The Shakedown

Sailing/camping test run at Lake Bryan

“There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.”
Willa Cather

A 2 night camping and sailing trip was a top priority for me before my upcoming long voyage in the Puget Sound. I needed to thoroughly test my equipment and discover any potential problems before this monumental adventure. I met my dad out at Lake Bryan, a small lake only 15 minutes from my house. We set up our respective boats and launched. The wind was a light 5-10 mph, and it was a beautiful, warm day. I had my larger Genoa headsail raised, and Guppy, who was freshly waxed, skimmed through the water effortlessly. Going downwind at a leisurely 2 knots, Dad and I chatted across boats plotting where the best spot to anchor for the night would be. We decided to check out the island, directly across the lake and downwind from the dock. As we were looking around, I noticed a very large bird perched high in a tree on the island. I hollered at Dad, who turned to see the impressive creature. As the bird opened his wings and flew off, I noticed he had a white head. It was a bald eagle! Dad and I, both in awe, decided that he was a good sign and that this was a good spot to anchor. I ceremoniously threw out my brand new Mantus anchor in about 10 feet of water north of the island. I felt protected; the wind direction was such that if for some reason my anchor didn’t hold, I would be blown onto the island’s muddy shore or reeds.

Dad waved goodbye and motored back to the dock. I was on my own, and after a quick swim to cool off and a small snack, the first area of business was to test out my tender. Guppy has a keel, and therefore she cannot be beached. I was gifted an inflatable paddle board for my birthday and it occurred to me that this very light and large board might work wonderfully to get me to and from Guppy. Time to test it out. The paddle board can be challenging to inflate, requiring a lot of upper body strength. The board is also 10 feet long, and I was unsure of how I could inflate this in my 4 foot long cockpit. I secured the deflated paddle board to one of the stern cleats and began pumping. As she inflated, I balanced her over the side of my boat and continued to pump while the paddle board floated. It wasn’t too difficult and within 10 minutes, my tender was set and ready! I excitedly climbed on my paddle board from Guppy. I started on my knees and untied from the stern cleat. Sweet freedom! Off I went to explore all around the little island. I saw many birds and disturbed a beautiful gray crane who was fishing among the reeds. It was amazing to approach Guppy from my paddle board. With this tender I felt that there were no limitations. I practiced getting on and off a few times, and was surprised how stable everything was even with the winds picking up.

Quite pleased with my successful tender experience, I rested on top of Guppy’s cabin and watched the sunset… a little relaxation was a treat for me. Sitting there, devising my next move, I saw a kayaker nearby. He was curious about me and we had a nice chat. As he paddled away, I noticed dark clouds approaching, and a shift in wind direction. The winds had picked up and now my stern was pointing straight towards the rocks of the dam. I thought about moving anchorage locations, but decided to stay put. This would be an excellent test for my new anchor. Seeing the approaching clouds, I hurried to set up my “boom” tent. Guppy’s actual boom is very short and would not be effective in covering the cockpit area. So with PVC pipe, my mast crutch, a tarp and some clips, I created a “boom tent” of sorts. Setting the tent up in a windy and now rainy setting was a recipe for chaos. I lost 2 clips to the lake and discovered that I had to completely remove my mainsail and boom for the tent to be secure. In the end, I had created what resembled some sort of tent that did provide a little coverage. This would have to do for now.

I retreated to my cabin. While listening to the rain, I put up some command strips to hang my new LED string lights in the cabin. The lights created a nice cozy feel to the interior. It was already 9:00 pm! Time for bed. I set my anchor alarm, which luckily stayed quiet the whole night. With the rain coming down and the boat rocking, I was in for a restless night. There was a lingering unease about lightning. I don’t understand why I haven’t heard more about lightning among sailors. You are on an open body of flat water and have an aluminum pole high about the waterline, seems like a perfect recipe for a lightening strike to me. But with the increasing winds, I was more concerned with drifting. Somehow with all of my concerns and new noises, I managed to sleep a broken 5 hours.

The morning brought more rain. I watched the weather and was patient. I stayed in my cabin, had a small breakfast of a power bar. Finally, at 10:15, the rain stopped, the wind picked up and the sun peaked through ever so slightly. I started to take down the boom tent and discovered a small lake that had formed on the top of my tarp, I tried to dump it over the side of Guppy resulting in half of it spilling into the cockpit. I started bailing. Then, I tried to start up my stove. The wind was persistent and after about 10 minutes of the stove not starting, I surrendered. No coffee for me this morning. To say I was a little out of it would be an understatement. I had a rocky and rolly night, small amount of sleep and now no coffee. I hoped my brain would work well enough that I wouldn’t make any catastrophic mistakes. As I was tidying up, I heard a large power boat approaching fast. I peaked around the cabin to see The Bryan Fire Department on a large, shiny red boat with 3 uniformed fire fighters aboard. I was suddenly very aware that I was still in my pajamas.

The mustached leader spoke and said that they had a concerned call that I could possibly be stranded. I was surprised and said that all was good and I was fine, just camping on my boat. They seemed surprised as well, but were friendly and asked “Do you need anything?” I paused. In my head I thought, “How rude would it be to ask for a cup of coffee right now?” I opted not to make the request and replied politely “No, thanks. I am all good here!” And they sped back to the dock. I puttered about, tidying up a bit more, when I should have gotten dressed. Within 15 minutes, they were back and with more people that apparently worked for Lake Bryan. I now had 6 people on a big fancy boat all staring at me. One of the ladies informed me that it was not allowed to camp on the water here. I had no idea and I let her know that. She was friendly and said that I could stay on the water all day, just not at night. Sigh. So much for my 2 night shakedown. I told her no problem and that I would leave before dark.

I then decided to make the most of the day. There were nice 10-15 mph easterly winds, let’s go sail! As I prepared the sails, the working jib went on nicely, but I was having trouble with raising the mainsail. I looked out at the lake and spotted a few white caps. I listened to my boat and opted to leave the mainsail lowered. I also planned to test out towing my tender today. I had looked at several different options on tow lines and decided to try the most simple first. I tied the line to one stern cleat, ran the bitter end through the handle on the forward nose of my paddle board, and then secured that end to my other stern cleat. The paddle board laid about 2 feet aft of Guppy’s stern. I then weighed anchor and sailed under jib alone. I noted that the tow line would occasionally graze my motor or the stern ladder as I was tacking but there were no major issues that I could see. Another successful trial!

The sailing was beautiful. We held steady at 2.5 knots, and with the gusts we got up to 3.5 knots (Guppy’s max hull speed is 4). This speed was impressive with only one sail up while towing; I was tickled. With the fresh moist air in my face and my nerves passing, I was filled with peace and gratitude. There is something so lovely and freeing about solo sailing. There will always be a little fear but once that is overcome, what a pure gift it is to be sailing along with your boat. I stretched out and enjoyed a splendid two hour sail.