Forecasting the wind didn't improve during September.
Sunday's forecast for Monday was for very reasonable winds for sailing.
I went out in a flat calm wind, and heard a chipmunk "chipping" on the opposite shore—½-mile away!
I saw only three other boats in the Broads over the next couple of hours.
The wind picked up gradually to "not so good for a leisure sail"
so I tucked behind the "wind shadow" of Tuftonboro Neck for another hour of much-reduced anxiety.
The wind then did an awful shift out of the north—and picked up to about 10-MPH+ over predictions.
A "ripping north wind" makes landing at my dock a real hazard.
Landing with today's lower waters and a "nose-on" wind rips sails and could damage my boat and me
. I turned onto a hidden beach where there are no houses and never any boats. (I'm not disclosing where that is, you understand!)
I thought I'd take a snooze and "wait-out" the unexpected tempest, but after an hour of waiting, thought I'd take a "run" at it anyway: with sails stowed (and no engine) I managed a good speed using only the bare mast for propulsion! Recognizing my dilemma, a dark-turquoise inboard paused for a moment to determine if I needed help.
Thank you, dark-turquoise-inboard, lady-captain,
but the help I was about to need was
in docking. This captain turned out to be an in-sight, but distant neighbor to me, with 12 waterfront acres presently on the market.
The landing wasn't so great, but the boat was spared any damage: with three lines and "borrowing a tree" for a time, I secured the boat to keep it from blowing
under the dock. The wind never lessened, so I grudgingly left it that way overnight. (I usually pull it from the lake away from damaging wakes).
Even a Weather Rock wasn't going to be any help with Monday's unexpected wind change.
For weather like Monday's, we need something
much better!
