Father's Day Sail 2011

Here's another memory from the past while we wait out another snow storm.

What a fantastic weekend! Mike got off of work early on Friday and we got onto Lake Mendota by 4 p.m. We sailed around for awhile and then anchored outside the UW Memorial Union to listen to the bands. Later we had a short night sail to a protected bay where we anchored for the night.

The UW Memorial Union

Night sailing is unbelievably beautiful. The lake is so quiet and the sailboat just makes small splashes in the waves. The lights on shore just add to the beauty of the scenery. We went to sleep on a dead calm night and even slept in a little late the next morning. The memory foam we added to the V-berth, along with the cushion on the galley counter greatly added to the comfort of our evening. We tried out our cheapo Gasone butane stove (we've used this stove for one season now and it continues to impress us. We heat water each morning for breakfast needs and have yet to use up one gas canister) and by golly it heats water for oatmeal, coffee and tea in a big hurry.

French Press and Gasone Butane Stove

As the morning broke, Brenda stayed on board while Mike took the little dinghy for a row and threw out the fish hook a few times. One more tiny bluegill knows who the boss is now. The wind never showed up, so we rowed into shore and took a nice three mile hike on Picnic Point.

Our landing at Picnic Point

It is a city kept park with lots of trails, fire pits (with free firewood), mechanical pump for drinking water and great views of the city and the lake. After getting back to the boat we put up our shade and took a relaxing nap.

Nice day for a nap!

We decided to motor over (no wind at all Saturday) to the UW Union again for supper. We anchored out near the other sailboats in a mooring field (the one they always show on TV during a Badger game), and rowed into the shore. We walked a couple of blocks to State Street and went to Chipotle for burritos and a really good margarita. Great place to eat and people watch - State Street is the perfect place for this hobby! We rowed back to the sailboat and decided that we would just stay anchored there for the night. Dumb move. We should have gotten a weather forecast and moved to a more protected anchorage. During the night we had a nice storm with rocky waves kicked up by the wind. Our dinghy ended up with 2" of water in the bottom of it, but our anchor held tight.

Sunday morning cleared up by 10 a.m. and we raised the sails for the nice breeze that showed up.

Sunset on Lake Mendota

We checked out some areas of the lake we hadn't yet explored and circled a bunch of sailboats in a race. It was a nice leisurely sail back to the dock where we put the boat on the trailer for the trip home.

What a great way to spend Father's Day weekend.