Yesterday we set out for the lake to raft up with Lori & Dave on Camelot. We put our repaired jib back on. And Julie met us at the slip. We were the only two boats on the lake, i think, given the continued forecast of rain.
We anchored up in Arky south last night, expecting some good downpours after midnight. Lori and Dave hosted us to a delicious spaghetti feast on their boat. Thanks guys!
We played iPod wars for a bit and turned in relatively early. The rain really didn’t start until about 8 AM. And it still hasn’t quit. No complaints here though. The lake is up a total of about 11 inches since Wednesday. Keep it comin!
We played rummy in the cabin for several hours and then headed back to the slip.
Now we’re back home and pizza dough is being whipped up as I type this.
I took this shot of the plumbago out back before the rain that’s in the forecast (yay!) gets here. It’s an amazing plant; can withstand pretty much any drought and heat. This one is sprawled over half of my flower bed. So pretty.
There’s another coldfront coming in from the north tonight. I can hear thunder already. I hope this one is a super-soaker. Today the marina was planning on moving our dock to the end of another dock, since the lake level continues to drop and it’s now too shallow where E-dock currently is.
Beautiful day, looking upriver towards Anderson Bend.
We spent the night on the boat last night. A cold front came through the area early yesterday and the wind gusted all day out of the North, but fell quiet over night. The temperatures dropped into the 50’s overnight (!)
Today we went for an afternoon sail with Joe, Wally & Kurt joining us. The breezes were light. It was a gorgeous day, with temps in the 80’s. I think the air temperature was a little cooler than the water temp.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think these clouds look a bit wintery…thin and flat instead of puffy and tall. Fall is on the way!
We were treated to a JerrySpringer-esque shouting match / near brawl from one of the parties camping at the park on land overnight. After finally getting to sleep, I woke up at about 5 AM. The full moon was shining brightly, but I had a great view of the stars from the deck of the boat.
Orion is up in the sky this month well before sunrise. It is a very well known constellation, and easy to pick out in the sky. This is a shot I took of it from the boat. I know it’s dark, but you can make out the 3 stars that make up Orion’s Belt, and most of the other stars. Clockwise from the top are: Bellatrix, Rigel, Saiph, and the yellow-ish colored Betelgeuse.
We headed out from the marina after lunch, and anchored for the day in Arky South, and decided to stay overnight. This afternoon Lori stopped by on Camelot and tied up with us for an hour or so. Laura, Ann and Doray were with her – out for a ladies’ sail. Marty & Sue also stopped by and left ’round sunset. The cove was packed with boats during the day, but as the evening approached, we ended up being the only boat in the cove. We had a magnificant view of the sunset, and later the (just past) full moon.
The shot above is off the stern, looking over the park towards the west after the sun had set. I just love the colors.
I took a walk down E-dock this morning after scrubbing Nirvana stem to stern. There are some big boats on this dock, and most seem to be used frequently and are well taken care of. There are one or two that haven’t been boarded in many, many years. The photo above is of one boat that has lichens growing all over the top of its deck and cockpit. Sad.
As I was walking along in my flip-flops looking at the boats, and not watching where I was walking, I kicked one of the dock cleats. OW! Luckily just a scrape. A few minutes later, CRACK! I did it again, and this time brought blood. I thought I had broken my toe. That brought an end to my dock walk. Live and learn: no flip-flops on dock walks.
Cleat toe.
The rest of the day was spent lounging around. Until the afternoon, when the beer can race took place. This week Wally came aboard Nirvana and gave us some lessons in racing a sloop. Kurt and Kevin won on Dancer. Marty & Sue came in 2nd this week. And Monte, Wally & I took third. That’s better than last week when we came in 4th! 😀
The shot below is of Marty & Sue on Caribbean Hug approaching the starting line.
On this last day of August, the Friday before a long Labor Day weekend, we packed up and headed to the boat after work. We’re staying the night tonight in the slip, and plan to raft up tomorrow night.
This was the lovely sunset that we were treated to. The shot above is from the bow of Nirvana, in our slip. The shot below is of the light from the setting sun lighting up the clouds from the stern. You know what they say… “Red skies at night, sailors’ delight….”
What a nice weekend! Saturday we (Julie, Monte and I) headed to the lake. We raced in the Beer Can for the first time on Nirvana. Let’s just say we have room for improvement 🙂 We came in 4th though!
Afterwards we anchored in Arky South for the night. Just us this time. Today we picked up the anchor around 11:30 and sailed to the yacht club and back. Julie took the helm for the first half of the trip. She’s a natural.
Back in the slip we floated and visited with Joe, Marty and Wally.
I can’t wait til the upcoming long Labor Day weekend!
We headed to the lake yesterday around noon. We have a long list of chores and minor repairs to take care of on the boat, and we schlepped a bunch of tools and supplies out to take care of some of them. Rain was in the forecast, so not a lot of people were out and about.
About 5 o’clock we called it a day and headed out of the slip to anchor out overnight in Arkansas Bend cove. Lori, Dave and Jake joined us on Camelot. We had a very pleasant night but boy did we get rained on. We hunkered down below on one of the boats and played cards until it let up. After the rains blew through it was quite nice. Good breezes through the boat kept us cool.
This morning when I went up into the cockpit this was the view that greeted me. A beautiful Lake Travis sunrise. A good morning, indeed.
It’s Sunday night, and the end of another great weekend. Yesterday my cousin Devitt and Aunt Joanne came over for a breakfast visit with Monte, Julie and I. Monte made french omelettes, Julia Child style. And we tried our hand at a potato recipe that we got from Devitt:
Browned Breakfast Potatoes
Large cast iron skillet 8 oz bacon, cut into 1-2″ pieces 3 large potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2″ cubes 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped Salt & pepper
Cook bacon, onions and garlic in large cast iron skillet until browned. Discard bacon fat from pan. Add potatoes, salt & pepper. Cook another 10 minutes or so over medium heat on the stovetop. Then place skillet, uncovered, in 425 degree oven for 20 minutes. Lower temperature to 350 and cook for another 10 minutes. Serve and savor!
Afterwards, Julie headed home to study up for the last final exam of Summer session (good luck!), and we packed for the lake.
We planned to raft-up with friends overnight to watch the Perseids meteor shower. We made it to the cove by about 5pm and set our first anchor on the new boat. It was a good set. We were soon joined by Joe on Prelude, Rory & Greg on Sapphire, Nick, Laurene & Morgan on Kalliopi, and Kurt & Kevin on Dancer. Everyone was tied up by the time the golden hour was upon us. The shot above is of the 5 boats, stern to the sunset. Nirvana is in the middle.
After dinner and stories from the day, everyone grabbed a cushion and laid on the bow of their boats to watch for meteors. It wasn’t a knock-out show, but we did get to see some good ones. The night was peppered with random shouts of “There’s one!” every 10 or 15 minutes.
This morning everyone floated for a while and then people started peeling off at about noon. I’m pleased to report that we got the anchor up with little problem. I am loving the electric windlass to bring up the chain and anchor!
Monte and I sailed ALL afternoon. The breezes started out sluggish but filled in to some great wind that we haven’t seen in a long time on the lake. At about 3:30 we dropped sail and picked up Devitt at Arky cove to take him out for a sail. He did great, taking the helm as Monte and I worked the lines. We dropped him off back at the park around 5:30 and headed back to the marina.
By the time we got home several hours later we were pleasantly exhausted.
I can’t wait to get out there again. Friday soon come!
It’s been thirteen days since my last post here. So, this has been my longest break in posting since I started this photoblog over 2 years ago. I’d better catch you all up.
The week before last was busy with work. Monte was working on a project in the woodshop. I had to travel to Raleigh for all of last week. A very long week, indeed. I brought my camera with me, but given my work schedule and meetings every day starting early and ending late, the only interesting subject matter to capture ended up being TV screen shots from the Olympics (especially the women’s gymnastics team gold). I decided to spare you and skip posting those.
While I was in Raleigh last week, Monte closed on the boat. I got home close to midnight Friday night, so Saturday morning I was anxious to get out to the marina.
We moved in Saturday afternoon and slept on the boat for the first time Saturday night. On Sunday morning we took Nirvana out for the first time together. The winds were very light to non-existent, but we had a blast. We raised both sails and ghosted along for a while. Getting Nirvana was a big step for us, but I am very excited about this next phase of our sailing-life journey together. This is a shot that monte took of Nirvana from the water.
At the end of the day we stopped by b-dock for a float. By the time we got home tonight we were both pretty exhausted but somehow found the energy to split up cooking duties to make lamb chops (monte) and risotto (me) for a delicious dinner.
The marine survey was scheduled for today. I took the day off work so that I could be there with Monte for it. The marine surveyor was fantastic. He spent about 10 hours on the boat with us, inspecting virtually everything on the boat while explaining how everything worked as he went along. He didn’t find much wrong, and no surprises. So, pending getting the final report from him, I think we will be upgrading from our beloved, homebuilt wooden catboat that we’ve been playing on for the last 8 years, to a big-kid, plastic boat that we will be enjoying for the next 15 or so years. 🙂
We went to the marina to take the 320 out for a sea trial. It was a nice day. Greg & Steve & Kurt came along. It sailed beautifully. Nice boat! We found some issues with the rigging that made lowering the main difficult. We’ve got some homework to do now to see if it is easily addressed or not.
After the sail we floated off b-dock with joe, kurt and barbara. Then dinner at Los Pinos.
This is a shot of the sunset, taken from the marina parking lot. Even with the power lines and lights in the foreground it’s a beauty.
Sheila365 