SAILING DAY! Always a good day!

We had the chance, in our busy schedule, to finally get a day of sailing in! We decided on DeGray Lake. Being a favorite of both Stacey and mine for many years, plus I know it like the back of my hand having my first sailboat, a 1982 Catalina 25 Swing Keel Sloop, there at Iron Mountain Marina for over 7 years.

Upon arriving at the DeGray Lake Lodge Resort marina parking lot, after an uneventful trip down Interstate I-30 to Arkadelphia, Arkansas, we discovered an obstacle: low water had shut down many of the launching ramps! Thanks to a stranger passing by as we were about to raise mast telling us, saving us the time and effort!

We put the mast back in "trailering mode", tied down well enough to make it down to Caddo Point launch ramp that we were told was still under water.

Once we got her in the water, we had a wonderfully brisk sail in the bay area around Caddo Point and then pointed a little more upwind and sailed into T-Cove, a favorite "T" shaped gunk hole on the lake. Anchored, played music, had lunch and even jumped in the water...briefly...starting to get cold already!

Afterwards we sailed around more until it neared 5pm and we headed back towards the ramp, sailing along mostly at 4-6mph all the way. Nice weather, temps, wind and water! Good time all around! We love that little boat! :)

Joys of Trailer-Sailing! New lake adventure: Lake Ouachita

Yes, the real joys of trailer-sailing is getting the opportunity to experience other lakes & areas, maybe, someday, even oceans!

    

This trip we took S/V Firefly and crew to Lake Ouachita, outside of Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas. Hot Springs is actually my hometown. I was born there and lived a few years there as a boy, but even when we moved to Benton, I spent most of my childhood there at the many lakes around the area.

Lake Ouachita is the largest, it's connected by damn to Lake Hamilton (no offense to those who love it, but it's a crummy over crowded lake with too many homes and rude boaters for my taste), which is in turn connected to a small little lake called Catherine. South of that is one of my favorite lakes DeGray Lake. I had my first sailboat, a 1982 Catalina 25 named S/V Lucky Star, there for 7 years at Iron Mountain Marina and enjoyed the company of the Iron Mountain Yacht Club.




We launched from Brady Mountain Resort's Corp owned boat ramp. Low day rates, plenty of parking and space to set up our rig. Restrooms and a launching dock make the job a little easier. Although we did encounter a few unruly power boaters, most there were friendly and very interested in seeing a little sailboat!

Once out on the water we motored out to discover very little wind, but my iPhone app "Sailflow" said it was coming later in the afternoon and this was a good time to teach the crew a bit more about the boat, sailing and tell them stories of growing up coming to the lake.

Firefly daysail II & the lost weekend on TimeOut!

Well, more like an "ongoing mission" than just a day sail. Corey bowed out to hang with friends, so it was just Stacey, Rachel and I. We decided to head back to Degray Lake.

First we stocked up on ice at the Shell station off the freeway exit.

Then we headed toward Iron Mountain Marina to put in but the lake was up so high that the all of their ramps were closed, including the damsite spillway one!!

So we headed over to the State Park Marina. We were able to get good ramp clearance there again and proceeded to rig her for sail.

Cushions, tables and WIND...Oh, MY!

A gorgeous day on the lake!

Well, after a rainy weekend mostly spent working indoors on a few odds and ends, we finally put Firefly back in the water...and on a moderately windy day! 13-15 mph winds. I never used to take my 1982 Catalina 25 out in more than 10 mph wind, but the 25 was a much more tender vessel than this stout build by Seaward/Hake Yachts!

The little Seaward Fox, at only 19 ft., 1300 lbs., held up much better under higher winds. With a reef in the main, I can imagine she can handle 20 knots easily!

Of those projects, Stacey continued working on the interior cushion slip covers. She finished the two small upper pillows and the cushion for the "Lounge Chair", plus one of the quarter berth cushions! They look great!

I worked on recreating the table that originally came with the boat, but with some modifications. Since we decided not to redo the v-berth at all and use that area only for storage, that meant that the table no longer had to function as a filler board for the berth cushions. So I made it a little thicker, smaller and added two cup holders! It's currently covered in WilsonArt brand laminate. I've yet to finish routing it out but that will be very soon!

The other "thing" I worked on did not fair very well under usage: a propane canister rack for the Lehr Propane Outboard motor we use on this boat. There's not enough room for them to stand upright in the storage lazarette, so I thought a "wine" style rack would work, but I have to modify the design slightly to get them to all stay put :( Oh well, back to the drawing board!