| aPRIL 9, 2006 |
Date: April 9, 2006
Location: New Orleans, LA
Lake Pontchartrain
Crew: Jason King
Theresa Cassagne
Ryann and Julie Gallois
Wind: North at 7 - 10
Seas: Light chop to choppy
General weather: Sunny and 70
degrees. Just about perfect.
Notes: This was an afternoon sail that
took us along the Lakefront to the
Lakefront Airport and back again,
which is about 7 miles each way. The
weather was very cooperative, though
with the wind out of the North, the lake
was a bit choppier than some of the
crew would have liked.
The Genoa developed a small tear in
the bottom panel. This sail is
developing the structural integrity of a
dryer sheet. Also, as we sailed back
into the sun, you could see pinholes
developing along some of the upper
seems. Looks like I'm getting closer
and closer to a new sail.
We saw one of the strangest sights on
the cruise. A mast, almost perfectly
vertical, was protruding from the water.
It was visible from the spreaders up. It
looks like an older mast on a boat that,
if I had to guess, is about 30 ft. long.
Someone tied a life-vest to it to make it
a little more visible. Even so, we
marked it in the GPS as I'd had to be
anywhere this wreck at night. I'm sure it
is a boat from the hurricane, however it
is miles from any marina.
Other than that, the sail was pretty
uneventful, but very pleasant. The only
other excitement occurred when two
restored WWII era planes flew low right
over the boat and circled back to the
airport for a landing in formation.
There was a lot of activity on the water,
which is a great sign. There were quite
a few sailboats out, including the one
at left, which was in really good shape.
We also sailed alongside a pristine
Ensign (a boat I would love to pick up
as a project as soon as we get a new
house). There was also a lot of activity
at SYC as they are constructing a new
deck around the temporary modular
facility and the junior programs were
out in force. One of the highlights of
the day occurred when a group of SYC
juniors ran an O'Day Daysailer into the
docks and couldn't get off of them with
the North breeze - despite furious
efforts at raising and lowering the sails
and an arsenal of paddles. It was a
comedy of errors that reached it's
climax when one of them fell off the
boat and held onto the transom as
they finally managed to head back into
the marina channel.
Location: New Orleans, LA
Lake Pontchartrain
Crew: Jason King
Theresa Cassagne
Ryann and Julie Gallois
Wind: North at 7 - 10
Seas: Light chop to choppy
General weather: Sunny and 70
degrees. Just about perfect.
Notes: This was an afternoon sail that
took us along the Lakefront to the
Lakefront Airport and back again,
which is about 7 miles each way. The
weather was very cooperative, though
with the wind out of the North, the lake
was a bit choppier than some of the
crew would have liked.
The Genoa developed a small tear in
the bottom panel. This sail is
developing the structural integrity of a
dryer sheet. Also, as we sailed back
into the sun, you could see pinholes
developing along some of the upper
seems. Looks like I'm getting closer
and closer to a new sail.
We saw one of the strangest sights on
the cruise. A mast, almost perfectly
vertical, was protruding from the water.
It was visible from the spreaders up. It
looks like an older mast on a boat that,
if I had to guess, is about 30 ft. long.
Someone tied a life-vest to it to make it
a little more visible. Even so, we
marked it in the GPS as I'd had to be
anywhere this wreck at night. I'm sure it
is a boat from the hurricane, however it
is miles from any marina.
Other than that, the sail was pretty
uneventful, but very pleasant. The only
other excitement occurred when two
restored WWII era planes flew low right
over the boat and circled back to the
airport for a landing in formation.
There was a lot of activity on the water,
which is a great sign. There were quite
a few sailboats out, including the one
at left, which was in really good shape.
We also sailed alongside a pristine
Ensign (a boat I would love to pick up
as a project as soon as we get a new
house). There was also a lot of activity
at SYC as they are constructing a new
deck around the temporary modular
facility and the junior programs were
out in force. One of the highlights of
the day occurred when a group of SYC
juniors ran an O'Day Daysailer into the
docks and couldn't get off of them with
the North breeze - despite furious
efforts at raising and lowering the sails
and an arsenal of paddles. It was a
comedy of errors that reached it's
climax when one of them fell off the
boat and held onto the transom as
they finally managed to head back into
the marina channel.
