A few weeks or months ago we had a super nice race!
We went nowhere!
We started as 2 boats: the intrepid Hellican and the wrathful Widowmaker. Race horn was large pop-its thrown at the hull of the Hellican as we (the Widowmaker) passed them. It would turn out to be the dominant narrative of the race. Us passing everyone.
The ambition, as always, is to sail around the islands, Marrowstone and Indian, and as always, we were beset by thick fog and too little wind. We alternated seeing land on one tack and being lost in the miasma on the other. Neither boat had any navigational equipment at all. It was great fun.
After making a good show of it, we called off the ambitions and decided to sail over to PT for a quick jaunt about town. Our fortune shifted as the fog cleared, the sun came out and the wind picked up a bit. It turned into a really wonderful day.
In PT we ate snacks and sat in the sun and then left, sailing for Point Wilson. The Hellican got a head start, and the Widowmaker had a difficult time catching the lil tub on the upwind leg. An anchored boat was called as a buoy to round, which turned out to be difficult with the cross current, so the Hellican ditched the buoy and made it’s beach landing finish 1st and was proclaimed the WINNER OF THE RACE by its crew.
The Widowmaker, sticking to arbitrary rules, rounded the semi-derelict boat and eventually perched upon the beach for some more sun bathing and chilling time. Many a passerby commented upon our stylish craft, and one correctly attributed the Widowmaker as being “Oh! That’s Wayne Chimenti’s old boat, yeah?!” The lady wanted some clout, and so I write it here to give her what is due.
From here we decided to have a nice sail back to Fort Flaggler, to maybe set up camp and tuck in for the night. We’d heard that the pure sailing craft Truant was out, so we committed to finding it out on the bay. It had turned into such a beautiful day there was quite a few boats out, and none of us had actually seen the boat before, but surely we would find it.
Aha! A boat! A gaff! Must be them!
IT WAS!
We all crewed up and sailed about for a little while, changing tacks to catch up with the other boats, pass them, leave them behind, and then do it all again. We shall not name names.
Eventually we kept on our merry way to Flaggler, and the Widowmaker took an excessive detour nearly around the point as the wind became increasingly fickle and the tide increasingly foul. We used the single oar to row against the current as spectators laughed, and cheered at us from the bluffs. The Hellican again finished 1st upon the beach, and we all set up camp and had a nice dinner and learned of a couple other boats that wandered around Killisut harbor in the race’s name- Little Toot and some un-named row boat!
After having a wonderful dinner with the crews and extended friends the sun set and no dogs fought and the stars came out and it was great.
We did plan next year’s race, and chose the most favorable tide in hopes our largest ambitions could become real!
Next years race is Saturday, September 3rd 2022
Come out!
the current's against us 