Century Club: Tim Ford

Wonderful October light and a surprise with a giant flock of grackles. I think it was a mixed-flock, principally Boat-tailed Grackles. We noticed them in the back of the creek, close to the water's edge or in the shallows splashing around and having noisy bird-baths. I had a treat when I circled around to the north, very close to shore and then the entire flock spooked and flew right over my head, then turned into a murmuration and disappeared into the trees on the other shore. Magnificent and captured on video by my kayaking partner.

Look, I know I'm not going be anywhere near 100 days this year. Be lucky if I get to 75 (days on the water, not years of age).  But I'm adding a day even though it was a boat work day...well, actually, it was five or six.  Days spent getting the trailer ready for a 2,200 mile journey across the country.  Including a bearing job on both wheels/axles. A lot of time in the marina and some frustrating moments with tires and boat bunks and tail lights and bulbs and...well, you name it.

Bottom line is, the buyer showed up and the boat made it to Montana. YAY!

Took a kayak out for lunch.  Surprised to see the creek looking so fall-like!

Then a full day of checking race flags, course boards, putting Amendments to the SIs on the Notice Board and finally trashing out on RAINBOW.  Slept like a sloth. I did get a little chilly though.  October.

OK.  Granted we only sailed a couple of miles, beam reaches over to the south shore and back. But we know that the cove is one of our favorite places on the river so we just came back in and anchored there.  It was getting dark and our nav lights aren't exactly state-of-the-art. 

Plus we didn't even leave the dock until 1607 hrs. 

But what a beautiful afternoon, having not seen the sun for the past 8 days.  Just after sundown some clouds rolled in and it was obvious it was going to drizzle if not out-and-out rain.  We were fairly well sheltered from the ENE breeze and the amount of boat wakes making it around the rock sea wall to the south were minimal and for the most part, went unnoticed.

Our LOPs started to look goofy about 2100 hrs so we redeployed and threw out a bigger danforth.  Good holding ground and alway a pleasure when the anchor comes up clean of mud.  At times during the night we heard the breeze pipe up enough to sound a bit unsettling in the rigging.  But we think this was just due to a light squall that went thru and one that sent us scrambling to get crew, sleeping in the cockpit, down below and also put in the hatch boards.

The morning dawned the same gray soggy mess we've seen for the past week, so we turned toward home instead of the river (for a morning sail). 

All-in-all a successful and enjoyable impromptu weekend jaunt. Meanwhile a few miles to the south, the CAL-25 North American Championship were being held...and well, we just cruised instead.