Sailing Stockton Lake with Brian and his dad.
The weather was cool, in the 40s-50s much of the day. The water was still much warmer, so we didn't feel too threatened to be out on such a gusty day.
I think the winds were 15-20MPH with some heavier gusts at times. Enough that after we snacked in a leeward cove, we pulled the masts to row out of it. We couldn't fly enough canvas to safely go to windward at the time. Things died back enough once we were out in the main channel that we popped the masts back in and got back to sailing.
I got to learn a lot about reefing the Sea Pearl early and how it handles in heavier wind and waves. We surfed white caps with the sails wing on wing, got to experience being blown onto a brushy leeward shore and filling the boat with spiders from the half submerged bushes. We figured out how much effort it would be to row into a strong headwind and got to pull and place the masts while underway. We also saw Canada geese make a huge splash landing, purple martins skimming inches above the water, osprey hunting, blue herons loping through the air, and bald eagles chasing each other across the lake. And at the end of the day, we ran into Tom Parker and his daughter, who as far as I know, is the only other Sea Pearl 21 owner in this part of the state.
Before heading back to Springfield, we hit up this BBQ joint in Stockton. Highly recommended.
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