Intermission

Tim enjoying the new bimini handrail

Although Isaac caused a good bit of damage for a lot of folks and inconvenience for others, he was a welcome sight to those of us in the midwest. For Kintala, it meant the water level rose to 445.5, enough for us to get out of our slip.  So instead of working on the dodger, we took an intermission and off we went, with plans to cove out if the weather held. With the unpredictable weather due to Isaac we decided to start out with a reef in the main and about 60% of the jib out so that we wouldn't get caught with everything out in a sudden storm. We hadn't had the boat out in 6 weeks and we were being a bit cautious. As it turns out, we were doing nearly 7 kts and almost no heel with the reef setup. We had a perfect close reach sail on one tack all the way to the dam, something that almost never happens around here. The sun was shining, the wind a solid 16-18 kts with a few lifts here and there, the white pelicans were soaring overhead...we were in heaven, like junkies on a high.

After looking at the radar and seeing an approaching storm cell, we decided to head to cove 1 by the dam, a cove that is much better protected than Coles Creek when the winds are out of the north or west. We had a perfect amount of time to get there and get anchored before the rain hit, except for the small detail that I misjudged the shallow spot down there and ended up plowing right into the mud. Oops. It took us about 15 minutes to get ourselves unstuck, but we managed, and we made it about half way across the lake before the deluge began. No lightning or thunder,  just heavy heavy rain coming down hard enough to flatten the waves. For a good bit of time we were unable to see the shore in any direction, and you could for just a moment imagine being out in the middle of Lake Superior instead of Carlyle. It's the hardest rain we've ever sailed in, not too cold, which was a good thing since we were both soaked to the skin in spite of rain gear. Tim was at the helm and I was testing out our dodger top, sitting beneath it on top of the companionway slider, both of us grinning like kids It motivates me to finish it as it was a comfortable place to be out of the rain even with open sides.

It was a great day, and one I needed badly. We've been sailing on other people's boats since we couldn't get ours out, but there's just no substitute for sailing your own boat, and Kintala sailed beautifully.  Next weekend I'll be ready to dig in and tackle The List. Act II anyone?