3rd Times a charm or 3 Strikes You're Out

Departure: 1:00pm 6/2/2007
Return: 5:00pm
Weather conditions: Blue and Breezy
Tide: Flood
Boat: Wee Blow
Crew: 2 (Woody, Rob & Aubrey-Anne)

Hmmmm. For some reason, this has been a really hard post to get out. I'm not sure what the problem is. It's now been 3 weeks since the event and, well, here I am; still writing.

From the title you can probably guess that I participated in my 3rd (and final ever) dinghy race. I used my homemade boat, the Wee Blow, again, and I lost miserably, again. I've accepted the fact that my boat is not fast enough to compete in these races which is why it was the last race. I'm satisfied though. I had a goal to compete with my boat in the Maritime race and I did.

The Maritime Regatta (confusing term for sailboat race) is one of the events in the Gig Harbor Maritime festival; a great festival full of activities, food and a spirited small-town parade. I watched the parade with my children and their friends in the morning. At noon I handed the kids off to Monica and set out for my racing adventure.

My friend Rob raced with me. The boat is easier to manage with two people as it is rigged now. I was also hoping we could trim the boat a bit more evenly with a better distribution of weight. Rob was excited because he'd never participated in a sailing race before. Depending on how you look at it, you could say he still hasn't :).

The weather for the race and the festival could not have been better. The temperature was in the 80's with a pleasant warm breeze. Comfortable enough for the landlubbers yet windy enough for the sailors. The skies were blue with the occasional puffy white cloud, and the air was festive.

We registered for the race and practiced without incident. I was really glad I'd participated in the other two races. I felt much more relaxed and we made a good start when the horn blew. That was about all we had to feel good about though. The other boats quickly left us behind as we tacked toward the first buoy. In fact, two smaller boats (8 feet) started the race late and still passed us to finish much sooner. Yet we pressed on.

We couldn't tack as close to the wind, nor as fast, but we made progress. It was fun to pass the festival, which is on the waters front. People milled about, and we could hear the band playing, and smell the foods cooking on the grills. I felt like we were in the middle of it all even though most of the landlubbers aren't even aware that there's a race going on.

We continued past the festival and started to find our groove. We even started gaining a little on the second to last boat. We were doing pretty good until we were just short of the first buoy. And then... I can't explain what happened next. All of a sudden we couldn't control the boat. It was tacking when we didn't want to tack, and the helm wasn't responding. It was very frustrating to have gotten so close and then flounder such as we were. We eventually straightened out and rounded the buoy, but we'd lost any ground we'd gained earlier. We were the undisputed losers.

I think it was at this point that Rob was realizing what a time commitment a sailboat race can be. He tactfully wondered if we could be dropped off early. I was determined to finish the race, and a stop would only make our loss more acute. A lesser man may have enjoyed tormenting him by dragging out the race, but, being a better man, I didn't see the point. I suggested I drop him off at the city dock which we would be passing anyway; the dock is dock is right on the park where the festival was as well.


The dock rode low in the water, and not quite level, from all the people standing on it. We headed for the loading/unloading zone at the end which is always clear of boats. This is the moment of the day which amazes me the most because there is no way Monica and I could ever have planned a meeting like this. As we pulled up to the dock there was Rob's family waiting for him and there was my family waiting for me. You would think it was all well planned, but it was all complete coincidence. I traded Rob for Aubrey-Anne, said hello to everyone and then took off to finish the race.

The beautiful schooner under full sail caught our eye and tempted us to give chase (ha), but we stuck with it. We'd have time to deal with the Amazing Grace later; and we did. We finished the race just as everyone else was getting ready to start the second race. The judge boat gave us a cheer which I appreciated. I don't think it was in mockery; they knew who we were from the previous races and had been very encouraging.

With the race finished, we left our shame behind with all speed, and went in search of the Grace. She isn't hard to find in our little harbor, and we had a couple of nice passes with her before we parted ways. I enjoyed having Aubrey-Anne on board; she acted as figurehead and photographer and generally kept me company.

The rest of the day was just as nice as the first. We stowed the boat and walked over to the festival where we met family and friends, had some snacks and headed home.

All in all it was a great day. Enjoy Aubrey's pictures.