This past weekend the Marina was a-buzz with activity. Sails were being pulled off, folded, and put in storage bags, boats were being pulled out and pressure washed for the winter. A saw a lot of sad faces and heard a few melancholy remarks about the end of the sailing season. With a cool fall wind and a dreary, overcast sky, the entire Marina had a dismal feeling to it.
We launched our boat and enjoyed one last short sail across the lake and back. It was good to feel the wind fill the sails and heel her over to starboard. We were quickly up to 5 knots on a close reach and Aquilon was digging in nicely. She is in her groove making 5 to 6 knots with the wind blowing around 6 to 10 knots. Its an amazing sensation to feel a 10,000 pound boat being propelled by the wind alone, its a graceful power, like an invisible hand pushing you along. Its not surprising to believe that the ancients thought that the god Poseidon was blowing their ships across the water.
We had a decision to make; should we pull the boat and lose the ability to sail on warmer winter days, or leave it in and hope that the lake doesn't freeze solid and potentially damage the hull. Ultimately, we decided to pull her out. After our Saturday sail, we pulled the sails off and started cleaning and organizing things for storage.
So now she is in her slip with bare poles waiting her turn to be lifted out and the weather forecast for Saturday is showing cool temps but great wind and I am wondering if we made the right decision. Alas, this could go back and forth all winter. Every warm weekend I am going to wish I had left her in the drink. The decision to pull her out was also made easier because I have some work to do over the winter that will be easier without the boat bobbing around in the water too. So, even though it sucks and there will be warm days and oh wells, it has to happen.
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