All posts by Nabeel

Lightning & Laser sailor/racer.

Laser Frostbite #3 Report 12/06/09

Frostbiting it was, frozen toes and all!
By Jacob Donkersloot

The day turned out great, notwithstanding yesterday’s snow. Fortunately, there was little left of the white stuff at the Marina, and the sun did its very best to balance the high-thirties temperature.
The winds were light (5-8 mph) from the NW, perfect for a long (by frostbiting standards) W/L course in the cove. Not surprisingly, the winds oscillated a bit and the RC (Len + Barbara Guenther and Jacob Donkersloot) reset the windward mark a bit further away from the shore after the first race.
Six races were completed; all were twice around with an upwind finish (five legs total) and lasted about twenty minutes. As many as sixteen boats competed. It was good to see several winners; Sam Dobbs and David Teale (good to see you back!) placed first twice. Keith Barron and Mike Renda also won a race. David Teale won the day by a slight margin.
Keith Barron won the day for the handicap scores with a first and a third. Nice job

Scores to be posted soon.

Bayliner moved to dry slip!

Thanks to the good work of Jeff Storck, Nabeel Alsalam, Frank Gallagher, and Red Fehrle, with PRSA Vice Commodore David Thompson, the beloved Bayliner was hauled out Sunday, November 22, and now sits on her trailer in the PRSA Powerboat row in the south 40.  It was a beautiful late November sunny day, with temperatures in the mid 50s, and nice 9 – 10 MPH NNE breezes, bringing out 20 Lasers to race in the cove.  Next March we will splash her again, and will schedule a powerwashing party to coincide with the event.

Would You Rather Have a Boat That Sucks Or Stinks?

Now most of you may think that is a distinction without a difference, but I learned on Sunday it most definitely is not. Let me explain.

On Sunday, my crew and I went out for an end of season sail. We were joined on the river by Laura, Will, and Brian sailing Lightning 14627, whose owner graciously let them borrow her for the day. Now, everyone in our fleet knows that 14627 rarely gets wet, and usually can be found sitting forlornly in its slip over by the PRSA committee boats. That area of the marina is also known to most of us as a bastion of mouse activity, and 14627 is a case in point of what happens when you leave your boat over there and never take her out. Mice got aboard and rather than the usual destruction of her sails due to being eaten, the mice decided to make a home in the rolled up jib. When Laura and company opened up the boat for the first time in weeks they disturbed a veritable metropolis living in said jib. It did not take very long to notice the reeking stench of mouse urine that emanated from the sail. It was so bad you could smell it from 2 boat lengths away. So much for the “Stink”, now for the “Suck”.

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