The Season Begins

     Yesterday, the sailing season officially began with the first race of the season.  Our sailing club SEAS participated in Juneau's Maritime Festival with buoy races out in Gastineau Channel. Kyrie was the committee boat, which means we anchored not far from a channel marker and marked the start and finish line.

     Six other boats participated, having to cross the line, and round three different markers or buoys before returning and crossing the same line. It was so much fun for us to watch the boats first practicing! For most of them, this was their first time out sailing for this season and there was definitely some shakedown time required! We made a slight mistake and anchored a little too close to the marker, making a very tight line for six boats to cross. It made for an exciting start and some pretty great photos though!

The fleet lining up for the start.  

While Kyrie is a great boat to sail, being a catamaran, she doesn't do well close to the wind and I have my doubts we could hold our own at buoy races. That's okay, because as committee boat we had a front row seat and were able to get some fantastic photos. Hopefully the rest of the fleet appreciate the photos. It's rare to get a picture of your own boat under sail, and they now have quite a few to choose from. Quite a few times the other boats passed within five feet of our bow or stern, depending on their tack! All told, it was a fun race to be a part of. The season is off to a great start!

Tango crosses our bow (We are anchored)

Haiku passes our stern with Tango in the background (again, we are anchored)

After the race, Kyrie in the back

      Also, we were tickled to learn that our sailing illness is indeed contagious and some friends of ours bought a sailboat themselves! Even more proof that the sailing community is close-knit, we learned that the boat they bought used to be owned by one of our fellow sailing club members. And, did I mention, he was crewing during the race on another one of his previous boats?
    It was a fun and fantastic way to spend a Saturday.  Hopefully next week we will be able to get out and raise our own sails for the first time this season.