4 starts (including a racall) and stayed up front a lot. It helps avoid the crowds when you start well. In the first race I even tried to port tack the fleet. I had to duck 3 boats but made a good move with the start.

Tomorrow I just need to stay agressive and finish what I started.