Maine Squeeze Sailing

February 15, 2010

Spring Series #1

Many sailboat racers can relate to my exhausted state at the end of our racing season in late November or early December.  By the time the last race comes around, the weather has turned cold my temperament somber, and a feeling of relief comes over me.  I am ready for a break, and I also contemplate my level of participation in the following season. 

 Then like a spring breeze, slowly my anticipation and enthusiasm for the sport builds. After having our boat out of the water for nearly a month, for maintenance and not having raced for over 2 months I felt ready to take on another season.  29 boats showed up for the 1^st in a series of 3 races in the Spring series sponsored by PBYC, a telling sign that many of the local racers shared my enthusiasm.  It helped that the weather reports promised wind and sunshine, 2 of my favorite ingredients for a day on the water, right behind cold beer and good sandwiches.

Maine Squeeze was a little rusty on our start, we were behind the fleet by seconds, and narrowly squeezed between 5150 and the committee boat.  5150 had rights, but were gracious enough to let us in.  We could not only see the whites of their eyes, but the bottom paint looked a little past it’s prime too.   After crossing in front, the crew of 5150 requested we tack away so they could get to clean air.  We did so without hesitation as the west side of the course is more often than not where the breeze fills in first.

Our course was 16 miles, Mandalay, Gilda to starboard and finish.   Heading toward the mark, the only boats in front of us were 5150, Funatic and Rival, but as we came around the first mark, Gilda, Deke Klatt in his newly acquired Olson 30, Angry Hillbilly’s (formerly Bikini Machine) passed us on the inside complete with a new set of carbon fiber sails.   On the downwind leg, XS also proceeded to pass us with Todd Downey at the helm.  The wind built to about 15 with gusts of 18-20 (my best guess) and all the boats had trouble holding their chutes, we witnessed Deke rounding up at least twice.  Mike managed to hold our chute, but had a lot of weather helm to contend with.  Following seas were also building, making our finish into Ventura Harbor a little daunting, so we doused the chute at the Whistle Buoy and finished with our heavy number 1 headsail.

Results:  Maine Squeeze 5^th out of 9 (smack in the middle) with only 26 seconds corrected between us and Funatic. So is our glass half full or half empty? 

The optimist says the glass is half full.
The pessimist says the glass is half empty.
The realist says the glass contains half the required amount of liquid for it to overflow.
And the cynic… wonders who drank the other half.
Anyway… Attitude is not about whether the glass is half full or half empty, it’s about who is paying for the next round.

Best part of our day, returning to our second home on H-Dock with sausages on the grill and cold beer in the cooler!  The crew celebrated our 1^st race of the season in the usual style, chillin on the dock with the BBQ grillin, the beer chilling, and the rum flowin’…  If there is a better way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon we haven’t found it.

It began like most summer days here in lovely Ventura County, blue skies, steady winds and mild temperatures.  All that, and it was Wednesday, so preparation for our weekly race was well underway.  Captain Mike was hard at work replacing the water bladder that had been causing our bilge to fill too quickly.  Only $130 for this piece of new plastic, very reasonable by boater standards.

The Admiral (Cherri), feeling upbeat and generous about the crew and race decided to prepare a tasty meatloaf, with salad, French bread and carrots, a decidedly fine meal for a hungry crew at the end of the race. 

Maine Squeeze was 1^st off the line at the start, with our number 1 sail, and about 13 knots of breeze we felt invincible, then our trusty 1^st mate, Bill noticed our head sail was separating from the foil, the crew reacted with keen instincts and lightning speed, the Captain tacked, headed into the wind and the bowman hustled forward lowering and re-raising the headsail.  As it happens tacking away from the beach turned out in our favor and we were still in the hunt.  The wind began to pick up and we were soon on our ear, healing at about 30 degrees, with the rail tacticians (aka rail meat) hiking out hard. On our next tack, our 1^st mate again noticed another more critical issue that needed immediate attention.   It seems our meatloaf had flown out of the oven across the cabin and now lay in a saucy mess down below.  This was not news anyone wanted to share with the admiral, who was still blissfully unaware, but Bill with nerves of steal spoke up. 

The admiral sprang into action, with no lack of cussing and carrying on along the way!  They crew held their breath and an eerie silence reigned on the deck and in the cockpit for several minutes.  The only request from the Admiral was that the Captain was NOT to tack the boat without the go ahead from down below. This was clearly understood and several crew and the captain communicated their intentions long before the boat changed boards.  It took only about 5 minutes to clean up the mess, but much longer for the captain, crew and admiral to restore our morale.  Our evening spoils had been spoiled, but we sailed on and despite our mishaps placed 3^rd out of 7 boats and were “in the money”!

Lessons learned, the main sail has got to have a whole lot more pressure on the halyard line to keep it in the tracks, and it is best to secure the oven door with line or bungee cord, or better yet leave the food at the docks to enjoy on your return!

Anchorage at Lil Scorpion,

We had a great weekend on the Squeeze anchored in Lil Scorpion.  We had a smooth crossing on Friday. Tina and Bill’s, Our Porpoise made the trip with us and we were all pleasantly surprised to find only one other boat anchored and mild seas.  The sail took about 3.5 hours and by 10:00am Mike and I were exploring some of the caves on Kayaks.  Saturday morning we hiked up to Potato Harbor on a trail that follows the shoreline along the cliff and were rewarded with some beautiful views and a visit with an island fox who let us get withing 10 feet.  On our return to the dingy, Island Packerboats had already delivered tons of would be campers, and the amount of “stuff” people hauled in to the campsites was quite a sight!  It has to be 1/2 mile from the boat to the campsites and most were carrying at least thier bodyweight in all forms.

We decided to make the journey back to the harbor on Sunday afternoon, the wind was out of the West at 15-20 knots, so we were able to fly the shoot the whole way.  Top speed was 10.8 knots, surfing, it was an exciting ride.  We arrived at H-Dock just in time for the BBQ and festivities!  We are looking forward to the next cruising opportunity, maybe Catalina.

Maine Squeeze is at the San Diego Yacht Club for the Yachting Cup Regatta May 2 and 3. 

The crew delivered the Squeeze to San Diego, where she was side-tied in front of the club.  Most of the crew returned home but Curt stayed with the boat, enjoying some different scenery.  Days were busy with boat chores, visits with friends and enjoying San Diego and especially the San Diego Yacht Club.  The day before the races, the pace picked up considerably as crews appeared and boats were readied.

After three races on Saturday, the Squeeze is 8-8-7. Stategem broke a shroud in the last race and had to DNF. The conditions were almost perfect, with winds in the 8-15 knot range and little swell. A NW current did figure into the navigation as did the abundent kelp.
The crew sailed Maine Squeeze very well and made no big errors, but the competetion made better sail choices and had more experience with regatta racing.

On Sunday the wind increased and only 2 races were sailed.  Maine Squeeze was sailed well, but the competition was faster.  The word is that the other boats are lighter because they don’t stow enough beer and ice.  Mike and Curt delivered the Squeeze back to Channel Islands Harbor via Avalon and Two Harbors.  An extra was needed due to strong winds and seas on the nose.

Maine Squeeze sailed the 125 mile course in 19 hours and 27 minutes to be the first Schock 35 to finish and win a second place trophy in PHRF E class. Skipper Mike Taylor sparked the crew to top performance during his fastest “tequila derby” yet. Admiral Cherri experienced her first Ensenada Race, driving, trimming and feeding the crew. Bill Brayton also steered and trimmed Maine Squeeze to max performance while Tina Roberson kept the “strings” in perfect tune. Foredeck man Bruce McKenzie was in top form especially during sail hoists, douses and spinnaker tubes, and Curt Ingram played the sail controls like a fine guitar.

The crew enjoys victory!

Mike with the Schock 35 perpetual trophy