Lake Entiat: Sailing and More

Well, we did it. Vince and I took "Duet" out of storage after nearly four years of neglect and sailed for two days in a row. I must admit though we had a comical Laurel and Hardy start, rigging the boat and trying to remember which line went where. Vince was beginning to question the work-to-fun ratio. What had once been a thirty-minute process to rig this fifteen-foot wonder (a Montgomery 15) quickly turned into a two-hour fiasco, with a lot of head-scratching and staring at instructions. But our efforts did eventually pay off. 

Duet was a beautiful sight when the sails were finally hoisted. She was the only sailboat on Lake Entiat last weekend. Sailing is all about the moment, not the destination. One glides along at the mercy of the wind on a zig-zag course. In a world spinning faster the older I get, I find this pace relaxing at times, but the work getting the boat ready was hard in the hot sun. (Note to V&S: do not rig in 90-plus heat!!)

Vince at the tiller, his favorite position.

At the tiller or on the bow. Either spot, I like both!

Lake Entiat is a large reservoir located near Rock Island Dam, one of Washington's many hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River.

Near Orondo, Washington next to the Wenatchee Mountain range, Lake Entiat is a nice recreational destination for campers and boaters. It is about four hours away for us. Vince and I camped three nights on its shore at Daroga State Park along with my brother and wife's family.

Site 24. Where we camped.

Lots of food and good company!

 

 Delicious campground beef stew with home grown vegetables, made by my sister-in-law. I was surprised to learn that this is the same Coleman stove my parents used when I was a girl. My brother had discovered it recently in storage. Still works great!

Besides sailing, I also tried water skiing behind my brother's boat, but alas . . . after a hiatus of probably thirty years, my legs just were not strong enough. ~Sigh~ I so much wanted to be up on those skis. I still remember skiing under the Narrows Bridge in Tacoma, Washington behind my father's boat as a teen. The water was quite choppy that day in Puget Sound under the Narrows and there had been whale sightings nearby. I held fast to the rope and avoided jumping over the wake, as was my usual form, on the lookout for anything black and unusually large.

 (Brrr . . . Don't worry, I can do this! I think I can, I think I can . . .)
 

 My brother remembers a similar experience skiing over a swarm of yellow jelly fish when he was younger, also worried he would fall. By the way, he bounced right up on those skis when it was his turn. Way to go, Bob!!

Vince and I brought bicycles, too, and enjoyed the bike trails that run through the park and beyond alongside the lake. Five hours of sailing and and an hour or two of biking gave us a good workout, and yes, I was a bit sore when I came home. Not bad for a couple getting ready to retire in a year or so, huh?

Copyright 2013 © Sharon Himsl

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing