Paddle sailing rendezvous 2009

Another great day out on the water as Koa and I meet up with the gang on Lake Mendota for the 2009 paddle sailing rendezvous. All sorts of boats and many on lookers make this a great opportunity to share ideas and show off your craft(s)


Lots of characters attend, lot of beverages consumed, lots of fun had. There is a great story on the hammock picture left. We wont mention any names, but "JOHN" is always fiddling with his quiver of boats, (you might remember the double ender folding craft he had in his shop that I was bantering on about, the makings of a good bon-fire).

Anyway... Now John decided that he was going to rig this folding hammock onto his canoe for on board sleeping accommodations. - You can guess where this is going... yee...aap right into the water! There is actually video of it that Steve took, I hope I can get it from him, you would hate to see it fall into the wrong hands and be posted on You Tube! :-)

Now that I think about it, john fell twice into the water... I'd say too many barley pops, but it was only 10 am...

Winds were light and variable most of the day. Scow races were cancelled, lake traffic was light for a Sunday. It was perfect.

Inland lake sailing is very forgiving. You can usually swim your craft to shore if things go badly. No nastys in the water to worry about. Though Muskies (fish) have been known to strike on shiny wrist watches and rings on occasion. A lot of what was displayed was WaterTribe ready, others were not.

More craft displayed. A handful of people took out the Sea Wind with the PAS. All were excited about it, with its simplicity and stability. Paddle paddle.... SAIL!!

Poor John trying to defend his hammock debacle. Let me grab another beer, the story gets better and better each time you tell it.

The Graber Happy Cat was a site to behold. A really nice outfitted "boat in a bag". Workmanship and quality of rigging is outstanding. Built for big water coastal cruising, offers an amazingly dry ride. Reef points in the main, roller reefing jib... even set up with a sculling oar.

What a day! - The Capt'n