Light winds, laid back and relaxing

On Monday, my cousins from out-of-town, my brother and I went sailing.  The cousins were in to help celebrate my youngest daughter’s wedding.

We were all just chillin

 

The day was beautiful, but the winds were light.  Average speed was about 2.5 knots.  We enjoyed a nice relaxed sail and lunch.

 

Since we were one of only a couple boats out on the lake, the flies thought we were an oasis away from the shore.  I haven’t figured out yet when to expect to see flies.  Some days with light winds they are there and some they are not.  Some days with big winds they are there and some they are not?



First Evening Sail

Nice evening sail. Winds were 10-12 knots with waves ~1 foot. Our best speed of the evening was 5.6 knots.

 

Largest group yet, 7 of us. My youngest daughter, her fiancée and 4 of his relatives visiting for the upcoming wedding.

Heading back to Waukegan as the sun is setting.

Nice sail Saturday

I went sailing on Saturday with my youngest daughter and her fiancée. It was a very pleasant day with winds 5-10 knots (closer to 10 knots for most of the sail) and waves in the 1 - 2 foot range.

Exciting…7.0 knots and 10 foot waves

Saturday I went sailing with the husbands of 2 of my wife’s cousins.  My youngest daughter’s wedding shower was being held at my house and the guys and I made a bee-line for the boat.  There were big winds and big waves. 

There were storms on Lake Michigan Friday with waves to 15 ft coming over the Waukegan Harbor Marinas breakwater.  I watched this on the Marinas web cam Friday afternoon.

The forecast for Saturday called for waves to decline to less than 1 foot on Sunday.  When we left, the waves were about 4 - 5 feet with no white caps in sight and the winds were 15 knots.  While we were out, the wind switched direction a bit and instead of the wave heights declining, they built to 5 – 7 feet with white caps and the occasional 10 footer and the winds got to 23 knots. 

It made for an exciting ride.  We recorded a max speed of 7.0 knots, a new record for “Thanks Dad”. Once the big winds and big waves hit I needed to be at the helm and keep a close eye on things, so I didn’t get a chance to break out the video camera to record the excitment.

Heading out before the wind and waves picked up

On Sunday a friend from work and I went out.  Winds and waves were much lighter.  Winds were 5-10 knots and the waves were less than 1 foot.  The best part of the day was the last 30 minutes as we headed back towards Waukegan, when the winds picked up as we got closer to the shore line and we were sailing at 5.0 knots.

Wow! 6.9 knots!

2 great days sailing this weekend.

On Saturday I went out with a friend from work. He had never been sailing before and enjoyed himself. Winds were 8 - 12 knots and the waves were in the 2 - 4 foot range.

We had to get back into the marina early in the afternoon due to a big storm with winds to 70 mph winds forecast in the late afternoon. We got back in with plenty of time to spare. Thank goodness, since the forecast was accurate.

He brought his video camera.

On Sunday my brother and I went sailing.  We had the best day sailing so far this summer. We got up to 6.9 knots!  It was great fun. Winds were 14-22 knots.  Wave action was 2-3 feet.  Sunny with temps in the high 70s.   It was a great sail.