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

Courage, the Other Side of Fear

It has been 10 years since we bought our sailboat. We were so excited at the time, it's hard to believe we are actually thinking about selling it. Looking back through some files, it's easy to see just how excited we were.

“We have our entire lives to become wise and jaded. Let’s be excited about the newness of it. So what if we don’t know anything. It’s fun to have something new to learn. Later we can be the sages and the experts. Let’s enjoy the ride.”

Those were some of my husband's words on driving down to California to pick up our new Montgomery 15. He was right of course. Not knowing how to sail or what was in store for us was all part of the adventure, and indeed it has been just that - right from the start. 

We had an interesting solo outing on the Snake River that still gives me the giggles. To begin with, it took us well over an hour to attach the rigging in the parking lot (this boat can be rigged in less than an hour, 30 min with experience). That done, we backed 'Duet' down the loading ramp--so far--so good--we thought with pride. The wind was gusting a bit, so we decided we’d pull the sails up after we motored out a bit. But for some reason the engine kept dying, so our confidence level was failing fast by the time we got out to the middle of the river.

Still, we did find the courage to finally hoist the sails. Whomp! Yikes! The wind almost knocked us flat on the port side. Fortunately, our friend who'd given us some sailing lessons in advance, had told us to just deflate the main sail if that ever happened and let the boat right itself. Boing! Duet popped back up like a cork. Of course, by then our nerves were pretty frazzled, but eventually we braved the wind again and before long we thought we looked pretty graceful out there.

After about 3 hours, it was time to dock. GULP—oh boy—were we ever dreading that one. With our motor trouble, we couldn’t begin to imagine what would happen if it died again. Well, of course it did and with the sails down at that point--we started drifting ashore--straight for the rocks!! I jumped out and kept the boat from taking any damage, while my husband cussed the engine. It was then he noticed that the bow line had wrapped around the motor shaft!! Long story short… Never, Never, Never have a bow line longer than the length of your boat.
After this one experience, we had a number of nice camp outs with friends, including one to the San Juan Islands. We may think we're too busy to sail right now, but I do miss the ripple of the water and that whispering wind against the sails. It's slow getting there, yes, but that slow pace is what drew us to sailing to begin with, and there's something else. Sailing takes a certain amount of courage that for me involved overcoming some fears. Learning to guide the rudder in a steady wind was scary, but also empowering, not to mention a lot of fun. At least that's how it turned out for me.

Courage on the other side of fear is also something I'm exploring in the novel I'm writing. I love how life connects with what we write.   


Copyright 2011 © Sharon Himsl

The Shells We Collect . . .

It is interesting . . . the things we collect . . . how they become the inspiration and details behind the tales we write. On my desk sits a small shell collection gathered from a remote beach in Mersing, Malaysia.

I became an avid collector of shells while living in Kluang, Malaysia with my husband for nine incredible months. Some years later I am still impacted by that life-changing experience, and my home has a definite Asian feel to this day (elephants everywhere . . . and more).

The Mersing shells hold top billing on my desk at present. Small and unremarkable to the eye at first glance, they are the basis of a novel I am writing. They sit atop a small box holding a collection of sailing knots and instruction for the novice sailor (also in my novel). The box is titled, "Learn the Ropes," and indeed, since I am still learning the ropes as a writer, it seems perfect.

However, I do know how to sail. For a time I borrowed every sailing saga I could get my hands on. I loved the adventure of sailing and the thrill of learning something new. I finally talked my husband into buying a small Montgomery 15-foot sailboat, which led to a week long camping trip in the San Juan Islands (WA). The sails I take . . . or the adventures I make . . . continue to have their allure.  

Copyright 2011 © Sharon Himsl
 

Sharon M. Himsl

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