January Club Sail

Departure: 1:00pm 1/7/2008
Return: 4:00pm 1/7/2008
Weather conditions: Heavy Cloud cover, windy w/ Gusts
Tide: Flood then Ebb
Boat: Blue Club Boat
Crew: 3 (Woody, Paul & Terry)

Me, your personal navigator and guide through the waters of Puget Sound.

Stormy waters under the bridge.  I continue to fail to capture wave size.

This is the 4th blog entry I've written in less than two days so if it's a little less witty than you've come to expect, a little less philosophical, a little less brilliant, you'll understand why. One good thing about this entry is it's recent - as in yesterday.

Train tunnels are always cool.

It must be that the January club sail is reserved only for toughest, most brave sailors, or maybe it's just for the most foolhardy. In either case, the turnout was not great; not even Dave, the manager joined us. We had three crew in all including myself. I'm thinking this is the ideal number for a club sail because everyone has a task on board; helms person, main sheet and jib sheets.


The weather was cold and the clouds were dark and stormy looking and the wind blew with gusto, but it never rained or in any way precipitated. The light on these winter sails is never that great. I'm getting tired of murky blue/gray photos of my sailing trips. I guess it can't be helped, but it it tiresome. There wasn't a single other boat out on the water; not even powerboats. We did see a barge trudging up the narrows as we were heading home, but that was it.


The wind was quite strong and the gusts were unnerving. We ended up reefing the main which helped a lot. With the tides in our favor, and the wind blowing strong, we were able to set a new club record. At least, it's a record since the time I've been in the club. We were able to sail to the Tacoma Narrows bridge, circle it's west pylon, and sail back to the mouth of the harbor and still dock on time. It was great.

I also have to say something about the waves. They have to have been the biggest I've ever sailed in; they were even bigger than the ones we had on our August sail with our friends (see blog). I would guess, from trough to peak, that the waves were 3.5 to 4 feet in height. The boat dropped off the top of a couple of the bigger ones, and when they crashed across our bow, the spray carried clear into the cockpit. It was quite exhilarating.

My crew-mates Paul and Terry. They aren't a couple.

The small crew, the open waters, strong wind, big waves, and distance covered, I'd rank this as one of the nicest sails I've had in a while. I only wish there was something new to photograph. My pictures of each trip are about the same.

Enjoy them for what they are.