My Tennessee Lake Sailing Adventure

[crbakdesign]

View album at: 

http://com-pacowners.com/gallery2/thumbnails.php?album=36

Day 1

       A week ago Wednesday, I pulled out of my driveway and headed up the highway to Tennessee with my Compac 19, "Steadfast" in tow.  I was looking forward to a nice relaxing day cruise with three other boats on Watts Bar Lake, 160 miles north of Atlanta.  Watts Bar Lake situated north of Chattanooga is a large commercially navigable portion of the Tennessee River.  Watts bar is a very long lake; the part we sailed was nearly 30 miles long and it continues on.  Two of us were from Georgia and the other two live and sail in Tennessee.  Mark, a transplant from North Georgia and former active member of the South Winds Sailing Club, ( http://sailswsc.org  our local sailing club), sailed the largest and fastest boat between us, a well-maintained O-Day 28  "Beats Work".  "Sandpiper," a Catalina 22 was skippered by Jerry, a regular on the Sailor Trailer Bulletin Board (http://bbs.trailersailor.com) who I had met last June on the BEER cruise and the fourth member of our expedition was Andy, our club Fleet Captain, who also sailed a Catalina 22 named "Good Times." 

     When I stopped in Calhoun, Georgia to pick up a few provisions I got a call from Scott, a sailing buddy back home.  Seemed there was a sailor stranded just two exits up with engine trouble.  10 minutes later,  I pulled up to a beautiful gaff rigged Vacationer.

The Southeastern Wooden Boat Builders were having a get together and Keith was on his way for a couple of days of carousing at Nickajack lake over the other side of Chattanooga. I drove him around and eventually we found motor parts and I was back on my way toting a large bottle of 92 proof "Sailor Jerry" rum for our cruise, compliments of a very grateful sailor.


      I arrived a few hours later at Blue Springs, just as Jerry motored into the cove from Kingston.  He'd been motor sailing for three hours to meet us at Blue Springs Marina. I jacked up my mast, using a gin pole rig suggested by another Compac 19 sailor, Marcus on our site (www.com-pacowners.com) and settled down for my first night on the lake.


Day 2

Jerry and I spent a cold night sleeping in our respective cabins and were joined in the morning by Andy who drove up during the middle of the night and Mark, our host.   We all got a big laugh at the "Sailor Jerry" rum, especially Jerry, and looked forward to saluting our sailing brethren once the sun dropped over the yardarm that evening.  The sun was shining, winds were starting to pick up and we were off headed south towards the dam.  Once out in the main channel, the wind dropped off a bit and I was doing 1.5 to 2 knots downwind.   I was also having trouble with the rope slide on my mainsail, so it too was bit baggy.   Although my Compac 19 was feeling chipper, she is no match for either the Catalina's and Mark's O-Day 28 with his monster 160 Genoa sailing far upwind.  I rigged up my cruising spinnaker and gained a little speed.


 Occasionally I fired up my 5 hp merc and pulled up to the rest of the fleet.  I've learned that a downwind breeze in a small heavily ballasted boat like the CP-19 is bound to be slow.   And anyway, I would say to myself, a cruise is not a race;  the main thing is to enjoy yourself sailing.  We all had VHF radios and could keep in touch no matter where we ended up.

     By evening we passed a small one-tree island covered with cormorants, and anchored at the end of a cove.  The weather was warm and the winds were light, with high clouds, signifying a change in weather coming. I took a dip in the lake while Mark and Andy rowed off in their kayaks. 


Then Jerry and I leaned back in "Steadfast's "cockpit and reminisced about the BEER cruise last June.  Later all of us gathered aboard Mark's big cockpit and drank a couple of toasts from the much-anticipated "Sailor Jerry" rum. 


Day 3

The second night was warmer, but the morning opened with an overcast sky.  The Southeast wind had picked up too, and by the time we headed towards the Dam.  Jerry started out first, motoring back up the lake to his mooring at Kingston.  For the first few hours the sailing was fine as we tacked close reached into the open waters above the dam.  The lake was nearly empty, with an occasional passing fisherman and one large sailing catamaran under motor headed to the locks. Andy and Mark were nearly at the landing by the Dam, when the rain began. I was still a ways back and began to get soaked. I had a neoprene rain poncho, which I had rarely used, being a weekender fair weather sailor.  (Reminder: get decent foul weather gear.) Finally, I fired up the motor and joined the other two boats. 

After a lunch break, the rain eased off and we started back up the lake.  A good wind blew up the lake, and Andy and Mark eased out their sheets wing on wing and sailed in a stately procession downwind.  With my relatively small sails, I knew I would fall far behind so I set out on a broad reach across the lake.  Within minutes I was bouncing along at 4 to 5 knots, my pennant whipping and the wind humming through the shrouds. At each shore, I would manage a controlled Jib and haul off in the other direction.  After a while I felt pretty good about how "Steadfast" was handling the wind.  A Compac 19 has a hard chine bottom and a heavy (800 lb) shoal keel, so it's pretty hard to sail her on her rails, but on occasion I got close.  I was also gratified to see, that despite the much longer distances of each leg across the lake, I was not falling much behind Mark and Andy. I had noted on the way down the lake this open section of the lake was topped by a couple of big islands.  An opening between the far island and shore was fairly wide, so as Andy and Mark disappeared up the channel I made a dash for the other side of the lake with the intension of popping out behind the island and thoroughly surprising them.  Unfortunately, as soon as I rounded the island the wind died and I was stuck and forced to motor out.  Had the wind been from the Southeast, as opposed to a Southwest my plan may have worked.  Oh well.

We shortened our trip back up the lake by taking a very narrow cut and coming out to a dead calm.  We fired up the motors and motored the rest of the way.  At one point Mark raised a set of up pirate's flags he had picked up somewhere up north and wanted to see how they would look. 


We made our way to an anchorage, Champagne Cove, just past the cut around Thief's Island north of where we had put in the day before.  Kingston was still about 15 miles up the lake, which looked from this point on fairly narrow on the chart.  Mark hosted a second great meal aboard his boat after going aloft in his bosun's chair to rehang his flag halyard


Day 4

The next morning I eased myself into the lake to clean up.  I had a solar shower aboard, but hadn't seen the sun since Thursday, so a cold dip was as good as a cold shower I figured.  Later that day I questioned the wisdom of that little bit of torture. Once we left the cove we had less than 20 minutes before the first rain show hit.  We all raised our bimini, but the rain succeeded in soaking us anyway.  To make matters worse, the wind picked up, and the sailing was excellent, if you could see enough to set your sails and see which way the windex was pointing.  Andy told me later that at times the rain came down so hard that it appeared like my cabin and sail were floating on a grey churned up foam. 

And then it would stop.  The wind and the rain.  Only the rolling clouds would fly over the lake to let us know more was coming.  The lake snaked along but was wide enough to tack. The rain came back and poured. As we passed through a rock canyon, a loud thunderstorm came near.  The thunder sounding particularly loud in the lake, as I pondered the wisdom of sailing along with a 25 ft lightning rod nearby.  Since jumping overboard or firing up the motor was the only choice I had, I ran the merc as fast as I could go and headed to safer waters.  Once I caught up, I raised sail and tacked. I found that since I had added the foiled rudder I could point better into the wind than before, but both of the bigger boats were much lighter and faster. By early afternoon we were motoring off Kingston, where Jerry's boat was anchored at a mooring and Jerry was standing at the dock, his truck lights flashing from the street above. 

We went ashore to a fine late lunch of hot chocolate and great pizza. It was a good way to wind things up.  Jerry and I drove down to Kingston and retrieved my truck, and Andy and Mark headed back to their boats and a long nap. The next morning they motored back down the lake while I drove back to Georgia, "Steadfast" in tow.  It had been cold, wet and windy, but it was quite an adventure. 


My special thanks to Jerry, for many good tips and advice, a great lunch and helping me get on my way.  And to Andy and Mark for sharing meals, a few drinks and most of all, a great time.

(Posted simultaeously on the http://bbs.trailersailor.com)




 

[mgoller]

Great article.  Wish I had been there.  Sounds like you were racing.  Tough to get two or more boats together and not feel the sense of competition. 
I think our Grand Traverse Bay trip was filled with enough trepidation to make any notion of getting far apart out of the question but there were moments when I was intentionally trying to make best speed. 
I was glad to hear that you had your moments showing those other boats what you could do.
Too bad about the bad weather, but it makes for good sea stories.
What I have noticed is that our boats really shine when weather and winds get fierce.  We have a boat that handles high winds, and is comfortable to boot.
I can usually beat anything on our lake including catamarans in good steady winds.  When the winds get light, I relax and just wisp around.
Sounds like good comradery out there, and that makes it!

[crbakdesign]

Thanks Marcus,

I was having fun, but hardly racing.  When the wind blew me faster, It also had the same effect on the bigger yachts.  I enjoy sailing with other sometimes more experienced sailors. These guys have sailed for years on all kinds of waters and raced.   Steadfast is still new to me and like most of our fellow com-pac skippers, its sailing we go when we don't have to work, fix things around the house, drive the kids to games, cut the grass and all the other parts of our collective lives.  I am still learning a lot about the CP-19, and I'd like to think I've made some useful improvements to her.  I've found the galley and chart table to real handy.  The cabin in her is smaller and tighter than the Catalina 22, but there's less wasted space.  I won't compare her to the O-Day 28.  Having dinner in her cabin was like being in an RV with all the comforts of home including microwave.

  But I need to get a better handle on her sailing rig.  The sails are original, probably 25 years old, but not in bad shape.  Once my kids get out of college, I may put some more money into her.  It's good to get away for a few days and sail somewhere beyond the horizon, even if it's the next state over.  Most of our sailors on this forum have a lot going on every day, so I'm not upset about the lack of posts day to day.  Actually I think for a forum built around one type of boat, I think we do pretty well.  Anyway enough rambling.  I'd like to see a Com-pac cruise and get together someday, maybe  some lake up in Kentucky or somewhere else we can get to from North, South, East and West.  In the meantime to you and everyone else, go sailing whenevery you can and many thanks for all the comradery on this forum.

[Paul]

Great story.  Great photos.  Really enjoyed it.  Sometimes, it's nice to live vicarously through others.  Thanks for posting.

[K3v1n]

Wonderful little write up of your trip, it is always neat to read about other's experiences on their boats.

Always like pictures, loved the pirate flags!

-Kevin

[roland cobine]

being from southern illinois, i would love to see a get together in kentucky. ive sailed barkley lake before but havent in my c 16 as yet. i would welcome company.

[Ralph Erickson]

What a great story.  My in-laws live about 15 miles from the Dam at Watts Bar, and I've motor boated on Watts Bar, but haven't sailed.  Guess I'll have to trailer my CP 19 down next summer and give it a try. 

Ralph