Louise’s Last Regatta

I just finished a sailing race on Lake Michigan with my dad, cousin and uncle. It was officially the last race of the year here in the soon-to-be very cold town known as Milwaukee:(

We raced on a 44ft steel boat that was onced cruised extensively in the South Pacific. This was the first time I sailed on this particular boat with its current owner…for this story let’s just call him ‘Bart’.

Bart has a very interesting philosophy of being on the boat and in the race: Relax, everything will work out and be fine. For those of you who are not familiar with racing just let me tell you this is probably not the best ideology.

Imagine this; 115 to 120 boats ranging in size from 8ft to 70ft and from $5000 to a million or more dollars. Now all these boats are in an area of about a square mile of each other weaving in and out, fighting for position at the starting line. There are many protocols for rights of way so that boats stay relatively safe.

Essentially Bart was a little too relaxed with the protocols. We nearly clipped the rear end of two boats. On one we actually caught some of their rigging on our bow (front). Needless to say it was not a good/safe situation.

A crash could cause serious damage to boats as well as their crews.

I had a great time being on the water, as I always do. The weather was perfect, 75 and sunny with a light breeze. Bart’s racing tactics are somewhat hilarious as you look back at them from the safety of the dock.

I’m now off to eat with my Uncle Bill who made the outstanding chickens. Unfortunately I won’t be eating his chickens tonight:(