........MacGregor Index Page.............. Flaming Gorge Trip Index Page

.................Previous Page........................................Next Page If There Is One

=========================================================

......--- Anchorage by Buckboard Ramp --- .................................................--- to --- ................--- Bay north of Skunk Cliffs ---

.....................................................................................................

............ ......(Thur -- Jun 16th) .............Anchorage --- N 41º 11.949´ .............................W 109º 33.898´ Trip Mileage = 4.8 NM ---- Day's Mileage = 4.8 NM .........Sailed = 4.5 NM.---- .Motored = .25 NM

=========================================================

We were up at 6:30 after going to bed early the night before. I didn't feel all that well and asked Dottie if she would be that disappointed if we just sat there for the day. Also the winds were predicted to be in the 20's again with gusts into the 30's and 40's. She was fine with that but after a while I started feeling better and the wind still hadn't picked up so we decided we would just go out and sail some if possible and maybe move just a bit south. The lake in Wyoming is orientated pretty much north-south with arms going off to the east and west.

We sailed across the lake and then back across in light wind, no wind and wind from about every direction. This wind pattern would persist most days we were on the lake. Predicted winds were usually southwest winds but most mornings they were light and could come from any direction. Then usually around 1 pm the lake would go quiet for a minute or so and the wind would come on strong out of the southwest.

We were still in the light shifting wind pattern when we decided to head for an arm of the lake about 3 miles south that looked on the map to offer a possible place to anchor with protection from the prevailing southwest winds.

We ran south in little or no wind for an hour or so making maybe a little over a mile when we had our first experience with the wind going still, followed by a wall of air hitting us. This resulted in the boat being knocked over to about 30 degrees in an instant. We weren't knocked down but the sudden severe heeling was almost instant. A fella we had meet at the hardware store in Green River who said he used to own a Macgregor warned us of this. I had experienced it a couple times on Lake Powell but for a number of the days we were on Flaming Gorge Res. this pattern repeated itself.

Dottie took it with no real comment which was a very pleasant surprise to me. She had a little sailing experience on a larger boat some years before in the southern California area but not a lot. I guess her reaction shouldn't of surprised me too much knowing that she had gone sky-diving a couple times along with other adventures.

Now with steady wind we were averaging 5 1/2 to 6 knots with the main on the first reef and the genoa rolled in to about jib size. Even with the reduced sail the boat still heeled well over but for the most part was rock solid. Dottie loved it and was quickly adapting to manning (womaning ??) the tiller and also operating the Raymarine ST2000 Tiller Pilot at those times it could be used.

.....................=====================================

NOTE: I occasionally get comments on the 560 watt solar array on the boat and how it must hurt performance. You can see it doesn't seem to inhibit the performance of the boat much. In addition to the solar array the boat sits about 2 inches deeper in the water with the usual 40+ gallons of water aboard, up to 20 gallons of fuel in the inboard fuel tank (10 gallons on this trip), and food and supplies for 2 weeks or more. One last comment about the array and that is the boat no longer has a bimini so the array is now the shade and so far, 3 months going to the Bahamas, and this 13 day trip I love the protection it gives. More on it ( HERE).

.....................=====================================

We quickly made the final couple miles to the side arm of the lake with the 20+ mph winds and Dottie motored us into the wind and I dropped the main and brought the genoa in.

We were greeted by a large flock of Canadian Geese at the head of the arm which also proved to be quite shallow preventing us from really heading southwest into the arm like we had hoped for. With the centerboard and rudder up we might of been able to get past the shallow part but I sure didn't want to get trapped in the arm if the lake was to go down.

With Dottie on the tiller and myself at the bow the Manson was set in about 8 feet of water. I thought we were an adequate distance from shore if the wind clocked around but this proved to not be the case.

Over and over again the NOAA weather forecast was for southwest winds in the 20's gusting into the 30's and that was what we were experiencing when we set the anchor just east of a small point that jutted to the northwest where we then drifted back pretty much parallel to the shore.

After a bit I got into the dinghy while it was attached to the boarding ladder that is used as a tow bar so that I could bail some water out of it. As I finished I looked up and ..............

...........saw that I, the dinghy and sailboat were only about 15' off the shore in water about 18 inches deep. The wind had shifted to the northwest and we had swung around on the anchor. So much for the predicted wind direction. The difference between NOAA wind predictions and actual seemed to be quite different during our time on the lake so we started planning less and less around the predictions as our time on the lake proceeded.

With about 95 feet of rode out in 8 feet of water (where the anchor was) I was able to pull the boat towards the anchor about 20 feet and still had good holding without much fear of dragging the anchor especially since we had set the anchor by running the outboard in reverse.

After a short walk on shore and dinner we went to sleep anchored like this and when I awoke during the night I noticed there was very little wind and we were now further offshore. What I didn't realize at that time was that we would find it difficult to get off anchor in the morning.

=========================================================

...............................................................Next Page If There Is One...