Fun and tragedy at the lake

Today, I made my maiden cruise at Dobson Lake, joining the Mesa Model Yacht Assosciation.

I was worried about the wind when I left the house this morning. In fact, I had never sailed in wind that bad before. After the loss of the Queen Mary 2, I have been understandably weary of wind.

However, with some extra bricks for ballast, she handled pretty well. That doesn't mean I wasn't nervous though! Actually, there was one brief moment of panic when I felt she was heaving to one side. I managed to get her out of it, and there were no other problems.

The Zuiderdam made her builder's trials today. The epoxy where the prop shaft sleeve meets the plexi webbing inside the hull broke, so there was some trouble with vibration and noise. Still, I can fix it, and I am confident in her next voyage.

I saw ALOT of great boats out there. Beautiful sailboats, and beautiful Cris Crafts. I really enjoyed seeing George's subchaser and Rob's Cris Craft. Jim's lobster boat was really cool too.

I really enjoyed talking to so many fellow R/C boaters about boat stuff and sharing stories. I'm glad I was out there, and nothing bad happened to the Ecstasy or Zuiderdam.

There was some tragedy when the little Moran Tug sank. I don't know why she sank, and I didn't see her go down. Call me naive, but I never thought anyone else sank but me.

Anyway, I have included some great pictures from this morning's cruise, and I will put more up in the next few days. Please check back often.

To everyone from the club who joined the party this morning, thanks! I look forward to next time. Email me if you have any comments or questions. Thanks again!

Barrett