Today we held the first Beer Can Regatta of the year, and had a great turnout – Spike, Voodoo, Dancer, Prelude, Camelot and Caribbean Hug. Monte and I each jumped on one of the Catalina 30’s. Robert finished first and took home a bottle of Buckeye Vodka. So smoooooth! After the race a party ensued. More on that later.
We worked in the yard today, cutting down one of several trees out back that have died in the last few years of drought. Whew, that’s hot work!
We ended up at the lake, of course. This is the typical scene on any weekend, and sometimes weekday evening, on B-Dock.
We played with Marty & Sue, Joe, Kurt, Wally, Kevin, and new B-docker friend, David.
Cow Creek is a lovely spot on Lake Travis. It’s not one we get to see very often because it’s about 20 miles up river.
The walls are always raining with water from the rocks. The fall color this weekend was really beautiful.
Our friends Teri and Ace invited us to stay with them on their boat, since Cupholder is in the shop. We had a fantastic time – they are awesome hosts. I got my dose of laughter to tide me over for quite a while.
The temperatures were cooler today, and the wind showed up. We spent the afternoon sailing up and down the lake. We made a quick stop to pick up Joe and Wally at the dock. Kurt was dragging several kids behind his boat and Marty & Sue showed up to play as well.
This is a shot of Caribbean Hug getting ready to wash the decks.
It’s fun to be on the lake on a day like today, but it’s even better with friends.
I met Lori, Doray, Laura and Ann at the marina and we went out for a long sail. It was very rainy and stormy around us, but we managed to dodge most of it. This is a shot as we were coming back into the cove. We came back at just the right time.
Fall is almost upon us, which means the blistering heat will suddenly vanish, to be slowly replaced by chilly afternoons.
We’ll still be out here though! 🙂
Another fun day spent on the lake with friends. Julie, Monte and I gave Laura and Dolya a ride out to the raftup in Arky North. We missed Michelle & Tony, passing them as we were entering the cove. We joined Camelot, Dancer, Island Time, Prelude, and Caribbean Hug and played until after sunset. This is a shot from our bow looking out of the cove. There are quite a few other boats enjoying a quiet night on the lake.
Julie’s taking to this Austin way of life really quickly 😉
This is the 3-day Fourth of July holiday weekend. We’ve packed up Cupholder for an overnight raft-up with friends in Hurst Cove. We joined Teri and Jim on Island Time, and Lori and Dave on Camelot for the night. The city of Lakeway shoots fireworks from a barge in the cove tonight and we’ll have an awesome view from about 200 feet away. Doray and Tom came out with us for the afternoon, and a bunch of other folks motored over and tied up with us to watch show as well, but didn’t stay overnight – Joe and kids on Prelude, Kurt, Barbara, Wally & Shannon, Greg and the Wiz on Dancer, and Tony & Michelle on Caribbean Run. It was quite the show, and quite the party.
It wasn’t the same without Marty & Sue to play along with us, but afterward the 3 boats that were left played iPod wars WELL into the night — lots of laughs. A good time was had by all. 🙂
Day 3 – This morning the plan is to head downriver to Cow Creek at mile marker 32. Kurt will head out today and join the raftup there.
I have to work tomorrow, so I am catching a ride with Tony and Michelle back to the marina. Monte will come back with everyone else tomorrow night.
This is a shot from this AM. The kayaks got a lot of use this trip. Monte and Alex sailed around the cove in Porter Belle.
The winds are still blowing. It will be another long day on Caribbean Run back to the marina. But for now, it’s nice to enjoy the water.
Day 2 of the trip. Another windy, sunny day on the lake. Today the plan is to pile on 2 boats and head even farther up river for a daysail. The part of the river at Mile marker 55 is called the Narrows, and is about as far as a sailboat should venture up the lake. We’ll anchor there, swim a bit, eat lunch and head back to the raftup at mile marker 47 for a second night.
This AM Mark and Pam drove to the park to spend the day with us. They brought 100+ pounds of ice with them to replenish the coolers, which was AWESOME!
7 boats, 5 kayaks, a rubber dinghy and a sailing dinghy.
This is a shot of the boats rafted up outside Krause springs.
From left to right: Pat & Dave on Va Bene, Robert & Tasha on their latest Beneteau 34, Bay on Red Sky, Tony & Michelle on Caribbean Run, Joe & Alex on Prelude, Marty, Sue & Koko on Caribbean Hug, and Monte & me on Cupholder. The sailing dinghy on the far right is our homebuilt Porter Belle.
Day 1 of the annual Up-the-river-cruise with a bunch of sailing friends. The winds were strong today (gusting to 30), which is both good and bad. Good because the catboat doesn’t sail well in light winds, but bad because it makes for quite the workout.
We left the marina at about 11 AM and made it to our destination 33 miles upriver at about 5PM. By 6PM all 7 boats were rafted up deep in the cove near Krause Springs, across from Grelle Park. It was a great sail, but we’re glad to get on with the swimming/eating/playing part of the trip. Everyone was in the water as soon as possible.
This is a shot at mile marker 44, a bunch of trees growing in the middle of the river — we know them as The Floating Hallalujah Trees of Lake Travis.
It’s a treat to be able to see this part of the river. With the lake 50′ higher today than it was in September, alot of what we are seeing was probably dry for some time.
Looking forward to the next few days on the lake with friends.
Whooooweee, what a fun-packed weekend. We hung out at the marina on Saturday, floating and fishing around B-dock. Today, we came out with Jen to take their Wellcraft out to the cove, since the catboat is having its motor serviced. We anchored and floated for a while.
Then Lori, Dave, Jake, Irene, Laura and Arnie came out on Camelot and joined us in Arky South.
Lori let us bring her Hobie cat to the lake today. So, after we got back to B-dock, Monte put it in the water. The guys flocked to it. Wally sailed it off the trailer. Then Tony took it out. Then Marty took it out several times, giving Kurt’s grandkids a ride. Then Monte took it out. Then I took it out, with Monte aboard. Finally, the winds died; which was good, because we were pooped.
Afterward, a bunch headed to Los Pinos for some dinner.
It was a very fun weekend… it was great to play with everyone! Also saw Michelle, her niece Michaela, Robert, Joe, Nick, Isabelle, Morgan and Dimitri, Kurt, his daughters Jessica, Jennifer, hubby Lewis and grandkids William and Wesley. Whew!
This morning I took the kayak to check out the cove. I also brought a fishing pole with me, but there weren’t any fish interested in playing along.
In the coves on either side of Arkansas Bend we always find red-winged blackbirds. They have a signature trill, and you usually hear them long before you see them.
While I was kayaking, there were several flying back and forth between shrubs on either side of the cove. Every time I would slide up close to one to take a picture, he’d fly across the cove. So, I’d quietly paddle across to try again — and the same thing would happen. After about an hour of this, I packed it in and headed back to the boats for a swim.
Afterward, I was very pleased to see that I did get a couple of pictures of the birds after all, though all a tad grainy due to the zoom. This picture was the best of them. I caught a shot of this guy in the middle of our little game of keep-away-from-sheila, as he was flying away from the shrub.
Not fast enough blackbird!
Ahhh, a 3-day weekend! This is the weekend of the Turnback Canyon Regatta, a 2-day race up the lake and back. We had talked about cruising along and spending the night up the river. But as it turned out this morning there was no wind.
By noon the racers had already motored by the marina, sails down. So, we decided to go to the South Arkansas Bend cove to raftup with Marty, Sue, Lori, Dave and Jake. Doray and Tom came out to float with us for several hours, too.
Even without the wind, today was as an absolutely great day. Temps in the 90s; water temp over 80; a full lake. A perfect combination for an afternoon of floating. We brought the kayak, so everyone got a chance to explore.
Arky south has great sunset views. This is a classic.
We headed to the lake for a sail today. It was very windy out, but Ryan and Mary both tried their hand at the helm and did great — first time sailing for both of them.
We anchored up in Arky south and took the first dip in the lake of 2010. The lake temperature is about 73 degrees, and was a bit chilly for the first 5 mins or so, but it was great to be at waterline again. 🙂
Lori, Dave and Jake showed up a bit later on Camelot. And Marty & Sue tied up to them on Caribbean Hug. It’s beginning to feel alot like summer!
Sheila365 