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Old 07-10-2016, 05:58 PM   #1
CateP
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Default 2016 Sailing Trip- 6 Days on the Lake

Hi all--we recently ended our annual sailing trip round the lake and I just got back to my computer to post the episodes of our trip. This year we decided to take our trip in June versus August because of wind...little did we know how much wind we would be dealing with.

Day 1
We left Wolfeboro Bay around 4:30 p.m. after taking our time stocking up the boat for our 6-day journey. Since this was our third year doing the trip we were much more efficient with packing and planning meals.

We have a huge cooling compartment under our chart table in the cabin that holds 25 lbs of ice and one ice block and all our refrigerated items. This keeps everything cold for 2-3 days in summer heat. We pack most refrigerated items in small plastic bins with covers. Also lots of ziplock bags that mush down. Our dry goods are stored in milk crates and kept in the aft berth as well as a large, deep compartment next to the stove in the galley.

Our boat is equipped with a house battery that charges under motor and we have a dual USB port to charge phones and the iPad that we use to watch free downloaded movies from Amazon Prime. We use the Bizer iPhone app to navigate to areas we are unfamiliar with and I can't recommend it enough.

Light winds out on the broads forced us to motor to our first destination for our first night...Welch Island.
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Old 07-10-2016, 06:07 PM   #2
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Default Welch Island

First Night

One of our generous forum members offered to let us tie up at the family dock for a couple of nights. One our way out there from Wolfeboro , we recorded some incredible depths. (Didn't want to drop the anything overboard there)

We arrived at beautiful Welch Island around 5:30 and saw a small rain storm to the west. The skies turned incredible colors as the sun set. Two small deer visited us at dusk, but were scared off when our pups noticed them from the boat at started barking at them.

It was a perfectly quiet night with a 180 degree view of the night sky. Incredible.
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Old 07-10-2016, 06:41 PM   #3
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Default Day 2

Day 2
Our first full day on the lake offered glorious sailing from Welch. After a yummy breakfast of pancakes and bacon we headed out on the Broads in 5-10kt winds. Wonderful sailing sailing conditions that didn't demand too much from us.

We spent several hours out on the lake sailing. It was hot for the pups in the cockpit, but we found a lake soaked towel cooled them beautifully. We had a Bluetooth speaker playing music while we enjoyed the afternoon. And yes, we popped some "greenies" towards the end of the day.
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Old 07-10-2016, 06:55 PM   #4
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Default Day 2 Evening-Welch

As anyone knows who has spent the day in the sun on the lake, it really makes you tired at the end of the day. We had planned to explore the island a bit after docking, but ended up lazing around on the boat. Our hosts were not on the island while we were there, but we watered their flowers and swept off the walkways. It was a beautiful family property with all the signs of a rich lakeside history. Hopefully another year we will meet our hosts and learn more about the island.

The perfect end to a perfect day were our homemade lobster rolls. Buttered and grilled in our gallery on the alcohol stove. We went to bed when it got dark and fell asleep watching a movie on the iPad.
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Old 07-10-2016, 07:09 PM   #5
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Default Day 3

Day 3
We woke late and had a breakfast of cereal and yogurt with granola. The weather forecast was predicting storms later that day. It was hot and muggy in the morning. We took cooling, refreshing swims in the crystal clear waters off Welch. The water looks almost tropical green around the island.

There was virtually no wind so we decided to motor over to Fay's Boatyard to re-supply and pump out. We love going to Fay's as sailors because there are so many other sailboats over there. Wayne, their sailboat expert has helped us with all kinds of repairs and advice. We don't often go to Fay's just to stop by so this was a treat.

With our eye on the radar (we have three radar apps) we discovered that the late day rain was coming earlier than we thought. We decided to pack up early and head to our next dockage over at Chase Island. Good thing we did.
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Old 07-10-2016, 07:31 PM   #6
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Default Day 3- Evening -Big Storms

Day 3- Evening
The winds had picked up quite a bit on our way to Chase Island from Welch so we opened our head sail to help us along with motoring. With the wind coming out of the south west, it pushed us along at a swift 5 its. We were able to sail across the Broads, all the way up the Barber Pole and all the way to Chase. Pretty fun, even with threatening skies.

We arrived at Chase Island and were greeted by two other doggies and our good friends. What a gang. Our hosts had their Direct TV on and were watching the radar and warnings. It was looking pretty serious. 58+ wind gusts and possible tornados were predicted. Our 27 ft. boat was docked broadside against the dock and against the southwest. We discussed the wisdom of keeping it there or going to 19 Mile Bay and tieing it up there in more protected waters.

Around 5:30 we decided to move the boat to 19 Mile Bay and tie up for the night. Usually an overnight tie up at the 19 Mile Bay docks is not permitted by visitors, but it is permitted in severe weather conditions. Once we tied up with double lines and extra fenders, our hosts took us back to Chase for dinner.

We had teriyaki chicken and a luscious grilled steak that was easily an inch and half thick, along with a Caesar salad made from fresh lettuce from our garden. We watched the radar on TV as red and purple cells moved up from the southwest. They seemed to be more west of us until a big storm hit us around 8 pm. The sky just opened up with gushing water, thunder and lightening. Then the TV went out...but not the lights. Pretty amazing actually.

After the big storm ended we decided to take advantage of a break in the action and go back to the boat at 19 Mile Bay. It was a 10- minute boat ride. Our hosts offered to have us stay at the house, but we wanted to be with the boat in case something needed tending during the night. We snuggled into the v-berth and listened to the rain drumming on the boat over our heads.

The picture here shows our dockage the next morning. As you can see we survived a very threatening evening of storms.
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Old 07-10-2016, 07:40 PM   #7
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Default Day 4-Chase Island

Day 4
The day after the storms broght incredible winds. 25 mph+. We had a very hard time moving the boat off the 19 Mile Bay dock as the west wind was pushing it against the dock. Luckily we had help pushing it off and gunned the engine to move it back to Chase Island.

It was clear from making that short crossing, that the winds were quite a bit more than we wanted to deal with that day. The fact was we were happy to just hang at the beach on Chase and read and nap. We watched the boys at Camp Belknap risk the high winds in their sailboats (Lasers?). Only one boat tipped over and we saw another kid fly off the boat during an unexpected jibe. That's the way to learn. I remember going out in high winds at Camp Kehonka and feeling completely exhilarated. (We have a Sunfish we take out when the winds are screaming and have a blast on that little boat)
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Old 07-10-2016, 07:53 PM   #8
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Default Day 4-Evening

We had planned to go to Wolfeboro Bay with our Chase Island gang to see Sculpin's (forum member) fireworks show that night. (best on the lake BTW). Our hosts had a beautiful Bennington tri-toon that we had planned to take down to Wolfeboro, but the winds were still gusting at dinner time and the temperature was surprisingly cool. We decided to drive down to Wolfeboro by car and view the show from the Wolfeboro Yacht Club--our home port. (We later heard the Broads had huge 3- 4 ft. swells that night.)

It was kinda weird going to our home port by car in the middle of our trip, but getting ice cream at Dockside before the show quickly dispensed any concerns about being on land. (The Toasted Coconut is highly recommended)

The fireworks show was fabulous as always. There were TWO fireworks barges and the show was easily an hour long. Incredible.
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Old 07-10-2016, 08:09 PM   #9
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Default Day 5

Day 5
We woke mid-morning after a wonderful evening of fireworks and friends. We stayed up pretty late the night before. It was one of those great summer evenings where the wine and beer flows and conversation is light and interesting.

The day was bright and sunny with brisk winds, but not the 25mph gusts that created streams of foam on top of the water the day before. We packed up the pups and said a fond goodbye to our hosts after lunch.

Once again we were able to sail the Barber Pole, only this time down wind. Once we entered the Broads there was a stiff 10-15kt wind. Absolutely wonderful to sail in. We had the entire lake before us and just sailed and sailed. I would say it was one of the best sailing days we have had on the lake this year. We had no destination in mind and it was quite freeing. There is nothing like moving along at 5+ knots under quiet wind power and being totally in the moment--just letting your senses take in everything.

Here is shot of our boat under sail taken by another sailor.
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Old 07-10-2016, 08:22 PM   #10
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Default Day 5-Evening

Day 5 Evening
What a day. We sailed over five hours. We ended up at our home port at the WCYC around dinner time and tied up at the long dock for the night. We had the task of decorating the yacht club launch for the parade the next day and a small group of members joined us to decorate.

After the launch was decorated we enjoyed a lovely evening on the Club deck, HOT showers in the Club house, and a cozy night on the boat watching movies.
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Old 07-10-2016, 08:31 PM   #11
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Default Day 6-Final Day

Day 6-Final Day
The 4th of July!! We had to wake up early to get the WCYC parade boat off with her crew. I was in charge of the entry. We stocked the launch with a cooler full of water bottles, granola bars, and 200 frisbees to hand out.

The parade was fabulous as always and we had a huge crowd of people at the WCYC for lunch.

We had one more trip on the lake that day. The family gathering at Rattlesnake Island. We had little to no wind, so we motored over. It took about 45 minutes, but the slow pace was nice after being around crowds all morning. We had a lovely family picnic and refreshing swims. The water seemed warmer than the first days of our trip. And the clarity was amazing.
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Old 07-10-2016, 08:48 PM   #12
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Default Day 6-Evening

When we arrived back the the WCYC from Rattlesnake we had to unpack the boat from the trip. It was very hot and muggy. The pups took several swims while we sweated our way through the task. Amazingly the first block of ice we bought 6 days before still had a little left. (we had re-stocked the 25lb bag and block of ice at 19 Mile Bay 2 days earlier)

We had almost no food left in the cooler. We had planned well. There were a few "greenies" left and we keep them in the boat.

Big bag of laundry, crates, travel bags, ukulele, water color paints, books. All came off and were piled on the dock. We spent some time getting the boat back into ship shape--sweeping, hosing off the deck and cockpit, neatening up the cabin. Then we brought our beautiful "Reliance" back to her mooring until next time.

But there was one more event in store for our trip. The Wolfeboro 4th of July fireworks show. We were bone tired by 9:30 pm that night, but even so, we brought our folding camp chairs down to the WCYC dock, ate cheese and crackers, and watched another fabulous (and hour-long) show. What a great way to end our trip.

We want to thank the forum members who were so kind and generous to offer us overnight dockage for this trip. Without you, our trip would not be possible.
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Old 07-10-2016, 09:45 PM   #13
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Default Great trip

For those of us who can't do such a voyage, thank you for sharing your adventure. It means a lot. When I was a kid, it was possible to drop anchor overnight or stay at public docks overnight. No more, except for adventurers like you who can plan and execute, with flexible schedules. Maybe next year, after retirement, if that occurs.
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Old 07-10-2016, 11:58 PM   #14
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Default Wonderful reading!

Thank you for sharing so many details, and pics, from your trip. I really enjoyed reading them - plus loved seeing that you (like me) spent summers at Kehonka. What a wonderful way to spend a week - - -
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Old 07-11-2016, 06:12 AM   #15
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Default

Thank you for the nice read. I was doing the "Sunday night relax time" when your post started to appear, it was a nice way to end a not so good weather weekend.

I hope you get more time on the "Reliance" this season.
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Old 07-11-2016, 08:38 AM   #16
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Default

Cate,

Thoroughly enjoyed reading your adventure. Glad you had places to dock overnight again. The pictures of Camp Belknap took me back to when I was a young camper there and could picture myself sailing. Thanks for the journal and the memories.

Jeff
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