<< I suppose those who
routinely sail in mountain lakes get used to such conditions. >>
Nope, Harry, I've never met a mountain sailor who feels he has gotten used to
the dramatically changing winds and conditions caused by the mountains. Like
you guys in the Bay Area, we deal with it.
You have to understand tides, currents, salt water, big barges, ferries, cold
foggy days and huge waves born of thousands of miles of fetch causing the sea
to become alive beneath the Cities bridges.
We only have to be aware of instant chop, lightning and sudden squalls. We
get to play with swirly, squirrley winds that can literally seem to come from
all directions at once. Oh, yeah. I almost forgot to mention. In the 45
degree water away from the shore, you'd probably last 15 minutes unprotected
in the water. The nearest Coastie is about an hour or more away most of the
time. You'd be fresh frozen by the time they got there. It is much more
comfortable to stay in your boat.
An interesting side note: Last weekend I rafted up with two friends. One has
a McGregor that is about 22 feet. The other guy has a Catalina 32, and I, my
P-15. So here were three masts of very varying height. All three have a
wind vane at the top of their prospective masts. There where times when each
of the wind indicators were pointing a different direction at the same time!
Lest I scare off any new Tahoe skippers for this summer, this was only for
moments at a time (truth be known, the rest of the time the indicators didn't
move. That's why we were rafted up, listening to tunes, drinking tropical
drinks and pretending that instead of snowcapped peaks above there where
coral reefs below. These were not tropical trades. They where little mountain
puffs with nothing in between.)
We always talk about a lot of wind, but it can be the other way around as
well. Another one of my sailor friends, this one a lady, had sailed her Hobie
from Incline Village to Emerald Bay, about 13 miles. When she got there in
the late afternoon the wind stopped. She is one of those people who, no
matter what the pain, refuses to put a motor on her boat. She had to row
back home. We're talking rowing all night long. I cannot imagine. There is
no way I would want to do that.
Used to it? I don't think so. Awed by it? Always. We still have a lot of
snow on the peaks. The evergreens are greener than ever. The beaches are
quite, secluded coves, the water, emerald green. Now, early in the morning
when the surface of the lake looks as smooth as a finely ground mirror, it is
not too unusual to see an Eagle take flight from her nest high in the pines.
There's lots of endless days that I will never forget.
Geoff
P-15 Lollipop
N. Lake Tahoe, NV