CLR 2011 from the deck of Miss B's Haven part 2

[Greene]

Saturday morning saw some of us at the Lighthouse for breakfast and others at the continental breakfast at the hotel.  Luke and Debbie arrived from their son's wedding in Connecticut.  How cool that they would come all that way to make it to the rendezvous! Cal and Merry on Little Darlin' and Rich on his soon to be named 16 launched for the first time.  It was great to add two more to the crew.   Today was race day and tensions were high (haha).  You couldn't get a more relaxed group.  Steve said we should meet at point 1 at 10:30 for our start....it might not have been exactly 10:30 by the time everyone got there.  We all lined up in a perfect line parallel to the start point awaiting the starters horn - NOT!  The actual start looked like a bunch of daysailers wandering around the bay, some still coming out of the marina, and some of us not really knowing where we were supposed to be.  A perfect kind of race as far as Miss B is concerned.  Eventually we all headed off in the same direction.  It was a very windy and choppy day.  We all took our turn at pointing into the biggest wake we have ever encountered.  The boats literally went bow straight up and banged straight down with water coming over the bow rail.  Grins and giggles from most of us.  It was quite a ride for us, we can't imagine how the 16's felt.  

As the race continued there were nice whitecaps with the wind blowing the foam off the top.  Heading around the turn some confusion arose because the yacht club also placed yellow markers out for their race.  We all agreed to just head for the next point which was a good idea anyway because we were running into the race with the big boys.  We all arrived safely at the raft up spot and jumped in the water for a much needed swim (it was hot!).  The slushie mobile made its debut appearance and there was a beer bucket sighted hanging off the stern of Island Time.  Stories were swapped, tales were told, and body temperatures gradually returned to normal.  
Next stop the marina, however, several of us took off for another run in the waves.  When we got back to the marina Sarah had a grand dinner arranged.   We had chicken, salad, potatoes, grilled corn on the cob, fresh veggies from the garden, potato salad, beans, fresh fruit, salad and a variety of beverages .




Hmmmm? Where is the whole milk?

Lies and exaggerations flowed.  Everyone had a great time.  The marina facility was an awesome choice.  It was air conditioned, clean, roomy, kitchen facilities available for our use, and a view of the marina.  You couldn't ask for more.  Awards and presentations were made.  Salty awarded Com-Pac hats, donated by Hutchins, to the most unique boat (Little Darlin'), one to Steve for coordinating the event, and one to Carl to show that not everything is a "mis-adventure".    Steve presented a bottle of wine to the race winners, us, but really we won because we were the first one to quit racing and drop anchor!  Geraldine and Island Time were obviously the fastest boats out there, but they didn't quit soon enough to win.
After cleaning up the galley, we wandered back down to the docks for, you guessed it, more beverages.  Are you detecting a trend here.  No one had to drive, so we were all good.  
Sunday saw us up for breakfast at the Lighthouse with Luke and Debbie.  It was fun to see the pictures from their son's wedding and swap stories about sailing in Wisconsin.   We were on the water by 10:30.  Winds were calm, but enough to move us around a little.  It was fun to see Little Darlin' put through her paces.  Another good day for taking pictures of each others boats.  Great day for umbrellas as well.  



To be continued....