Each year, we have had a "little" family friendly 4th of July celebration that is highlighted with the University Yacht Club fireworks display across from us in Big Creek. This year's display will be July 3rd.

With July 3rd being a Federal holiday, I think we should try to change this from a "little" celebration to one that we will remember. Folks usually start showing up late afternoon for a dinner and social with the fireworks starting around 9 PM. And maybe to social, we'll have a knot tying contest or trivia contest before the fireworks.

LSA will be grilling hamburgers (sliders) and hot dogs (rollers) around 6 PM and the dockside cooler will have sodas and water. Feel free to bring your own cooler of your favorite beverage. All members are encouraged to bring a side dish that you typically have at your July 4th celebrations and would like to share with other club members.

Folks also usually bring a folding chair to be able to set on the dock and get a good view and carry on some conversations with some folks.

Please call the dock and let us know how many you are bringing so we can be sure to have enough sliders and rollers. 770-614-5724.

Dear Capt. Noah T'all,

I have another question that comes from following the Volvo Ocean Race. The reporters were talking about the boats "chasing clouds" in search of more wind. What do clouds have to do with wind? Can you really find more wind under clouds?  

Saul Wellengood

Saul,

Clouds are pushed along by the wind, right? So if you could somehow hook onto a cloud it would pull you along like an oversized cotton candy balloon, right? So what you do is take a stout piece of line and tie it into a lariat, sneak up on the cloud and from the masthead, lasso the cloud and it will pull you peacefully along. NOT! What a chuckle head, you will believe anything.

The truth of the matter is that cumulus clouds, the white puffy ones do act as mini high pressure systems. So on large lakes or at sea, you can sometimes find a little extra wind on the edges of the clouds, typically there will be more wind just in front of the cloud and the least wind at the trailing edge. As with all high pressure systems, stay out of the middle -- that will be a no wind zone.  This is not an exact science and clouds need to be going where you need them to take advantage. Racers know there may be a knot or two to be found on the edge of a cloud.

You do need to be alert to the changing nature of cumulus clouds. If they continue to rise and begin to darken and they are no longer cute little cotton balls but the towering cumulonimbus clouds with anvil tops better known as thunder heads. These clouds are dangerous because they can produce violent down drafts with truly scary wind speeds, heavy rain and lightning.

So if you choose to go chasing clouds, just remember, white puffy cotton balls are ok, but always avoid tall dark anvil heads.

Till next time

Sail Safe,

Capt. Noah T'all

I was hanging out with a group of friends and family recently when the conversation turned to how complicated modern society is. This invariably led to a nostalgic wish from some to jump in the Way Back Machine to a time when we lived much more simply and horse power meant exactly that.  

The day started at sunrise and ended at sunset because that was what nature intended; also candles were ridiculously expensive, burned up quickly and weren't that bright to start with. It was a time of early to bed and early to rise, eight hours of sleep is a lot easier to get when you don't have the Tonight Show to wait up for. Also you tended to stay in bed all night, let's face it, things have to be pretty bad to get out of a nice cozy bed stuffed with straw to go out into the dark night to a shack covering a hole in the ground, and once finished, a corn cob would help you complete the task and back through the dark to your straw mattress. Sounds delightful, sorry I missed it.  

I know what you're thinking -- what about our sailor fore-fathers who only asked for a tall ship and star to sail her by. Surely to sail the seas on a ship powered only by the wind, free to go anywhere you wanted was the purest expression of freedom. Well, not anywhere upwind. Back in the day ships did not sail to windward very well, so you could starve to death when your hardtack and green water (no refrigeration and no water purification systems) ran out whilst you were tacking left and right and gaining a mile a day to windward. So downwind it was, even if that meant you had to sail much further to get there, at least you would be moving.  

Another place you never wanted to go was a lee shore. If the wind was against you or the tide set in the wrong direction there was no cranking up the old diesel to motor yourself out of trouble. Lee shores smashed up so many ships, and drowned so many sailors that even today with modern aids to tell us how far off the shore we are, up to minute tide information and last but not least, motors, to save ourselves, if all else fails, even modern sailors still shudder at the mention of the dreaded lee shore.

Ok, still not convinced. Let's go on board and get underway. First things first; time to raise the anchor. First, gather two thirds of the crew at the anchor windless and walk mindlessly around it until you manage to get the anchor on board.   Now, let's raise the sails; find the halyard, now find the winch....surprise, there is no winch, only you and your manly Popeye forearms to raise hundreds of pounds of very stiff and heavy canvas to the masthead. No super light-weight space age plastic sails for you, me hearty.  

That was hard; let's go below for a break, shall we. The first thing you notice is it is dark Candles are still expensive, not that bright to start with and oh yeah, you are on a wooden ship covered in flammable tar so their use is strictly limited. You also notice that everything's wet. This is because while wooden ships are water tight, they most certainly are not water proof. This you discover to your chagrin when you learn that part of your daily duties is to spend a couple of hours on the manual bilge pump to keep your wooden sieve from filling up and heading for the bottom.The other key feature that you notice is the stench. Your leaky boat has God-knows-what growing in the bilge... and there are no showers. No showers plus sweaty sailors lifting heavy canvas and pumping bilges for hours equals foul stench.  

On the plus side, the water was so bad that they felt compelled to mix it with rum. The down side was that when you drank too much rum, there was no aspirin to ease the terrible pounding in your skull. Last but not least, you awake in your damp moldy hammock in the middle of the night to do the necessary.   Haul yourself out of your sack and head to bow of the ship and settle into your place on a bench with a hole in it. There with your rear end hanging over the ocean, you do your business. What did they use as a substitute for the corn cobs? Who knows, maybe they just waited for the right wave. Ah well, you wanted to a simpler life in the "good old days".  

There is a reason they call it progress and you shouldn't fell too bad that a winch makes your life a little easier, that modern materials make the boat more seaworthy and comfortable and modern electronics help to keep us safer by telling us where we are, what the weather is going to do and allowing use to call for help should things go truly south.  

So come and join me at the lake, because one day, someone, somewhere is going to stumble on an old website from a place called LSA. They are going to look at the pictures and say "man that was time when sailors still knew how to have a great time; it must have been a great time to be around." They will be right; these are the "good old days."  

Sail Safe Amigos

Honez

While sailing single handed presents its unique challenges and meditative state, sharing a sail with someone is much of fond memory.