Sailing on Lake Mead

Outdoor Dad and I were able to go to the sailing weekend class this past weekend.  It was nice to get on some other boats and see how they sailed.  We were able to go on a J/29 and an Ericson 25 - it was interesting to see how things were both similar and different from our Cal 29.  And also how different Lake Mead is to Puget Sound.  Here was the first view of the lake.

The wind difference from coming off an ocean and around islands vs. over the edge of a cliff.  I am sure there are all kinds of technical explanations and models, but I don't really know what they are.  But it seems to boil down to - it is windier near the edges - lol.  Quiet helpful isn't it?  Neither day that we were on the water have very strong or steady winds.  Maybe up to 5 knots of wind with a good strong gust, and not sustained.  Which I know that the winds certainly can be much stronger and nicer, just not last weekend.

Another funny, for us, experience, was that the owner of the Ericson offered to beach the boat so that we could jump out and go swimming and explore one of the coves.  The boat has a swing keel so that it can be retracted up.  The moment that the boat hit the beach Outdoor Dad and I just looked at each other with disbelief, did this just happen on PURPOSE?  It was all we could do not to laugh, it was just such a surreal experience to hit the bottom on purpose.  I will admit that we have been on boats in the past that have touched the bottom, but in the Puget Sound, most of the time, this is not done on purpose and is generally the beginning of a sad and/or costly boating story.  But, here, we all just hopped off and splashed in the warm water.  Then pushed the boat off and went on with the rest of the afternoon.

Another adventure was seeing the back of Hoover Dam for the first time. 

Best Regards,
Outdoor Mom