Beautiful Day to Sail in Oklahoma

[gary l. britton]

Hello to all in DS land:

It was Friday, Sept. 9, and I was able to get Dancing Girls II out on the water. This summer I have been able to sail many more times than I had been able to the last couple of sailing seasons.

The weather powers that be, were predicting 10-20 mph so all was a go. I checked with the airport (Wiley Post in OKC) for the current conditions, since that airport in only about 3 miles from Lake Hefner, in OKC. They were showing 8 mph at 9 AM. But, I knew that the winds would pick up later, that is just how Oklahoma is.

Got to the lake and set up the boat. Even though I did have a little trouble, as usual, getting the mast up on my DS I (one piece mast and I am getting to be an 'old fart'). But soon I was ready to go. Temperature of 85 F. GREAT !!! Got her in the water and with my trusty 'wind wizard' checked and winds were approx. 10 mph and getting a little gusty. But, thinking ahead I decided to reef the main on anticipation of stronger winds once I was on the lake for a while. And was happy that I did. I do not have jiffy reefing, but use the roller reefing method and the reefing claw. Seems to work fine with my type of sailing.

What a day it was. Getting a little choppy on the lake, as I could tell the winds were getting a little stronger, but not bad. It was so great to feel like I was really skimming across the lake. The winds did get more gusty as time went on, but they were not the violent types of gusts, more like puffs, that got stronger and at their peek, lasted only about 10-30 seconds. Water was getting a little choppy, but that just made it better when the water was splashing over the side of the bow and cooling me down with the spray.

It is nice being able to sail in the late morning/early afternoon, it seems like I have the whole lake to myself. After about an hour and a half, it was time to head home. Once at the dock, I checked the winds and they were between 6-17 mph. Quite a range, but great sailing.

Just wanted to share my little Oklahoma sailing adventure with all. Hope you enjoyed.

Gary
Dancing Girls II
1966, DS I, #3235

[Mike M.]

Gary, I also had the chance to sail Friday the 9th. A friend and I got to Thunderbird about 3 and stayed out until 6 when the einds died. It was a great day to sail in Oklahoma! We were churning up a wake like a powerboat for most of that time.

By the way, I got the rigging repaired. Went to West Marine on NW Expressway for the parts. Jim Alspaugh was very helpful and everything works well now. He did show me how the mainsheet was all twisted and after it was straightened out, it made a lot more sense and made the sailing a lot more enjoyable.

I hope to catch up with you on Hefner one of these days.

Sail on!

[gary l. britton]

Hi Mike:

Good to hear from you again, and glad you were able to sail on the same day as I. Yes, it was a good day to sail. But, I did have a slight problem getting my boat in the water. I may have to contact Jim Alspaugh at some time for a little repair of my own. As I was raising my mast, a little gust of wind caught me off guard and the mast was starting to lean and making me and the mast off balance, while I was on the cuddy. Not a great situation to be in. (I have a one piece mast and it can be a bear to raise) Well, I had to quickly get the mast into a position where I could keep it upright and in doing so, the port spreader hit my shoulder and the result is a bend spreader, plus the part of the spreader that attaches to the mast. Well, one of the rivets is now loose. Probably similar to your problem before. I was able to bend things back to an approximate correct position in order to sail. But, I am sure that during the off season, I will have that as a project to have fixed. I do have a question, did you trailer your boat to Edmond, or just take your mast to Edmond to have the rivets replaced?

Glad you were able to also have him help your with the main sheet. Sounds like you did pretty well with the moderate to high winds that day. I am also a not so great sailer, but I thought I did pretty good with the winds. Hopefully I will be able to get out on the lake again this Friday morning, assuming that this storm system will pass and give us a little less wind than we have had the last couple of days. I really do not like the 25-30 mph and gusty we have been having.

Anyway, glad you had a great day on the lake.

Fair winds.


Gary
1966, DS I #3235
Dancing Girls II

[Mike M.]

Yes, I trailered the whole boat over to Jim's. I figured that was best since I had so many questions. And, since I only have a small pickup, I knew the mast would be harder to tie on and protect so it was just easier to leave it all mounted and take the whole thing. Once you've been there and watched him do the repair, you'll see how easy it is IF you have the tools, right size rivet, etc. You might want to ask at West Marine and see if they have the rivets in various sizes (I'm sure they do) and have a pop-rivet gun you can use to put it in with, that'd save you a trip from Hefner to Edmond and back.

Friday was my last day to sail, I had to miss Saturday, other things got in the way and that was the last really good day we've had although tomorrow looks right if you can believe Gary England. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your perspective, I'm headed to Hawaii for a week early tomorrow. Maybe I can get in a sail over there?

Do you sail year 'round? Or like me, are you a fair weather sailor? I just wondered how much longer we could count on moderate winds and decent temps. I, too, hate the gusts we get sometimes.

Another question, do you have a floor (sole) in Dancing Girls II? I'm thinking of making one this winter when it's too cold to do anything else.

Nice chatting with you again, hope tomorrow is good for an outing at the lake (and for takeoffs and landings).

Mike