June in Texas
Dee, Beth and Pam came down to Texas for a brief stay of a few days. The weather cooperated for a brief sailing excursion on a Monday night with the three of them. No one got sick. Pam and Beth took their hand briefly at handling the sheets and even the tiller. Dee had a good time too! We met Nette, Mike and Landon for dinner afterwards.
The following weekend (4th of July) - we went out for an early morning sail on Friday and spent 3 hours - going almost the entire length of the lake. We turned around about 1/2 mild short of the dam and headed home as it was approaching 100 degrees! We're planning on going out again on the 4th to enjoy the fireworks from the lake.
I think we're ready for our charter coming up in just 3 weeks!
p.s. - a guestbook entry asked about the motor not starting last month. It was basically gunked up. Even though it was refurbished back in the spring, the carborator apparently wasn't cleaned up or we got "bad gas" - either way, after running the motor dry a few times and using "new" gas, it now runs great and starts pretty much on the first couple tries. No more problem!
Great weekend sailing
Landon and Nette joined us for our first real 'social' sailing time. We spent nearly 4 hours on the lake - including a couple of stops to swim and to cook lunch on the boat. 
Landon made sure all the 'windows' were clean before we left.
This was a great weekend of sailing - fair winds and we handled docking and leaving the dock well. We had a private lesson with an instructor on Saturday, which helped answer a lot of questions we had.
Landon made sure all the 'windows' were clean before we left. Bonnie's swimming skills came in handy as she helped Landon get used to the lake. My first jump in the lake was a bit tough - I jumped in and when I surfaced, the boat was moving away from me at a more brisk rate than I could swim. Bonnie threw me a line and I caught the boat and then climbed back aboard. We figured out (mostly) what we had done wrong on our heaving-to and then they were able to swim safely after that.
Good sailing at last!
6/10/09
Well, the luck has shifted.
Sunday - we went out and Todd helped us out by climbing up the rickety mast tower to save our mainsail halyard that had somehow gotten loose - it clutch cleat was open and the shackle was closed - but all the way up the mast. He got it down and we went out into the Lake for an hour - too windy for us to set the sail, but still relaxing. We struggled with leaving the dock against the wind, but came in just fine
Wednesday - 6/10 - woohoo! Cloudy day with forecast of thunderstorms, but there was only about 10 kts wind. We left the dock w/o problems and set sail just outside the marina. We unfurled the jib and sailed halfway across the lake before we saw lightening in the distance. We were only making 2 kts in very light winds - dramatic drop from when we left the dock - so motored back the last 1/2 way and settled into the slip like pros. We were off the boat with everything tucked in for a windy night in a few minutes and beat the heavy rain that followed. We enjoyed the rain from the windows of the Islamadora Fish Restaurant nearby.
We're having a private lesson on Saturday w/ Jeff - first time with him - to just practice some skills that we just don't feel solid on yet - I'm looking forward to that and hope there's a bit more wind so we can practice some real sailing.
The bareboat charter is getting close and we want to be ready!
If it wasn't for BAD luck, we'd have NO luck at all!
About 2 1/2 weeks ago, we finally had a nice day when I was off from call and Bonnie was home too -- we went out to the lake to go sailing. Just before we left, I had gotten a call from the marina telling me that the foresail was flapping and they were afraid it might tear. When we got there - it wasn't just flapping. One of the recent storms had torn the edge of the sail loose and shredded it - the pieces wrapped around the forestay and were tightly tied around it. The two jib sheets (ropes to the edge of the sail) were tattered and someone had untied one of the them and had the other one tied to the safety like on the starboard side.
I couldn't unfurl the sail or do anything with it. We don't have a safe way of going up the mast yet, so we contacted our friendly Inland Sailing Center to arrange repairs. I got a call yesterday telling me it was all done and we were ready to set sail today.
It was a beautiful day today - scattered rain and brief winds, but mostly nice. The sail and the new sheets and halyards looked great. Wasps were swarming so Bonnie set off to get some wasp spray. I started the engine up - and it died. I then spent the next 2 1/2 hours trying to get the darn thing to start again. The Inland guys said it worked fine yesterday and maybe it was the carborator gunked up - but that was just redone 2 months ago! I got new gas. That didn't help. I purged the lines, sprayed alcohol in the carborator - and nothing. It was breezy enough that I think I could have gone out of the marina just under sail - but that's not safe, so, another opportunity ended without sailing - and more expense to come as they will look at the motor again tomorrow and see what's the deal with it!
Frustrating for sure. You know what they say BOAT means? Bring Out Another Thousand$!!
Practicing w/ Landon
We went out on Sunday - forecast was for sunny w/ mild winds (10 mph). We picked up Landon and headed to the lake. When we got there, a few clouds were gathering and the wind was picking up, but we thought we'd be fine.
By the time we cast off, leaving the dock went great! We went out into the lake, and boy did the winds pick up. We decided to put up just the jib (front sail) - and before we could do anything else, we had the starboard rail in the water (i.e. we were heeled way over to the right). We quickly headed into the wind and then reefed (shortened) the jib. With that set up we could sail and make pretty good progress, but it was a LOT of work. We turned around and headed back to the marina.
We got back to the marina fine - but it took 4 tries to get back into our slip due to the wind blowing so hard (25 mph w/ gusts 30-35 mph).
Landon thought the best part of the trip was when we were really tipped over to one side.
I contacted a local instructor to see what he'd recommend -- his recommendation - keep practicing - but maybe don't go out in such strong winds yet!
We learned some more good lessons - especially on docking and reefing sails.
We'll keep at it!
Bareboat lessons
Bonnie and I took our Bareboat Chartering and Coastal Cruising lessons this past weekend in Kemah/Galveston Bay. We both passed the written tests (and I am sworn to secrecy this time on the results except for being both B's or better) and performance tests. Our instructor was superb. We were on a 25 year old Bennetau 39 foot sailboat.
Saturday was COLD and WET. We sailed from Kemah down to Galveston in the rain and on the way learned about some basic navigation and operation of boat systems. We made it into the Galveston Yacht Yard and went out to eat at the "Original Mexican Restaurant" - which was quite good. We didn't have heat over night and with it raining and temps in the high 30's got a good test of our sleeping bags - which worked fine.
Sunday morning was a bit hazy, but no rain. We left the marina accompanied by a pair of dolphins that followed us out into the Gulf of Mexico. We only went a short way out into the Gulf as it was calm and we really wanted to practice handling waves - but there weren't any! So we motored north (no wind still) back up to Kemah, again practicing our navigation skills. I cooked on board that night to meet that requirement and dinner went well - a simple shrimp marinara w/ salad and garlic bread
Monday was beautiful. We sailed (no motoring) around Galveston Bay, practiced anchoring techiniques and generally had a leisurely time since the tests were all done now. 
Monday night we enjoyed a nice evening on the Boardwalk - having dinner at "The Aquarium" - a truly awesome restaurant with enormous fish tanks all around and very good food!
We drove back Tuesday after checking out the South Shore Resort. Wednesday - my last day off - we went sailing on our boat with renewed confidence - and had a great 2 1/2 hour sail around Lake Ray Hubbard before heading back to Greenville.
We're making progress and thoroughly enjoyed this past few days.
Sailing Lesson 101
Basic Keelboat Sailing Course, Kemah, TX 11/8-9/08
We had our first formal lesson this past weekend, and it was wonderful!
The first 3-4 hours was on board a Hunter 41 boat that was used as our classroom. We reviewed all the material in the textbook and had some great discussions. Then we headed out into Galveston Bay for about 3 1/2 hours of sailing.
There were obviously still some signs of damage from Hurricane Ike. A few sunk boats, lots of damage along the Boardwalk, but most of the expensive, fancy boats near the marina were intact with minimal problems. There were some amazing boats there too - one worth $10 MILLION according to Capt. Rob!
The first day was pretty calm and we practiced some basic maneuvers and then headed in. Bonnie and I found a nice Cajun seafood restaurant right on the shore and enjoyed the food and watching the continual stream of boats coming back into the harbors.
The next day was a bit windier (as in the video). We clipped along at a good pace, and practiced our moves. There were a few difficult moments - the dreaded 'accidental jibe' - where the sail comes crashing over to the opposite side of the boat (not while either Bonnie or I were at the helm however!)
I forgot to mention the test - we started the morning with a quick review and then took our 100 question test. One of us got the first 100% that Captain Rob had ever had in his students. Bonnie did really well too with a 98% 
We hove-to out in the bay, had lunch, and then continued practicing - sailing wing on wing (that's where the accidental jibe occurred), practicing "man overboard", turning into the wind, turning away from the wind, and basically it felt like we were flying over the water - which from a physics sense, we were!
I got a bit worn out (having been sick the past few weeks) and had to have poor Bonnie do all the driving home to Greenville - and then she had another hour back to McKinney. So it was a long weekend but very exhilarating.
See the photo album for a few more pictures!
Dave
Update on sailing 11/08
We haven't been out on the lake for a few weeks - between my schedule and Bonnie's scuba teaching cycle, October was hard to find time. This past weekend we had time, but both felt ill - I'm getting over a whopper of a cold and bronchitis and she had a bit of the brown bottle flu!
Next weekend is - THE LESSON! We're heading south to Clear Lake, TX to go out into the lake and hopefully Galveston Bay for our formal "Basic Keelboat Sailing" lessons. I've got to review the text again as it was originally scheduled back when IKE hit - nearly 2 months ago.
We did go out once since then - and it was a learning adventure again. It was a pretty windy day, and we haven't learned how to reef our sail yet. Anyway, we were beating against the wind, trying to go around a fisherman, and all of a sudden - we heeled over - it felt like 45 degrees, but probably much less. I recovered, and then had it happen again. I now know (a) my sails were trimmed too tight, (b) I should have had them reefed (shortened), and (c) even though it scared us, we were safe and sound on a good boat. We sailed back to the marina with just the mainsail and did fine, until I tried to get into the marina - directly upwind, and that was a struggle. Anyway, good learning experience and we're ready to add to our knowledge base this weekend - with proper instruction!
Getting a little practice in
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We were supposed to go to Galveston this weekend for our ASA 101 course - 5 hours in the classroom and 11 hours on the water. But IKE made our plans change a bit! It still looks like he'll miss hitting Houston/Galveston directly - but the winds are projected to be 50 mph when we're supposed to be learning - not good!
We did go out on the Lake this evening however. Bonnie, Daisy, Landon and I had a nice sail after sitting out a good rain storm. The storm ended with one big clap of thunder - the rain stopped immediately and the sun came out. We set sail a few minutes later and enjoyed a nice trip half way across the lake and back. Bonnie has a little problem with keeping her eyes on the destination, so while I was unfouling a sheet that had gotten hung up on the hatch cover, she took us in a big circle. Oh well - we circled back around and sailed back to the marina. We'll get better!
Landon enjoyed the trip and enjoyed his first visit to the boat.
Dave - 9/10/08
STEEP learning curve
August 27, 2008This isn't me. Fortunately there were no photographers around today! I did get to meet two really nice policemen and Todd was there to be a great help too.
It's a beautiful day in Dallas this afternoon. Nice wind, sunny sky, what more could I ask for? I went out to the boat (as yet still un-named) and rooted around in the lockers and traced out the lines. With Todd's help, I figured out the electrical panel and what the extra halyards are for -- they are for the jib and spinnaker and we don't really use them right now, but now I know! I checked out the personal flotation devices - and found we have 2 type IV's - very important, and several others for all sizes. I hooked up my zune and just enjoyed looking around for an hour or so. I even got the depth finder to work - and noted no fish under the boat in the marina!
Well, the wind was blowing lightly, it was a beautiful day - so what the heck, let's take her out for a little spin. I'll play it safe (that was the plan) and only raise the mainsail since I'm sailing single handed. Bonnie is out west with her son and daughter-in-law (and grandkids) due to a death in the family. I expertly backed out of the slip (on the second try -- first try went a little crooked, but I fixed it) and motored out of the marina with confidence high. I got past the 'no wake' bouys and aimed for the center of the channel, aimed the bow of the boat into the south westerly wind and raised the mainsail.
At least I attempted to raise the mainsail. I got it half way up and that was it. I struggled mightily but to no avail. In retrospect, one of the plastic knobs that run up the mast was probably stuck, and all I had to do was wiggle it, but I didn't think of that. I dropped the sail, started the motor and turned back into the channel and got away from the shoreline that had been approaching.
Not being one to give up, I headed into the wind, and this time successfully raised the mainsail all the way up the mast. In my excitement and momentary pride, I looked around and saw that i had taken a turn away from the wind (I thought I would have turned into the wind with the mainsail up, but didn't!) and there were nice, pretty reeds coming up from the water right in front of me. I quickly started the motor and put it in reverse, turning the tiller hard alee to try to turn around back toward the marina, but nothing happened. I revved the motor up - in fact it nearly jumped off the transom (sailor talk for back of the boat). Still no luck. I tried to back the mainsail - no luck, in fact couldn't get it to do anything. I though about raising the jib to get more power and see if I could turn to port with that up, but in my first moment of true wisdom since leaving the marina - instead called Todd. He gave me a few suggestions, none of which worked as I was wedged in too tight and still had the mainsail up. I lowered the sail, wiggled the boat, turned left, turned right - but didn't move. Wise young Todd, suggested I sit tight while he called the Dallas Police to come to my rescue.
Well, to make an embarassingly long story short - the police boat came up and was able to pull me off the bottom. I actually knew from my reading about how to make a stern bridle for that, but used their rope with carabiner instead. The pulled me out into the channel, I started up the motor and headed back into the marina. They requested that I show them a life jacket to be sure I was in compliance with safety rules, but didn't ask anything else of me. They followed me back to the marina - to avoid another trip if the rookie got hung up again I'm sure.
The positive of the afternoon was a perfect docking single handed. I put out the fenders but didn't need them, jumped out and secured the lines and put the boat away in good shape.
The moral of this story - I didn't get frustrated, angry, upset and learned some valuable lessons. Todd was a true sailing gentleman - assuring me that he's seen many a boat get stuck in that same spot, so not to feel too bad. A little dampened ego is good for you - learn the lessons and don't repeat the same mistakes.
The next time I go out will be hopefully next week when Bonnie will be in town too and if we go aground, it will be her fault since I've learned MY lessons!
Dave
We bought the boat!
We bought a boat today!It's a Pearson 26 One Design. The Pearson 26 line was first produced in 1970 and was an instant success. They produced 266 of the One Design models (of which ours is #255). Ours was built in 1981. It's 26 feet 1 inch long on the deck, and 21 feet 8 inches at the water line. It has a draft of 4 feet 0 inches and weighs 5400 pounds, including 2200 pounds in the keel (the very bottom of the boat that sticks down. It has a beam (maximum width) of 8 feet 8 inches.
Inside, the layout looks like this. It's a bit hard to see on this photo, but there's a large double berth (bed) in the stern (back of the boat). A nice salon in the middle that seats 6 easily, and there's stowage room under the bow, or leg room if someone was going to sleep on the salon seats.
It has 2 sails, a main sail (mainsul) and a jib up front. The mast rises 35 feet above the water line - but it sure looks taller than that from the boat!! It has a 6 HP motor on the back also.
The broker took us out in the boat for about an hour before we made the final decision to buy it. It handled very well in light winds - we only made a top speed of 2 knots during this run, but he showed us how to handle the basic systems of the boat, and told us many tales of his cruising days - Tahiti, Caribbean, Chesapeake Bay, Maine, and around Florida. He told us that ginger flavored with raspberry is his favorite treatment for sea sickness (for his wife, not him), and that he truly believes a cold beer first thing in the morning prevents most seasickness.
After that first trip, we tied up at the dock and did all the paper work, talked to the marina operator and reserved the slip, got a reference for an insurance agent, and then headed over to Bass Pro Shop to pick up a few supplies and have lunch.
Then, we headed back to the marina and took her out ourselves. Note that our first lesson isn't until September 13th! But, bravely, we set sail out onto Lake Ray Hubbard in light winds. Rule number one that I learned -- put on the sun screen early and often -- only a mild sunburn on my face to show for our 2 hour trip around the lake. We made it out of the marina under motor power, and then hoisted the mainsail. I turned off the motor and we sailed around for a bit with just the mainsail - at only about 1 knot speed -- not too risky. The we hoisted the jib and that is a LOT more fun. We took off at 2 then 2 1/2 and cruised at 2 1/2 - 3 knots.
Our starting point was just below the "C" on the map and went about 1/2 way to the opposite shore (about between the A & G points -- for those of you that have visited us before, "G" is about where the nice restaurants and shops are in Rockwall. We then headed south and practiced tacking and gybing - sometimes going in circles, sometimes getting stalled into the wind (In Irons) but sometimes making very nice smooth turns without any loss of speed.
The really hard part was getting back from the south end of the lake to the marina as we had to circle around some danger bouys, and that kept us going straight into the wind -- not something a sail boat does well. So we tacked over to the peninsula (A) and then were able to swing back around on a broad reach (90 degrees from the wind) and at one point hit 4 knots. That was the one exciting, somewhat scary time as the boat heeled over at least 30 degrees until I remembered to let the mainsail out and then we cruised up to the marina entry, dropped our sails and then started to motor to get back into the marina. We pulled right up to our slip and into it without hitting anything and tied her up. All together we spent 2 1/2 hours on our first cruise.
We've got some work to do on the boat. It needs a good cleaning and some minor sprucing up of the wood. The engine ran well. I have to figure out the electrical system - it has a knot meter, a compass and there's a depth/fish finder, but I couldn't get the latter to work yet. We bought a VHF radio in case of trouble and to monitor weather alerts
With our busy schedules (Bonnie's scuba teaching and my 'on call') we probably will only have one evening to go out together again before our lessons in Galveston Bay on a much bigger boat (35 footer probably). I hope to go over a couple times and Todd (the broker) has promised to take me out on a windier evening sometime in the next week or so. I'll probably take Landon along on that trip as we have a bunch of personal flotation devices on board of all sizes.
So, all in all a very successful first outing.
We have to come up with a name for her as she has no name right now. (So we won't have the jynx of renaming her).
Any suggestions for a name will be welcomed. I'm leaning toward something like "Dream Cruiser" or something like that.
- Dave & Bonnie 08/24/08
Inside, the layout looks like this. It's a bit hard to see on this photo, but there's a large double berth (bed) in the stern (back of the boat). A nice salon in the middle that seats 6 easily, and there's stowage room under the bow, or leg room if someone was going to sleep on the salon seats.
It has 2 sails, a main sail (mainsul) and a jib up front. The mast rises 35 feet above the water line - but it sure looks taller than that from the boat!! It has a 6 HP motor on the back also. The broker took us out in the boat for about an hour before we made the final decision to buy it. It handled very well in light winds - we only made a top speed of 2 knots during this run, but he showed us how to handle the basic systems of the boat, and told us many tales of his cruising days - Tahiti, Caribbean, Chesapeake Bay, Maine, and around Florida. He told us that ginger flavored with raspberry is his favorite treatment for sea sickness (for his wife, not him), and that he truly believes a cold beer first thing in the morning prevents most seasickness.
After that first trip, we tied up at the dock and did all the paper work, talked to the marina operator and reserved the slip, got a reference for an insurance agent, and then headed over to Bass Pro Shop to pick up a few supplies and have lunch.
Then, we headed back to the marina and took her out ourselves. Note that our first lesson isn't until September 13th! But, bravely, we set sail out onto Lake Ray Hubbard in light winds. Rule number one that I learned -- put on the sun screen early and often -- only a mild sunburn on my face to show for our 2 hour trip around the lake. We made it out of the marina under motor power, and then hoisted the mainsail. I turned off the motor and we sailed around for a bit with just the mainsail - at only about 1 knot speed -- not too risky. The we hoisted the jib and that is a LOT more fun. We took off at 2 then 2 1/2 and cruised at 2 1/2 - 3 knots.
Our starting point was just below the "C" on the map and went about 1/2 way to the opposite shore (about between the A & G points -- for those of you that have visited us before, "G" is about where the nice restaurants and shops are in Rockwall. We then headed south and practiced tacking and gybing - sometimes going in circles, sometimes getting stalled into the wind (In Irons) but sometimes making very nice smooth turns without any loss of speed.The really hard part was getting back from the south end of the lake to the marina as we had to circle around some danger bouys, and that kept us going straight into the wind -- not something a sail boat does well. So we tacked over to the peninsula (A) and then were able to swing back around on a broad reach (90 degrees from the wind) and at one point hit 4 knots. That was the one exciting, somewhat scary time as the boat heeled over at least 30 degrees until I remembered to let the mainsail out and then we cruised up to the marina entry, dropped our sails and then started to motor to get back into the marina. We pulled right up to our slip and into it without hitting anything and tied her up. All together we spent 2 1/2 hours on our first cruise.
We've got some work to do on the boat. It needs a good cleaning and some minor sprucing up of the wood. The engine ran well. I have to figure out the electrical system - it has a knot meter, a compass and there's a depth/fish finder, but I couldn't get the latter to work yet. We bought a VHF radio in case of trouble and to monitor weather alerts
With our busy schedules (Bonnie's scuba teaching and my 'on call') we probably will only have one evening to go out together again before our lessons in Galveston Bay on a much bigger boat (35 footer probably). I hope to go over a couple times and Todd (the broker) has promised to take me out on a windier evening sometime in the next week or so. I'll probably take Landon along on that trip as we have a bunch of personal flotation devices on board of all sizes.
So, all in all a very successful first outing. We have to come up with a name for her as she has no name right now. (So we won't have the jynx of renaming her).
Any suggestions for a name will be welcomed. I'm leaning toward something like "Dream Cruiser" or something like that.
- Dave & Bonnie 08/24/08
How this all began!
Well, let's see. This all began several months ago when I started seriously thinking - what do I want to do when I grow up (or get old - not sure which). One night it hit me that taking up a new activity that could lead to some fun, adventure and a life long interest after I finish practicing medicine would be the ticket. That night the idea of sailing hit me. Why sailing, I'm sure a few of you ask? Well, I want to travel, see parts of the world I haven't and stay active. Bonnie joined in on the idea too - she's a certified dive instructor, and well, being on the water would let her do HER passion too. So, the idea of sailing was tossed around, and .... we're going with it.
We'll start of small. Hopefully buying a small sailboat and keep it on one of the bigger lakes in the Dallas area. There we can practice, practice, practice, until we're truly sailors, not just sailboat owners! We're going to get professional lessons, starting in September in Galveston Bay, and by next summer, should be qualified and able to go out into the Gulf of Mexico (as long as we stay in sight of land!)
The long term goal is to get a bigger boat and sail around the Gulf, Carribean, and Central America. We can make a small business of it by chartering a few folks at a time (up to 4 probably) and teaching them how to dive at the same time. We can have our fun, and make a little income on it too.
Is this a pipe dream? Well, maybe -- which is why we're starting slowly. We're not rushing into it. We've thought a lot about it, I've done a ton of reading, we're signed up for sailing courses, and I've looked at the expenses, budgets, etc in great detail (as most of you know I would). I don't plan on practicing medicine forever, and Bonnie doesn't plan on teaching forever. Having an outlet like this is something to look forward to.
Anyway, this little blog will keep you all up to date on what we're doing and how it going. I know several of you think one or both of us is nuts! Maybe you're right! If so, you'll get to see all the details unfurl (that's sailor talk) right here!
So wish us luck, but keep in touch either way and the saga of Bonnie and Dave Sailing starts right here! By the way, I'm hoping to get the boat this weekend if the weather is decent as the marina operator is taking us out on it for a test sail first!
This is a picture of a similar boat. The one we're looking at is tan (sort of yellow actually) in color. It's 26 feet long. It has a draft of about 4 feet (good for lakes), sleeps 4 comfortably and has a large open cockpit to run the boat. So, once we get good enough to feel confident in our handling of her, we'll invite you to test the water with us.
The one we'll be doing our lessons on is a full blue water capable boat of 35 feet in length. The ultimate dream is to get a boat in the 38-41 foot range for doing some serious sailing out on the open seas - but that's probably a few years away.
