Week's One & Two

Frostbite Page

Week three of Frostbiting bought more cold and raw wind. It was blowing out of the North. The breeze was basically light with some puffs that made it interesting. The big story was the current. I noticed that the tides have been running very high and Mark and I predicted that the current would be a factor. We had noticed the very high tides in my backyard which are the wetlands. The current was about 3 knots and Fair & Square, the committee boat, had a bow wake. Ed and I got out to the course last or there about as usual. Mark sailed by with a crew member from our keel boat, Robert Powers, and told us that there was a delay. The crash boats that follow the fleets did a great job telling us the course was windward/leeward and to keep out of the start/finish line. Ed needed further explanation as to keeping out of the start/finish line so we sailed to the committee boat. Okay, we got it, stay out of the start/finish line. We started the race and headed into the East shore to stay out of the current. We got a couple of nice lifts there too. I was watching for the mark and it was hard to pick out because of the drizzle. I spotted it and told Ed that an Ideal was at it now so he could quickly look and know when to tack. The Ideal got caught up in the mark. Ed and I tacked right away because the Ideal probably dragged the mark down. We got to the mark and started to head down to the leeward mark. Pierre and his crew Claudia were behind us by about 30 yards. Here comes the start/finish line and after a bit more conversation we sail through the Etchell's pin.  Also known as the FINISH LINE. When the boats turned at the leeward mark it was as if they were skidding to a stop. The current just stopped them. Pierre didn't honor the line and was disqualified too. In this race the last shall be the first and Dick and his crew Janice came in first.  Great job guys. The second race was more of the standard frostbiting race except that the marks were to be left to the starboard. We usually race a triangle course with a windward, jib and another mark and then to the finish. We knew the current was too strong to head up and river so we tacked into the mooring field. Lots of boats are still there. We kept on losing sight of the mark between these boats and picked our way through them. We didn't know how we were doing against the other two boats because they were lost in the mooring field too. We finally came out of it and over stood the mark a bit. We finished first and headed in because one of the other boats wouldn't be able to race again. At the bar later, while I wasn't talking to Ed we found out that we were lucky not to have been DSQ'ed because we went through the moored boats. A lesson to all, stay out of the field until November 10. Remember that this weekend is the Regatta for Women's Health, and we have to fall back with the clocks and don't forget to vote.