Boys with toys

April 10, 2015April 10, 2015 / SV Gimme Shelter / Leave a comment

After the boat show, a new vessel appeared in our marina — something unlike any of the others.

This thing was fast, and it was definitely violating the “no wake” policy in the marina.

But nobody seemed too concerned.

I don’t know the exact price, but I’m pretty sure our neighbor paid more for this thing than we did for our first sailboat.

It runs off a small one-cylinder two-cycle engine and sounds like a weedeater. You have to remove the cowling and pull a cord to start it. Then you’re off to the races.

At least until it dies in the middle of the fairway, and your neighbor has to dinghy out to bring it back.

Power boaters … SMH.

Good luck charms, new slips, and the end of the icicle series

February 1, 2015February 1, 2015 / SV Gimme Shelter / 1 Comment

Saturday marked the last race of the 2015 GBCA Cruzan Rum Icicle Series Regatta. I was able to crew four out of the five races this year, and although neither Hippokampus nor Antares placed, I had a great time. The next series doesn’t begin until May, so we should have plenty of weekends to get Gimme Shelter out on the water.

We were excited to hear from the office this week that a slip we’d had our eyes on along the western bulkhead near the pool was opening up. Maybe we’re lazy, but it’s really nice to be able to step out of the car and onto the dock. It’s also really nice not having to walk a maze of docks when the dog has to go out at 3 a.m., and it’s 30 degrees outside.

We’d gotten a spot on the bulkhead in the fall, but we were stuck in the corner, so getting out of the slip was a little tricky. We also had so much trash and debris collecting around us that I was worried it was going to clog the strainers.

Our new slip was about halfway down the pier, so I went to check it out Saturday morning. That’s when I found poor Bugs.

So when you find a dead rabbit in your slip, is that a bad sign or is it considered good luck since there’s not one but FOUR lucky rabbits feet? Either way, we hoped he would float off by Sunday when we moved the boat.

Meanwhile, in a completely unrelated incident, one of our other neighbors bought a dozen pigmy rabbits at the 4H sale and slaughtered them on the back deck of his boat Saturday evening. I guess it’s not that much different than gutting fish, but I’m glad I wasn’t there to witness those bunnies getting clubbed.

It was just an all-around bad weekend for rabbits.

Sunday happened to be my birthday, and there was no better present than waking up to a sunny, 70-degree morning. We moved Gimme Shelter to her new slip, had some coffee with friends on the Tina Marie.

I spent the afternoon shoveling horse manure for Mary’s vegetable garden. Don’t be surprised if you see some blogs from her about gardening very soon.

Now it’s off to watch the Superbowl. Hope everyone has a good week.

A slow day racing is better than no day racing

January 29, 2015January 29, 2015 / SV Gimme Shelter / Leave a comment

We’re not really hardcore sailboat racers.

In fact, I entered the boating world by restoring a sunken sailboat that didn’t move for almost three years. That probably makes me more of a sailboat mechanic than an actual sailor. I only took the ASA basic keel boat course because I needed to know how to run the lines when I put the boat back together.

Laid back cruising has always been the plan.

However, after being invited to crew on Antares last year, I’m really starting to enjoy racing. It’s definitely been great practice for sailing on our own boat, and we’ve made lots of new friends.

Last weekend Mary surprised me with a new set of Henry Lloyd foulies as an early birthday present, so I’d have them for the last two icicle series races.

They’re very nice. I put them on Saturday morning, and even the snowy egret hopped up on the breakwater to check them out.

However, the foulies proved completely unnecessary. By race time the weather was so nice, and the wind was so light that we actually got Mary to come along for the ride as crew photographer.