Extreme hiking

Today we destroyed an ecosystem again. Taking off the boat cover for the first time in the season, especially if it's this late in the season, can give you many surprises what critters have made their home in the boat. This time it wasn't to bad though just the usual the spiders and one wasp.

The whole family went out with me this Memorial day morning for the first sail of the year. It was gusty as usually on Big Creek. For some reason the crew didn't release the jib when a gust came instead decided to do an extreme hike. She was holding on for dear life on the windward shroud while having one foot on the railing and everything below it. We thought we would loose her, but thanks to skipper grabbing her foot and the rigorousness kettle-bell workout that from now on every crew has to go through, we got her back aboard.

This season's highlight will be the 2012 Flying Scot North American Championships (NACs) at Carlyle Illinois. We're excited to have a great week of sailing, raising and socializing. That week we will have to defend the Mississippi Border Battle trophy as well. Rumors also has that my crew will race at the Women's Championship which would be awesome. Most likely it wouldn't be with me but she would be crewing on the Flying Finn.

2011 Wife-Husband Championship Regatta at Delavan Lake, WI

We had big surprises at the Wife-Husband.  Not only did we regain the Mississippi Border Battle trophy but also captured third place of the Challenger division.  The battle with our Wisconsin friends was quite even after the first day.

The Mississippi Border Battle in progress

The second day was quite surprising.  We knew we sailed pretty decent, especially for us, except for a few mistakes especially on our last race.  One being that the skipper, Claus, messed up at the leeward (down wind gate) by thinking that the neighboring boat was hailing us to give room and we were required to do so.  Neither of which was true.  In order to give room and not to touch the mark we ended up with a 360 degree turn.  Another being not giving room to the neighboring boat on the downwind leg.  Finally the skipper just had to utilize the bailer in the middle of the race and because of it had to do a last minute tack which was a bit out of control and the wind overpowered the boat.  None the less we got first place during that last race which secured third overall in the challenger division (the B-team of sailing).  Melissa did an awesome job flying the spinnaker.

Melissa relaxing between races

Skipper Claus

Of course we are all quite excited about it since we got our first (properly earned) FSSA trophy.

Trophy award ceremony

2011 Wife-Husband Flying Scot
Championship Division Results

2011 Wife-Husband Flying Scot
Challenger Division Results

Slow start to this years sailing season

Not sure what happened to Oskar. On our first sail of the year he told us he was scared because the sailboat heels so much. Of course he really wants to kayak so that might have played into it. But it sure sound serious. I guess dad-son sails are not in sight for the near future. Heidi on the other hand really enjoyed it and joined us for the second sail.

Two sails is all we got in before going to the Wife-Husband Championship Regatta. At the Midwest District Regatta last year we decided with our friend Shannon and Mark (FS4113) to have our own perpetual trophy. So within two weeks Claus ordered Playmobile parts for the trophy topper and build the base. It barely got done in time for the regatta. It looks great. A little fragile for transport though. The title of the trophy is "Mississippi Border Battle - cheesy vs. corny"

The Mississippi Border Battle trophy

Today we did the first two races of the Wife-Husband. We placed 15th and 14th while our friends placed 14th and 15th. So tomorrows two races will decide if Iowa or Wisconsin wins.

Oskar's first regatta

We attended this the Wood Duck regatta of the Medicine Lake Sailing Club at Plymouth, MN. The first race Claus single handed since Oskar had an upset stomach and Melissa stayed with him. With us on the race course were Larry with Ketchup, Jeff, and a J boat. The other sailors were kind enough to us by not flying the spinnaker. Oskar felt better in the afternoon and after the lunch break he and Melissa joined us for the second and third race. This time it was only Ketchup and us out on the race course. Of course it was clear even before the start that we'd be in the last place as expected and second place by default. None the less it was still fun to sail the regatta.

Oskar's answer to how he liked the regatta was "awesome". But he also mentioned "it wasn't a real regatta" because it "needs to be longer" and "needs to be more boats, 14 boats, we only had 2 boats."

2010 Midwest Districts at Medicine Lake by Minneapolis

It's cool to have a regatta close by even if it's not the biggest. We went up there on Friday crossing our fingers that we'd be able to sail. In Iowa we had thunderstorms nearly every day and the satellite imagery showed a similar heavy cloud coverage over Minneapolis. To our luck it seems that thunderstorms, especially lightning was more rare up north.

Claus sailed the single handed portion of the regatta on Saturday evening. It was cloudy and the wind was good. He enjoyed it quite a bit and didn't do to bad which is surprising since this was only the second time on the boat for this season. Three times though he screwed up the tacks some how so that we came out of them in an extreme heel that causes the rudder being out of the water enough that steering is impossible until the boat points back into the wind. I bet that's were we lost some major time.

The remainder of the regatta was a test for the rain gear. The test failed miserably. By the second race Claus and Melissa were chilled to the bone. We didn't had a strong down poor but a continuous drizzle that wouldn't allow anything to dry. Saturday was also plagued with another issue. The spinnaker wouldn't stay up. Finally we figured out that the spinnaker halyard was routed incorrectly so that the cleat would prevent it from going up but not from dropping down. We used the vang cleat until we could fix it at the end of the day, since nobody volunteered to climb up the mast to reroute the halyard while being on the water. The coolest part was when we beat our Wisconsin buddy boat 4113 on the second race. We ended up with a total score of 63 just like them although they are ahead of us due to a better race position. We got place 12 (or place 11 if you correct the tie breaker scoring) out of 18.

Thanks to the Medicine Lake Sailing Club for hosting this year's regatta. We'll be back for the Wood Duck Regatta in July. Oskar will probably join us for the first time for a race.

Ready to Sail

Well, the wash down took a while and the winterization never happened. But this is a good thing as I got to stay in a nice sheltered garage all winter long while I got a small make over.

The varnish of the centerboard trunk cap got really bad and needed some attention. All the hardware on the mahagoni cap was removed and the board itself was removed from the centerboard trunk as well. After the old varnish got sanded off a crack got glued with epoxy. Then a couple coats of Interlux Inter-Prime Sealer #1026 followed by two more coats of Z-Spar #2015 Flagship Varnish was applied. Wile we were at it a couple of coats of the varnish was also applied to the tabernacle and the wood supports of the jib blocks. Now I look all nice again. The wash and wax of course helps, too.

While reinstalling the hardware we noticed that the plastic roller of the 360 centerboard swivel cleat was worn on one side so much the metal sheave was starting to show through. Yes, it wasn't much of a roller but it still worked fine. We replaced it with the snazzy Harken sheave kit. The kit is basically a Harken roller with bearings and some washer to pad the sides of the centerboard swivel cleats. We'll see how it performs once we get out to sail. So let's go sailing. I'm rigged and ready at the lake.

End of Season Sail

Today we went out for the last sail of the season. It was again a gorgeous day for a sail. Oskar has been manning the tiller for a while and he did a great job focusing on the course by picking a spot on land and sailing toward it. He also accomplished his first docking maneuver. Now, I'm awaiting the wash down and winterization.

Sunset Sail

We went out for a sunset sail today. My safety cautious skipper ran out to get the required navigational light from the local Jax store. It's quite surprising that a local store carried such light. He got the Hydrostar Delux for the red/green marker on the bow and the Hydrostar Pulse for the white stern marker. The lights worked quite well with the suction cups. The safety leash is a nice add on as we wrapped it around the forestay and tiller pin string and clipped it on the suction cup base.. That way if the light gets knocked off or the suction cup comes loos we would not loose the lights. The only non-perfect thing is that the stern light blinks. According to the boat safety book it should be a solid white light.

Back to the sailing. Weather was great. Wind was light. We had dinner on the boat and sailed past darkness. We had the lake nearly to ourselves. The few fishing boats kept to themselves near the shore. It was just gorgeous and romantic. The kids loved it as well.

The Two Family Sail

Today we did our first sail for the season and Heidi's first sail. This was also the most people we had along at once, 4 adults and 4 kids. Surprisingly it was not to crowded. The kids enjoyed to stay under the bow and to cast the toy fishing pole or drag the red Styrofoam boat behind us. The weather was beautiful, although a little more chilly and winder than expected. The great thing about this time of the year is that the water is still clean and algae free and the dock is not crowded. After the sail we had a pick nick and the kids played at the sand beach and playground for the rest of the day.

The previously mentioned modifications were done, a new bow bag with cover was installed and the new spinnaker halyard with take up reel was installed. We didn't get a chance to fly the spinnaker though and test the new system. We'll need to do that some other time soon. Of course I got a new shiny coat of wax for the season.

North American Championship Here We Come!

We booked the hotel room long time ago since we knew that in Ephraim the hotels sell out soon, especially in the high season. New to us was that there might be a limit of 80 boats. So we send off our registration for the NAC to be sure we don't end up with a hotel room but no spot to sail.

This will be our first NAC and we are excited about it. The only sad part is that as usual we won't have much training beforehand. But we will try and make an effort to get out as much as possible beforehand. Heidi might also be ready to sail with us now, with would be great because then we don't need somebody to watch the kids.

A few things that would be nice to get done before the NAC is the installation of a new bow flotation bag. The current one has gotten bubbles on the bottom and may slightly leak, but for 13 years its not bad. We also want to install a new spinnaker halyard with take up reel. The current line is getting pretty old and stiff and the new installation that brings the halyard through the deck and back along the center board trunk should allow the skipper to raise and lower the spinnaker and help the crew out. We'll see how that will work.

Oma on board

Oma is visiting from Germany so I got to take her out today along with Oskar and Claus. Winds were nice and strong (~16 mph with gusts in the lower 20's). Oma was nice and calm for her first sail even though Claus had the me heeling quite a bit. Overall it was a great day for sailing and several other sailboats were out on the lake as well.

Sunday Afternoon Cruise

Claus got sick of spending all Friday night and all day Saturday setting upthe new home email server and spend Sunday without touching any computer. Instead I took him and a friend and a 9 year old Maia out for a nice long afternoon sail. Winds were again not extremely strong so it was a pleasurable sail. Maia spend some time on the tiller and enjoyed it quite a bit. She got a bit scared when a gust hit and let go of the tiller which of course make things worse. She still doesn't like it when I heel. But a few more times on the tiller and out on the lake and she'll be more comfortable with it.

Claus pushed off the boat from the dock by himself and also docked quite nicely by himself. Maybe I do have a chance to convince him that he can take me out on the lake by himself without the help of others. Earlier this week Claus was looking at an old Sunfish like boat. He wants to sail more often without having to recruit crew or renting a boat from the university. I'd say he should get more confident taking me out by himself. People often sail Flying Scots by themselves and even fly the spinnaker. So Claus, don't be a chicken!

Sailing with the new Spinnaker Pole Downhaul

Today was my first sail with the new spinnaker pole downhaul setup. The crew really liked the enhancement. Jibing was a breeze in the light wind as the pole could just stay clipped on the spinnaker pole lift.

The winds were quite light, probably around 5-7 mph. Big Creek with its shifty winds was a challenge finding a good spot for downwind runs at first, as it seems like we always sailed against the wind, no matter which direction we would sail. Finally we got the hang of the current winds and found a stretch what we could use for the spinnaker runs.

With the kids at friends and the light winds it was a nice relaxing Saturday afternoon sail. Surprisingly the dock wasn’t very busy even though there were quite a few pontoon boats out on the lake. Melissa spent some time on the helm and even did several beautiful docking approaches.

Welcome & Introduction

Hello and welcome to my new blog. I'm a Flying Scot sailboat with the sail number 5074. Often I'm simply referred to as FS5075. I will take this space to tell you my stories and adventures that I share with my crew and helmsman. The first part of my life is a bit vague but I'll try to fill in as much as I remember and hopefully do a little better in the future.

If you don't know the Flying Scot sailboat you might be interested that my oldest sibling was born in the spring of 1957. Gordon (Sandy) Douglass designed and created us until he retired. Being a One Design boat means that we haven't changed much. The goal of one design boats is to make it fair for all boats so that everybody has equal chance of winning no matter how old one is. This means that a sibling with a rich owner can't give him any more advantage than one that hasn't as much money. It's not technology but skills that count. Of course that means you better find a good helmsman and crew if you want to win or you have to work hard on teaching them to become better. Not always an easy task.

I now have nearly 6,000 siblings and we try to keep in touch through the Flying Scot Sailing Association (FSSA). They also organize cool events like the North American Championship (NAC), the largest regatta for us, and the Wife-Husband Championship regatta where the crew and helmsman have to be the wife and husband.

Asides from the FSSA website you can also check out the wikipedia entry and the Flying Scot Inc. website, our nursery and spa where we can renew ourselves. All of those pages have good information about myself and my siblings and they will provide you with a better idea of who we are, how easy going we are and how much fun we can be.

Next time I'll tell you a little bit about my birth. There are even several cool photos of me that I can share.

(BTW, a helmsman is just the person steering the boat and she also can be a woman.)