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My philosophy has always been that if the boat was moving then you were sailing. Where it was going or how fast it was getting there was secondary to the act of sailing itself. This Saturday that philosophy was put to a very hard test! The weather report called for light and variable winds with temps in the mid 70's. Just how light and variable I had no idea until I got on the lake.

There are two small islands about one half mile off the marina. For some reason almost nothing is named on the maps of the lake so I have taken it upon my self to name the more prominent landmarks. These two islands I have named "Barbie's Toes" and "Trina's Dad" At any rate my goal was circumnavigate Trina's Dad and then make landfall on Barbie's Toes. It took me the better part of an hour to make it to Trina's Dad and not enough wind in the right direction to make a circumnavigation. So, I just headed for Barbie's Toes, go ashore and enjoy a nice cup of tea. Well, every time I got within landing distance of the island I found a flock of Canadian Geese vigorously guarding their territory. Knowing that (1) geese can be very vicious when provoked and (2) they could fly and therefore chase me halfway cross the lake I thought that perhaps I would wait for another day before attempting to explore the 2 acre island. All I could think of was this was Michel's doings since there were CANADIAN geese. Perhaps we have been invaded and there were no actual geese, just geese like honking!

Anyway, although forward motion was very slow and on more than one occasion I had to drag a line over the side to see if I was actually moving and my explorations were thwarted by a bunch of foreign birds it was an extremely gratifying sail. It really is a matter of just being on the water

Be of good cheer all.

The Lusty Slogger

Those where not my prsonnal geeses! Mine are already back from their migration!

Lucky you! I still have to wait for about 10 days for my slip to be installed. But it is coming!

The river is looking good!
https://youtu.be/yjSGUpaZ0kE

Michel wrote:Those where not my prsonnal geeses! Mine are already back from their migration!

Lucky you! I still have to wait for about 10 days for my slip to be installed. But it is coming!

The river is looking good!
https://youtu.be/yjSGUpaZ0kE

I am going to learn how to post my videos on youtube. I will never have your quality but I think my lake (well, its not really MY lake) is a very wonderful place to sail. I am not sure of the actual length, having heard from 45 to 60 miles but there are enough anchorages and small islands within a few hours sail to make it all interesting.

If you ever tire of waiting for the water to come back come on down and I will give you a tour of Cherokee Lake.

Be of good cheer.

And I think those were some stragglers of YOUR geese, they were all honking in French but were quite lyrical!!

I am always looking forward to watch sailing videos, especially from small boat sailors. My kind of sailing.
I can get pleasure of making ½ knot against the wind and current so the adventure can be just that.
Don't worry too much about the technical quality of your videos. It is what they show that is important.

BTW, french canadian geeses just honk more dirty than the anglo canadian ones! Must be in the genes!

I love your definition of sailing Lusty! And, I agree w/ Michel that a sailing video doesn't have to be "perfect" to be perfectly lovely. Please post away.

I am all for sailing videos.. keeps me focused. All my videos would be boring watching epoxy dry

Went sailing again this Saturday, the 9th. Exact opposite from last Saturday. Where it good me an hour to get to Barbie's Toes 1/2 mile from the Marina I was able to sail to the other side of the lake to the dam and then back to Barbie's Toes, a distance of 2 miles or more in the same amount of time. Other boats claimed wind speeds of 10 kts but my handy dandy Kestrel Pocket Weather Station said about half that at the dock. It could be the speed was higher in the middle of the lake and I do know the Lusty Slogger went like a clipper ship!! I sailed about 5 and a half hours and although the temps were in the mid 80's the wind kept the heat down. It was a very enjoyable sail.

As usually however there was a glitch! I had my Polaroid Digital Video Camera on board and was filming away. I found a way to mount the camera so it was steady and should have been a good view of everything! When I got home and went to load it on the computer I found I didn't have a memory card in the camera so all was for naught!!!!

As ‎Roseanne Roseannadanna would say "Its always something"

I didn't wear my Tilly Hat and now my ears are burned!!!!

We went sailing Saturday under the "if you're moving at all you must be sailing" senario. The winds were light and then almost non existent. I thought of you & the Lustyslogger. Funny yall were out breaking speed records at the same time.

Sometimes, there is just enough wind to equalize the force of the current and I will stay in place for a period of time! That is good!... I am not sailing backward!

Michel wrote:Sometimes, there is just enough wind to equalize the force of the current and I will stay in place for a period of time! That is good!... I am not sailing backward!

Ah Michel, you have taken my philosophy to its next logical step. If I ain't going backwards then I must be sailing!!