At the Home Port
30 August 2008 | 51 13.17 N 114 42.91 W
Chad / Clear with light westerly
Here we are,
First sail on the home port of Ghost Lake. It`s a nice little lake with some really nice east to west winds (at least today they are). It started at almost a dead calm at 13:30 when we got Gotcha wet. But it started to puff after we rounded the point out of the harbor area and into the main lake. By 13:45 it was sheets up and the wind steadily grew to a fun filled afternoon with some really great runs up the lake past the cottage community (51 12.25 N 114 45.72 W). We circled through the bay there on the first trip up the lake. Some nice homes in there. After that it was straight (well, straight is a relative term, we are talking about traveling on a sailboat here ;) ) trip back and forth up the lake to the narrows ( 51 11.08 N 114 47.02 W) and the island ( 51 12.55 N 114 42.97 W).
The island has a long shallow shoal on the north side and a narrow passage around the back. We never got to try a turn around the island as it was too busy with power boats at the time. Perhaps next time out. Kelly met us out there and helped get Gotcha`s mast stepped before he took Blue Charm out on the lake to wait for us. There was 3 or 4 boats from the Ghost Lake Sailing Club out there so when th wind kicked up they separated from us and started racing around the markers while we cruised the lake. Might have to try a turn or two around there markers another time and see how Gotcha does.
At the end of the day as we got ready to head in a thunder storm started to pop up over the north hillside. It was moving fast and by the time we had the sheets down and had motored into the harbor and the launch dock we were under the rain. Talk about incentive to get the boat out of the water and packaged for traveling again. The crew worked admirably to get Gotcha ready for the trip home and we where under the cover of the van and rolling home before the heavy rain started.
On a side note. As we headed in under full sail at the end of the day, Kelly was impressed how well Gotcha was able to stay relatively close to Blue Charm. That is a great pat on the back.