Viking rounds Gallop for 5th

 ANZ230-150215- BOSTON HARBOR- 10:01 AM EDT SAT AUG 14, 2010
.THIS AFTERNOON...SE WINDS 5 TO 10 KT. WAVES 1 FOOT OR LESS.
.TONIGHT...S WINDS 5 TO 10 KT. WAVES 1 FOOT OR LESS.

L.L. skippered our Soling 'Viking' with everything ready for when L.G. and I arrived.  L.G. took us over the start line of the regatta at the 3PM starting horn with choppy inner harbor wind on the nose all the way to Castle Island. I took over for the remainder of the race ... forgetting to turn over the tiller to anyone else as we focused on two things ... staying dryer after I immediately took 'Viking' headlong into a large wake and trying to continue L.G.'s effort of catching up to the main group in the regatta with a J-24 on our tail.

A great day for a sail overall.  Gallop Island was easy to round as we seem to make great time on a few, but started losing that time as the wind slackened to the forecasted levels just off Castle Island/inner harbor.  L.L. gave great spinnaker instructions as 'Dynamo' made huge gains on us.

The finish was fun with a sprint the left us sure we were not dead last.  And, very surprised to learn we were fifth at the BBQ awards that were these fun photos!   A very fun event and great crew.

Sunday River To The Sea

We continued our adventures from Gorham, NH, and thus to find surprises as we four, HC the soon-to-be-retiree, RM the driven driver, GH the precious cargo and me 'woke up' at the hotel freebie breakfast.  The 'wake up moment' was the realization we'd rather have variety and go to Sunday River rather than the planned return to Wild Cat's hard rides.  Given that the hotel made a decent offer, we upgraded to the eight-peak destination and found it a wise switch.

With more slopes we found more conditions that favored our more relaxed skiing.  So much so, we were quick to get a deck-side BBQ lunch on the slope at Slider's before the noon hour struck -- I led the way in once it was pointed out to me!

Both the morning and the warmer afternoon skiing had enough variety to keep us moving on easy blues and all the long green runs we could muster before the energy gave out.

  All on a high note, for example, running into skiers with camera-topped hot-pink helmets.  In that case, they were practicing video filming on skis and on chair lifts where we joined them going over an extreme skiing event.  So, they filmed while the local media cameras focused on both the competitors and on taking human-interest shots of people like us in chair lifts that had made timely stops.

Then down to earth, skis off and put away, as we chilled to entertainment that first enthralled the smallest of apres-ski aficionado in anticipation, even before he took the stage; a fan!   And, thus placing this season of skiing into final perspective (performer Bruce Jacques said in a few days we'll be on this fellows website ... uh-oh).

   Good to connect with people enjoying the mountain and knowing 'tomorrow' the river flowing down its side is headed to the sea and the next season.

Currently Do It! By Clinic Jump to the music ... see related

Wild Cat Hard & Fast

Four guys including me, HC, RM and GH, celebrated the retirement next week of one of us by going for a final Spring Ski trip (where had I heard that before?), only to find that the first day of two was hardly Spring-like!

  Arriving around 9:15AM, we found clear, but icy conditions with 3F at the top.  The grooming was the usual levels for Wild Cat from the literature I'd read before this first time visit, meaning it was minimal on a ice-rock hard base.  So, while the once a month $9 Friday special lift tix were a grand bargain, we had to keep nimble and keep our edges under firm control.  I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the very heavily snow-covered icon of skiing with many pleasant surprises at how fun a place it was as I did not miss the 'extras' found at other resorts.

Here the soon to be retiree points his skis downward, with the White Mountain range as panoramic backdrop.  He successfully maintained control speeding to the base while I try to get numbed fingers back into the gloves.

The snowboards found the icy conditions meant more sideways, going downhill like snowplows, the best way to keep their speed down.

   The apres-ski events allowed us to meet a 650 hat red-sox fan who spun the music for the entertainment from his 16 terrabyte (!) database.

Loon Final

Olympic Penninsula

From Point No Point on this date ... agree with KM, should make travel plans there.