Mother Nature can be....

Very Frustrating!

That was very evident this past weekend.

After three weeks away from the marina, we took Aquilon out for a Saturday sail, we were happily greeted with nice mid eighties temps, low humidity, winds around 10 mph with gusts a little over. Not bad for Carlyle lake in the summer, which is usually very hot and humid with little or no wind. After motoring out of the harbor we put out the Genoa sail, but after a few minutes, and wanting to sail faster, I turned her into the wind to set the main sail. We turned south, headed towards the dam on a beam reach. Aquilon likes spirited winds and dug in for a fast run toward the dam. After clearing the point of land at Coles Creek, not wanting to go all the way to the dam because of boat traffic, we tacked, and pointed her bow just south of the mouth of the creek. She was sailing very nice and it was relaxing, Martina even sat behind the wheel for a while and got some good practice in.

Being ill for 3 weeks left me tired and easily exhausted, so we decided to turn back to the marina after a couple of hours and good sailing, on the way back we were sailing fast, over 7 miles per hour, heeled nicely on a close reach. We went on a single tack all the way to the start of the shallow area of the lake just south of the south tower. We tacked toward the marina; that's when Mother Nature decided my fun was over for the day.

The wind changed direction; after being from the northeast all day, it decide to blow from the east; the same direction that I had just turned toward. So I veered a little more south hoping it would change back and let me continue to sail east. With no change from the wind, we tacked again, heading almost straight north. As soon as we had the sails adjusted, the wind shifted north, once again right on our nose. Now for those of you that are not familiar with sailing, you can not sail directly into the wind. You can, however, sail about 40-45 degrees of the wind or closer depending on your boat and/or rig. With Aquilon I can get within 20 degrees of the wind close hauled and she sails very well on that tack.

This went on for over two hours, tacking back and forth, the wind seeming to tack with us, and we only progressed about 200 yards up the lake. My pleasant sail after a 3 week hiatus, suddenly made very frustrating and took the rest of the wind out of my sails, (pun very much intended). So, with about 300 yards to go I threw in the towel and fired up the "Iron Jib" and made way toward the marina.

When we got back, I was so exhausted that I went below and laid down for a while and let the "crew" stow our sails and gear.

There is no moral to this story except that we are always at the mercy of Mother Nature and she can be a fickle lady; just when you think she is on your side, she will remind you of who is really in charge.