HAPPY 4TH TO ALL!

[Bob23]

   Here's wishing all you Compac-nuts out there a Happy Fourth of July! I hope we never take for granted living in the greatest country on earth where freedom really still does reign. I sometimes gripe about the problems we have in the US until I get a glimpse of how life is in other countries and I realize how blessed we really are!
Proud to be an American,
Bob23

[bmiller]

Happy 4th to all. Today I'm really missing owning a boat. Spending the day on Dillon then watching firewirks from the mooring was about as good as it gets.

[CaptJohn]

 hope all enjoyed the fourth....wheather on a boat or with family or wherever....and please do not forget those that sacrificed that we could celebrate this day

[skip1930]

And happy 4th to you all as well. Independence from those pesky Brits and good by King George.

Our annual 4th of July parade was a fine one but our Ford Model 'A' club boycotted the whole affair as the organizer, Nancy Fisher [D] Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin, wanted to limit the 'A's to only 5 or 6 when last year we mustered up 28 out of 52 running units. It's was either all who want to go or none with us.

And to top it off the VFW did not attend either because the same Nancy Fisher wanted to charge $$'s [ "...that way they would be eligible for a prize. "  ] the VFW to march in the parade.

But there was plenty of room for hopefuls, the hopeless, and  local~oakums in convertibles, beauty queens, other kinds of queens, horses, fire engines, dance teams, baseball teams, [no church groups; like bible study, etc. are allowed ].

Pardon me but I thought honoring veterans was what the 4th was all about. Who else died for our freedoms?

skip.

[rwdsr]

I'm happy to report that I spent the entire weekend sailing with my daughter and grandkids.  We cast off around 10:00 oclock on Saturday and rolled back into the house just ahead of a thunderstorm about 2:00 yesterday afternoon.  That would be the 4th, we spent two nights on the water, and finally got some good sailing wind for about 3 hours yesterday morning.  Wonderful weekend all the way around, but brutally hot.  Just gotta get a bimini for that boat.  Happy belated 4th to all!

[rsahlender]

Speaking of thunderstorms... on Sunday 7/3 the day started with almost no wind but I kept a watchful eye and by late afternoon winds were around 5 knots. Weather radar showed some storm activity about 20 to 30 miles north of the lake and moving ESE so still being unsure if family "stuff" would permit me to sail on the 4th I headed to the lake for a couple light wind hours on my CP16.

Well... it is only 20 miles or 30 minutes to the lake but when I got there the clouds were mighty dark and ominous looking even though others were heading out on the lake. I checked weather radar again and the storms still looked a good 20 miles to the north so I opened up and began to make ready for sail hoping the clouds I saw would blow by. And then the rain started. Light at first but enough to convince me to hold back a little and wait. And then the deluge came and I could hear thunder in the distance so I jumped in the cabin and closed the hatch. It didn't take long for the lightening and thunder to seem like it was right overhead.

When it is raining that hard it is tough to see much out of the two little portal windows on a CP16 but I could tell it was really whipping up out there. So I layed out a couple of type 4 seat cushions and got comfortable enough to take a short nap. So although still tied to my slip at the marina I guess I can say I slept aboard during a wicked storm! And it was wicked... it took nearly an hour to blow by but when I came out there were trees and branches down all over the place with a few back road closures on the way home.

One good thing is that I have been wondering where a small bit of moisture was getting in during rain storms. There was evidence of past leakage at some of the portal windows but these were all resealed and nothing came in from any of the 4 while I was in there. What little came in actually "bounced" in from under the hatch. When I purchased the boat I noticed that the latch at the top of the hatch was positioned so that the hatch would rest on the cockpit seat when locking to the sliding top. This left a small maybe quarter inch gap between the top of the hatch and the sliding top. I figured that was a good spot for the rain to be getting in so I lowered the latch enough to eliminate the gap but that of course lifts the bottom of the hatch up just enough for a really hard rain to bounce a couple of drops per minute in under the hatch.

And of course when everything cleared enough to come out there was no wind left to sail with! It was still a fun day on the boat none-the-less...

Rich 

[Shawn]

Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July!

We anchored off Wickford to cook hot dogs and listen to a concert on the town beach before the fireworks began.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/39387871@N06/sets/72157627126885504/

Kids had a blast sitting on the bow watching the show and can't wait to do it again.

Shawn

[rdcvsmith]

Now THAT is what i call summer! Good for you!

Being a bit new to this all, I stayed off the water (on what I was told would be a crowed waterway on the 4th) but i was right back out there today....not many out on the Sound on the 5th , just the way i like it.

[Bob23]

Part of my 4th was spent on Barnegat Bay on a 9.3 nm row from Surf City (home port of "Koinonia" to Waretown, NJ, site of our family 4th BBQ. I did it in my old Alden Ocean Shell, not even knowing if I could complete that many miles. Amongst many yahoos in powerboats, jet-skis and cigarette boats, I did indeed make it in 2 hrs. 20 minutes...not bad for an old geezer in an old rowing shell. Can't wait to do it again.
Bob23

[bmiller]

Well I've got a bit of a story. Since I don't have a boat right now we spent the 4th at a friends house near here in Chaffee county. Just a few people, real nice group. Got to talking to an elderly gentleman and in the conversation found out he was raised on Catalina island. His parents ran a boys school in a remote part of the island. It got better, he became a marine biologist and worked for the park service on St John in the Virgin Islands.  Hew was there for the early development and surveying of the park. He had great stories from his years there in the 70's before it got all developed and touristy. He actually wrote the book about the park. A guide book about behind the scenes at the park. It's out of print but I'm going to find it and get it signed. We looked at photos online from our trip there a couple years ago. Very nostalgic for him and enlightning for me. I'm thinking he would be very suprised by what it loks like now.

[Greene]

Admiral B and I spent Friday through Monday night on 2 lakes in Madison where they host the Rhythm and Booms fireworks show.  It is one of the best 4th of July celebrations in the country.  B is writing up a little post, but I wanted to share this beautiful picture.



Mike

[Greene]

Fourth of July Weekend

Looking at a 4 day weekend and there is a heat warning.  Temps of 96 with heat index of 106.  That won't stop us though.  Mike got up early Friday morning and pulled the boat over to Marshall Park in order to avoid the afternoon holiday traffic and the heat.  On his lunch break, he rigged the boat so all would be ready for sailing later on.  (What a gem!)  After a light supper at home and a respite from the heat, we headed over to the lake, reefed the sails and were on the water by around 7.  We sailed over to Picnic Point and dropped anchor for the night.  Not many boats on the water, but the bugs were terrible.  We had to hide in the cabin and it was HOT.  The winds shifted in the middle of the night by 180 degrees causing some major rocking and rolling, so early in the a.m. we pulled anchor and moved to the other side of the peninsula, dropped anchor and went back to sleep.  Much cooler and calmer.  Conditions must have been right because we slept past 9 o'clock!  Mike tried out his new coffee press and really liked the flavor and convenience.  Breakfast was instant oatmeal with fresh blueberries.  Mike played at being a fisherman and I read for awhile.  Then we were off.  Winds picked up to 10-15 and we were able to sail on a beam reach.  After our last outing with minimal winds, it was fun to kick up our heels and go.  We even did a little "technical maneuvering" as we practiced rounding some of the buoys set up for the local races.  

We headed over to Warner Bay early in the afternoon.  We wanted to be sure to get a good spot for Rhythm and Booms.  We were surprised to find only a few boats anchored along the park shore.  We stayed off to one side of the swimming area and dropped anchor.  We dove out of the boat into fairly clean water and headed to the swimming area.  As we went under the rope marking the outer boundaries, the lifeguard approached us and said, "You can't come into the swimming area from there.  You have to come into the beach and then enter the marked swimming area from there."  Liability issues they said.  We thought we were being safer to enter the marked area directly from the boat - but no - we had to swim around the outside of the markers, walk on the beach for 2 feet, and then go back inside the markers.  And of course we had to reverse the whole process to get back to the boat.  Oh well, it felt so good to swim in clean water that we didn't really mind.

As sundown approached, more and more boats entered the bay and dropped anchor.  By dusk, the bay was full of boats.  The shimmering navigation and anchor lights put on a splendid show long before the fireworks started.  As we were enjoying the view, we heard bagpipes.  Mike, not a big fan of bagpipes, thought that someone had cranked up their boat stereo, and was not pleased.  But in a few minutes we discovered where the sound was coming from.  A 15 ft power boat was slowly parading through the anchored boats with a girl waving an American flag off the bow and their O'Connor flag flying off the stern.  In the middle were three men with their bagpipes, two in costume, playing "The Casons go Rolling Along".  Next up, "America the Beautiful".  All movement on the other boats stopped, people whistled and cheered and saluted.  Mike commented, "Now that is cool".  I couldn't say anything - something must have been stuck in my throat.  We quickly grabbed the camera, as did many others, and recorded a very moving , obviously traditional, patriotic celebration.





Then came the real fireworks.  Rhythm and Booms is billed as the Midwest's largest fireworks display.  It is timed to music that is broadcast on a local radio station.  All the boats in the harbor were tuned to the same station.  We were in the perfect seats.  Fireworks blossomed over our heads in a well choreographed presentation.  One of the first songs was "Proud to be an American", followed by a few John Phillip Sousa marches.  Again something was stuck in my throat and my eyes were watering.  By the time the grand finale came around, both the fireworks and waterworks were flowing freely.  The "Overture of 1812", with all the gun salutes and bells ringing, was an indescribable way to end the fireworks display.  The bay was silent, in awe, for several minutes.  Then the cheers went up and the boats, with their red, green and white lights flickering, exited the bay as if carried out by the tide.  We stayed put.  We were in a good anchorage and wanted to hold on to the magical feelings for as long as possible.  As we settled in for the night, we both commented that this evening ranked in our Top 10.



If you want to see a 2:30 video of the fireworks finale, go to the photobucket listed below:

http://s613.photobucket.com/albums/tt211/greene2108/July%204th%202011%20Lake%20Mendota/?action=view&current=100_0074.mp4

But our weekend was not over yet.  We awoke late Sunday morning to another beautiful day.  The skies were a brilliant blue and the winds were a perfect 10-15.  After a "shower in the lake" and a some more fishing attempts by Mike, we sailed back across the lake to the University of Wisconsin's Memorial Union.  We set the anchor and then relaxed for awhile to be sure the anchor set.  Then we pulled up the dinghy, gracefully (haha) boarded the dinghy and Mike rowed us to shore where we wandered State Street looking for supper.  After walking up one side and then down the other, we settled on State Street Brats.  We got a table by the window so we could people watch.  And what a show we got.  It is unbelievable how eclectic this area is.  Anything goes!  From couples pushing strollers to studded and black clad groups, to multi-colored hair to cute elderly couples, to clean-cut gaggle of teens, you can see it all on State Street.  And where else can you have dinner with a cow.  That's right - at State Street Brats there is an outside table  that sets around a life-size fiberglass cow!

After a stop for liquid refreshments and a bag of ice, we were back to the dinghy and a quick row back to the boat.  Surprisingly one of the frat houses was playing our music from the 70's and 80's.  We couldn't believe that we would be listening to some of our favorites, one after another, coming to us clearly over the water.  The same frat house, next to the union, was trying to set off some fireworks.  They got a "boo" from the Memorial Union crowd for their first attempt.  Then it got comical/scary. They were having some "technical difficulties" setting off their remaining fireworks.  Some went up well, but others went sideways or didn't go up at all.  There were several *@#*@'s and lots of laughter.  No major mishaps.  As the sun set, we were able to watch the fireworks going off from various communities around the lake.  Calm night, good company, and the end to another day.

Monday we decided to row back into State Street for breakfast.  We had seen the Sunprint Cafe's advertisement for breakfast while we were wandering the previous night and had worked up an appetite for omelettes.   Then back to the boat to start heading to the launch for pull-out.  It was dead calm, so we motored along the shore checking out the gorgeous houses and a small harbor we hadn't explored before.  The ramp was not busy and tear down went smoothly.  But no, we aren't done yet.

We pulled the boat across town and re-launched on Lake Monona so we could meet up with our son and some friends to view the 4th of July fireworks on that lake.  Aren't trailer sailers great!  .  This has become an annual event.  It is not as crowded as "Rhythm and Booms" and it was fun to raft up, share snacks and drinks and enjoy the show of lights around the lake.  We motored to the ramp at 11:00 and were home by 11:59.  That's using the weekend up!

Brenda

[jthatcher]

Hi Brenda and Mike.. what a great story!  I enjoyed reading about your experience of the 4th and how the boat made some cool things possible..   you do make a strong case for trailerable boats.    We don't have a trailer for our 23, and i really don't have the horsepower to pull it if we did, so we are living a slightly different dream, having the boat on the jersey shore with plenty of area to explore to keep us content for a while before we have the time and resources to plan a cruising adventure..  I hope that the rest of the summer holds numerous opportunities for water adventures.    jt

[Greene]

JT - We feel like we are just beginning to scratch the surface on the adventures that our little yacht will bring us.  Why did I wait until I turned 50 to tick off "Learn to Sail" on our bucket list?

Mike

[jthatcher]

Hmmm,  I am 51 myself..  and Adagio is the first real sailboat that I have owned -  just purchased in March.  But, we are still middle-aged, right?  lots of time to enjoy our boats on the water      I have been dreaming about this since i was a kid!    if  you have time, check out our page under cp - 23's   I look forward to hearing more about your experiences..  jt