Lake Monroe Regatta

[fiddlerami]

FYI - The Lake Monroe Sailing Association is having a regatta April 12 & 13.  I have no affiliation with the group & no first hand knowledge of the event, but my wife & I are planning to attend with our CP-16.  They plan a 11 mile lake circumnavigation race on Sat. & buoy races on Sunday.  The link to their website is:

http://www.flalmsa.org/html/trans-monroe.html

It would be neat if other CPers would show up.  We have only sailed our boat a few times and never raced it, but are looking forward to the event nonetheless. 

[kchunk]

Sounds fun. We keep our 23 on Lake Monroe. They had a circumnavigation race last month...pretty decent turn out, maybe 15 boats. We were out that day but just day sailing, didn't know about the race until afterwards.

Fiddle, are you based at Lake Monroe? Do you trailer or have a slip? We're over at the Sanford Marina & Boatworks for two months so far. So far so good, but the closer we're getting to summer I think we might have to move over to the coast. Temperatures are going to be high but I'm afraid the wind will be too light also.

Have you sailed the lake during the summer months?

Any other Lake Monroe CPers here?

--Greg

[fiddlerami]

Sounds fun. We keep our 23 on Lake Monroe. They had a circumnavigation race last month...pretty decent turn out, maybe 15 boats. We were out that day but just day sailing, didn't know about the race until afterwards.

Fiddle, are you based at Lake Monroe? Do you trailer or have a slip? We're over at the Sanford Marina & Boatworks for two months so far. So far so good, but the closer we're getting to summer I think we might have to move over to the coast. Temperatures are going to be high but I'm afraid the wind will be too light also.

Have you sailed the lake during the summer months?

Any other Lake Monroe CPers here?

--Greg

We've only sailed the boat a half-dozen times total, all locally - we live near Crystal River (West coast of FL, about 20 miles SW of Ocala.  Have never even seen Lake Monroe.  We plan to drive over and launch on Friday - they said we could keep the boat at their marina overnight.  Will be good to meet you if you're there on the 12th or 13th.

[Pat McL]

Greg,
Where do you keep the 23? The only one we saw at the Monroe marina a few weeks ago was on the hard near the ramps, was that yours?

Fiddlerami,  (does your name indicate a fiddle player? Suzy And I own a bluegrass band and have been paid to mash notes for more than 20 years)

Be careful on the lake as it is quite typical of the St. Johns lakes -- very shallow. Max depth with exception of the dredged and marked channels is 7 ft. We have dragged rudder several times even though we were more than 300 ft from shore! Watch for the stakes fishermen have placed in the shallows as you will ground the 16 if you get inside them. The most shallow section we found was over by Stone Island and by the marina --- be safe, get a chart.

If we can schedule it, we will bring two 16s. (Our son, Ryan and his family sail). We usually launch at the west side of the lake at the ramps by I-4. Typically we prefer sailing on Fri. (It is convenient for us, and we have found that much less beer seems to be consumed by the gas passers before the weekend).
Always interesting tacking against an east wind under the bridge. Takes us an hour or so to get to the marina. We have VHF marine and ham 2 meter aboard. Can we connect & what freq - time? Maybe we will use the marina ramps this time.

I agree with Bill as to the best sailing lake in the area. That would be Lake Harris over by Leesburg. Much deeper, better ramps in several locations, more water, and 16s can sail under the canal bridges connecting the other good sailing lakes in the Harris chain.

--- Pat

[kchunk]

Hi Pat. We have a slip over at Sanford Marina and Boatworks. It's just off SR415 over on the other side of the lake from where you put in.
Probably not going to make the race next week as I work nights and unfortunately, Saturday is one of those nights. If we do make we'll just be out daysailing.

[fiddlerami]

Hi Pat - You guessed it - I've been trying to play the fiddle off & on for probably 20 years - also repair & build.  I'd like to hear you play - we should get together at the regatta and hash it over.  Looking forward to next weekend.

Dennis

[Pat McL]

Hi Dennis,
   We have a booking at a street show in Umatilla Fri evening, and we will not be launching probably until Sun. We operate a luthier and musical instrument repair shop and are expected to be open for musicians every Sat. So Sunday is the best shot for us. Our shop phone is 352.357.6571. Let us know if you intend to be there on the lake through Sunday, otherwise we will probably stay here in Lake County. Either way, we will not be racing. --- Pat

[fiddlerami]

Hi Pat-
Guess I missed your post until today.  We just got back from Sanford this afternoon.  We raced the "round the lake" race on Saturday and didn't make a very good showing for the CP-16.  :-(  We started first (reverse handicap) and the last boat passed us about 2 1/2 or 3 hours into the race.  Summary:  We started first and ended up last!!  We didn't race on Sunday as come morning, I found aching muscles where I didn't know I had muscles.  We did see your son on Saturday afternoon out with his family and got to chat for a couple minutes on the water.  You might be interested in my website about fiddle building which is a work in progress - the link is http://fiddlerami.googlepages.com

[Pat McL]

Well Dennis,
  I should have gone out with Ryan on Sat as most of the expected clients apparently had more important things to do other than follow through with their commitment  and show up at the shop. Oh well, musicians  -- don't let your kids even date one, let alone marry one.
    Got on the lake Sunday, overcast with mild winds & a little rain, cleared up in afternoon to become a great sailing day. Stayed on the lake until 8:30 or so. Ryan showed up about 2:30 and we had a great time. Sailed into the marina and took the tour both sides. Did not need power, and tight maneuvering was fun around the slips.  Why is it that the larger boats never seem to get out on the water?
     Checked out your web site. Nice work on the violin. Just think what Strad, Amati, Steiner et al could have (or not) done with an audio table. I just resorted to simple tap tuning with excellent results. Built a few violins, but concentrated more on acoustic guitars, banjos and F5-style mandolins.  Found the mandolins to be the most difficult all around, about 300 or so hours depending on the complexity of the pearl work.
     Hope we can get together in the future on the 16s as our usual two boat regatta has pretty predictable results --- slower and stable. We go out when the ducklings  go in, usually 10 knot winds. Stay with the luthiery work, you are good!
--- Pat

[B.Hart]

Hi guys, have alway wanted to sail lake Monroe, I will have to ride over and check out the ramps. My wife loves lake Harris because she is very familiar with the place. I would like to try some other lakes, has anyone sailed lake George? I have run it in high performace stink pots but have not sailed it. BTW I will be in leesburg this next weekend for the bike fest, will be staying at the holiday resort on Cr33.  HAPPY SAILING    BILL

[Pat McL]

Hi Bill,

   Lake George is a mess. More shallow than Monroe, and can kick up a bad bunch of waves in a mild breeze, also last time, which will be the last time for us, the hydrilla was a real problem fouling rudder, keel, engine etc. Generally best to stay in or very near the dredged channel. Also, launching is a problem as we could find no decent ramps on the lake proper, and instead. launched in Aster (nice ramps) and motored up the Johns until we got to George. The only thing to see on the lake is Silver Glen Springs which you can drive to on Highway 19 easier and safer. (It is a 6 mile run through the lake).

    Monroe is much nicer, has three nice ramps, (Lake Monroe Park closes the gates at 7:00 PM, and charges $2 for launching). The lake is deeper (slightly) than Lake George, and not as dangerous, and has a collection of sailboats over in Sanford Marine with free public docks. Quite shallow along the shoreline out to 300 or more feet in many places, we usually bump the rudder at least once on Monroe, with the resultant get-out-of-dodge emergency tack/gybe.

    We also agree with your wife, and prefer the Harris chain. Like to launch in Lake Eustis, as all options in the chain are open to us with our 21' above-waterline height. Good ramp at 441 in Tavares, but often times full of fishermen with their somewhat weekly bass contests. (Same problem in Harris, though).

    While you are in Leesburg, check out the city ramps at Venetian Gardens Park at the marina. Built to the same specs as Hickory Point, and easy launching, no wires but 1 tree over by the boat club to avoid if you use that particular slip.Stay away from the ramp on 27 as wires are directly over the ramp. They have a flag hanging on them, but with my past luck-------!

    Suzy and I found three nice ramps along the Inner Coastal Waterway, 2 in Daytona, and one in New Symrna with other possibilities. This summer, we will try the ICW. I haven't taken the 16 there since the early '80's, and remember that I really liked the sailing. Back then I launched in Edgewater. The Daytona ramps have a washing facility at the ramp exit for the salt water which is convenient.

    See you on the water soon, Dennis too ---  Pat

[B.Hart]

Hi Pat, Thanks for all the great info, Just got back from bike fest had a great time.  Monroe is top of the list for a sunday ride to check out the ramps. Been to the glen many times and hear it is very shallow right now.(come on summer rains!). HAPPY SAILING  BILL

[Pat McL]

Hi Bill,

When you head to Monroe let me know, as you will probably pass within 1 mile or less from my place along the way. Be nice to see ya. Phone # is on an earlier post in this subject. Went out Sun on Lake Eustis and had a ball --- stayed at the ramp docks for an hour or so, there is NO entertainment like a ramp on a Sunday! It was great and so was the sailing.  --- Pat

[B.Hart]

   Hi Pat  LOL  As a young boy I spent many a hour at the boatramp down the street from my grandfathers house, (had boat fever back then) seen lots of crazy stuff, got a lot of rides for helping, and learned tons. Been wanting to sail but have had so much going on haven't been able to, that will change soon!!   HAPPY SAILING  BILL