Bristol-Blue Lake Michigan Sailing Adventures

Sailing has been non-existent this September. With school back in session, I have time for very little else. The weekend weather has also been un-welcoming to sailing. It has either been raining or the waves have been huge. Lake Michigan is experiencing record-setting high water levels. When the waves on the big lake pick up they are crashing over the piers. I'm not interested in being picked up and set down on the jetty by a passing wave. Woodstock is now on her trailer and it is time to start packing stuff up and winterizing.   This means packing all the sails and cushions off. We are dropping the mast this year so I can change out the forestay. In the spring we are planning to install a roller furler and the forestay currently on the boat is set up for racing and won't work. Tidying up My homemade wood motor stand gave up the ghost last spring so I had to get a bit creative. I found I could hook my motor to my ladder for winterizing.  First

Spinnaker Socks are super nice for launching and recovering your spinnaker.  My last two boats have had them and after using one the benefits are clear. 1st off, sail handling is much easier especially if you're short-handed. 2nd, safety spinnaker socks let you launch and recover your spinnaker without everything being perfectly packed in a turtle bag another word fewer things to tangle up keeps it safer. Woodstock does not have one so we have not used the Spinnaker yet and our trip to Lake Mac last week would have been the ideal time to use a Spinnaker.  So it is time to look into this.  $17.00 per foot x 28 ft =$476 plus tax.  Hum lets go see what's in the garage.  Any past readers remember this old post Boom Tent   Well this is one sewing project that didn't work out. However, I still have the material sitting here on a shelf and it is light enough and long enough to make into a sock. Now just to find one of those fancy fiberglass hoops they use to make these things