6/25/05 - 79 boats charged out to the starting line in 10 knot winds. We were the first of 5 starts, 11 boats in our fleet of "cruisers". Ourselves and Sampatecho being the pair of true live-aboard cruising boats. It was exciting to be back into the throes of a series of starts. We had a very close call with a boat from a different division but still pulled off a reasonable start. Our destination, Dunkirk PA, was 27.5 miles away - directly upwind.

Our first 5 tacks took us into second place... only to be on the wrong side of a wind shift to trail in at 6th. Sampatecho took a solid 2nd. That evening we met more sailors and swapped tales. This is what sailing is all about! The Dunkirk Yacht Club was a great host.

6/26/05 - We were up early for a 7:25am start. Again we were the first division. The wind was light and variable. The committee postponed the race and started along the 40.5 mile rhumb line to Dover Canada. After 10 miles the wind came up to 10 knots and the race was started. We worked our way up in the fleet under our large red gennaker, though well behind Sampatecho. Ruth helmed, I trimmed and Buddy called tactics... we were moving! Then the wind started fading, lighter boats started closing in on us as the racing divisions pushed their boats toward the finish. Everyone was racing against a 7pm cut-off. Our computer said we'd make it by 10 minutes. The wind dropped until the computer forecast 24 hours to the finish. At 3:40pm with 2.5 knots from dead aft we started the engine. No boat made the 7pm cut-off so no one finished that race.

The Dover Yacht Club stationed a welcoming committee at the entrance to the breakwater. They asked your depth, beam and length; then assigned you a slip. We ended up with the large boats in the commercial fishing tug basin next to the fish processing plant. Not as bad as it sounds - great view, rustic harbor, no smell. The club provided shuttle service to their riverside clubhouse so we could join the evening's festivities. Dover Yacht Club has a nice facility though they are quite constrained for slip space.

6/27/05 - Race 3, the Long Point Bay Race (a triangle course) started at 12:30 after a one hour delay waiting for a breeze. We were in a hot, sunny weather pattern with little movement to create wind.  So, the whole fleet decided to go swimming and a few boats started attacking with water guns.  They thought they were pretty good until they came upon a pawn that was highly loaded with water balloons, water guns, buckets and a balloon launcher.  It was a lot of fun watching everyone become little kids again.  Wellll, back to the race--that's right, we did come out here to race. The days forecast was for winds from the east at 5 knots. We got 9 and the race was on though our course was shortened to a windward leg only. We placed 6th, Sampatecho 4th. Brad was eating our lunch!

That night the Dover Yacht club put on a fish fry - delicious. We headed to bed early as our start for race 4 was 7:25am.

6/28/05 - Another windless morning with another long course - 38.5 miles. The committee flew the "postponement" and "follow me" flags and motored toward Erie, PA. The fleet followed trailing off into the haze while a pair of pipers tried to "pipe up the wind" to the entertainment of the fleet. After 10 miles we cleared Long Point and found 10 knots of wind coming directly from Erie. The races started.

We ended up with a port tack start due to my misunderstanding the timing of the horns. (The postponements resulted in a set of horns that I never figured out.) We dueled with a 50' cruiser, finally forcing him to tack. We continued another mile to the west and then tacked. The winds built and clocked bringing us right to the rhumb line at 7.9 to 8.2 knots over the ground. Ruth kept the sails trimmed and I helmed. We were holding off the high tech racing boats. As we approached the finish we had one boat ahead of us from our division and had been passed by only two racers. We crossed the finish for a second place. Sampatecho was on the wrong side of the shift and DNF'd after their wind died.

This race was the high point of the series for us. AA stormed down the course like the devil was on her tail! If the boat's designer could have established ideal conditions for speed he'd have used today.

Erie Yacht Club, founded in 1895, is a large facility with excellent dining, storage and travel lift, and several hundred slips. We mingled for a while and hit the sack - it had been a long day!

6/29/05 - Race 5, the Erie Course Race, and again little wind. NOAA was forecasting 5 knots... again. We were joined in this race by John, an old biz buddy of Ruth's. We sailed a triangle in 13 knots apparent. A bad start and a mess launching the gennaker put us in third. Fortunately Ruth had kept the boat moving while I cleaned up my mess. She actually passed a boat flying their spinnaker while our gnnaker was fouled. Yeah Ruthie! We finished 3rd.

The Erie Club provided a sandwich buffet followed by the awards ceremonies. We were astonished when we received award flags for our 2nd and 3rd places. Even more so when we got a cup and tee shirt for "Overall 2nd Place" in the cruising division. Guess that NNYC training pays off!

6/30/05 - Late morning, catching up on the web site. We'll be heading out again, electing to anchor in the smaller State Park inlet off the Erie Harbor. We spent the afternoon exploring Misery Bay, the small 7' deep inlet that Perry used to build his warship. The British were taken by surprise when the ship launched as they didn't believe a warship could be built in such a shallow bay. We visited a bay of floating cottages, hiked across the peninsula and went swimming at the sandy beach on Erie.

Buffalo Yacht Club - 1860

Buffalo Yacht Club Basin

Committee Boat - follow me

Piping the fleet toward wind

Rail meat - we're racing!

Pirate's booty