Just like it's always 5 o'clock somewhere there's always summer sailing somewhere too. And even those who live far North and have put their boats under wraps for the winter find ways to get on the water under sail - even if the water is as solid as those 5 o'clock ice cubes. The Winter Sailstice newsletter just went out and we heard from a few folks using the weekend of December 18th to either go sailing or to a least turn the page on shorter days and plan for Summer Sailstice in 2011.
Debbie Bruesewitz wrote in from Wisconsin to let us know, 'We are having a winter party....then ice boating!' but added a picture of their sloop, 'Red Rum' enjoying one of those Wisconsin summer days when the water is still liquid. This shot is of the Queen's Cup 2010 start out of SSYC, Milwaukee, WI. I'm sure it doesn't look like that today but a blast across the ice should be a good alternative.
'Delgato sailing in Delaware on one of the longer days of the year.'
Did you know that on December 21st there was also going to be a lunar eclipse? Nick Carter of the Delaware based Catalina 36 Mk II 'Delgato' wrote in saying, 'By the way, the Winter Solstice is also the host of a full Lunar Eclipse at 1:30AM on the East Coast, mid-Atlantic.... I’ll be setting my alarm at 1AM.' Celestial events have been guiding sailors long before alarm clocks existed and somehow getting up at 1AM sounds like a good way to make the shortest day of the year a bit longer. We can't imagine solstice's and lunar eclipses happen on the same day (or even century?) too often so if you don't have any other plans for 1AM on the 21st you should have a look!
What's going on in Peconic Bay for Winter Sailstice? Have you ever sailed Peconic Bay? Jerry Limoncelli wrote in to say 'thanks for the thought (we did send out holiday wishes for Winter Sailstice)…in our own way we celebrated Sailstice on Peconic Bay last year (2010), we’re not club members, but did manage to stay on the water for an extended period to celebrate.
'The amusing thing is that just this morning my wife and I discussed the soon to arrive Winter Solstice and that we’ll start to get more daylight, building to June, and then we started discussing Sailstice…I tried to recruit people this past year, but didn’t really get any local interest…many thanks for starting this tradition and I’m sure it will grow in popularity over the coming years! Best wishes for the New Year!' We can't say we had much luck recruiting people to the first Summer Sailstice 11 years ago. It was a few close friends, some family in Maine and a few others who ventured out on a Tuesday when we thought we could pull off an annual sailing holiday on the actual solstice. We soon realized, as much fun as it seemed, most people who own boats have to work to keep them so a mid-week holiday was going to be difficult to wrangle from the boss. Of course, we still support celebrating on the midweek solstice but the weekend closest to the solstice still makes the most sense.
If you do want to take the actual solstice off we did create a handy 'get out of work for free' note that just might survive the bosses scrutiny. Good luck and enjoy if it works.
In 'Iceland' (anywhere with Northern ice) they're supposed to be some pretty hot iceboat racing on the Winter Sailstice weekend. Eric Lind, this weekends PRO for the DN class wrote to say, 'We’re leaving all the snow and ice behind and heading West. The 2010 DN Western Districts have been called for Lake Winnebago this weekend in Wisconsin! Should be a great Winter Sailstice Celebration.' It's just another way to celebrate life under sail.
Out in San Francisco Dan and Allison write, 'Just an FYI.... BAADS is (very tentatively) planning our 2nd annual Winter Sailstice cruise-out to Half Moon Bay. (last year we enjoyed the great (but windy) weather on our 1st annual WS cruise-out to Drake's Bay).'
'We plan to leave Monday, spend Mon nite/Tues in HMB, then return on Wed...taking in the full moon/lunar eclipse as well!!
The weather's not looking too cooperative though, so we may opt for an inside the Bay alternative, or re-sked...' If you haven't seen the forecast for San Francisco it's looking grim (unless you're a duck or a skier). If you're looking to test your foul weather gear this could be the weekend to do it.
Allison strikes a post on 'Tenacity' from Summer Sailstice 2009- Dan and Allison's Catalina 400.
But not to be outdone, the Got Wind & Water group is also planning a 'rain or shine' outing on San Francisco Bay this weekend and hoping to raft up in Ayala Cove on Angel Island with pizza to be delivered by Tiburon's Waypoint pizza. However, this weekend is setting to be as stormy as last year's was beautiful. But as Aaron Kennedy of 'Ay Caliente' says, 'Hey it looks like it could be raining...literally some of my favorite sailing conditions...so much fun to actually be able to SEE the wind on the sails with the rain...very fun times.'
It looked pretty nice in Ayala Cove on December 19, 2009.
Now we know South of the equator there are many folks who will be enjoying prime summer sailing season while many of us up North will be seeking a way to squeeze in a Summer Sailstice celebration on the shortest, darkest and now most lunar eclipsest day of the year. But it does signal a change in the nature of things and nature's way of saying summer and Summer Sailstice will be coming to the North soon.
Circling the globe East to West or North to South we're bound to find some folks enjoying some great sailing somewhere on this Sailstice weekend. Fair winds to all who get out there.
