Cruiser Quest Frostbiting - 3-5 Feb 07

I was just going to name this "Cruiser Quest Weekend", but when I found Ice on the deck while putting up sails both Saturday morning and Sunday morning, and would have on Monday but the air was so dry that there was no dew to freeze. My weekend started on arrival at OSYC on Saturday morning about 9:00. It was still freezing and I got ready to sail out. By 10:15 I was heading out hoping to sail to Oconee Springs Park. The wind was blowing about 15 when I passed by Airport Island. I had up a full main and my 100 storm jib ( it is lower and comes back a little further but it is about the same square feet as my working jib and it has reef points ) By 12:15 I passed Goat Island. I was making really good progress, and was passing Oconee Springs Park by 14:00 with the wind behind me. Making such good time I decided to make the Upper Oconee Channel Power Lines. Made it by 14:30. Time to turn around and head up wind and down the lake ( nearly river at this point ) It took me 4 tacks to just get back to the power lines. I was not having a lot of success. The wind picked up some and I was able to make headway again. ( Something was amiss and I thought it was just my sailing. ) I sailed past the Campgrounds but was making slow progress. The wind seemed to be always on the nose and I was having to tack a lot. I made it about 2 miles past the park when the wind started dying, and it was now about 5 PM. I tried for the next 3 hours to bet past one point and when I would get almost there, I would drift back even with the sails filled. I checked more than once to see if my board was down. finally I put up my biggest sail, a 160 % drifter. I thought I was going to make it but alas no deal. The Oconee river was flowing backward because Georgia Power was pumping water out of the lake and raising Lake Oconee to generate peak power the next day, and I lost another half mile backwards before I finally dropped anchor for the evening at 8PM. I was cold and tired of fighting what must have been current pushing be back since I turned at the power lines. I cooked supper quickly and went to bed with a sleeping bag with liner and two blankets on top of that. I was warm enough sleeping even though when I got up at 7 AM the next morning the cabin temp was 30 degrees.

I decided to make pancakes the next morning to have something hot and to heat up the cabin a little. I mixed the batter, turned on the butane stove only to find the flame would not come up much. I thought the canister must be empty but when I picked it up, it was still 3/4 full. I shook it up and tried again. It worked. As long as I shook the stove every 2 minutes or so, I could get a good flame. The gas was too cold?? Next I took out the olive oil to put a little in the fry pan before cooking the pancakes, but it too was froze solid. I gave up, found some spray oil and finally got to making the pancakes.

I waited for the wind to come up and by 9:15 a little breeze came up so I pulled up anchor and sailed easily down the lake in a light head wind. Shortly the wind was blowing 15 or more and I raced into OSYC by 12:15PM. On the way, I saw the only other sailor on the lake. Warren Hughs was sailing up the lake as I passed by Hauck's Reef. Turning around at OSYC, I headed up the lake, this time I reefed the main and the 100 storm jib because the wind was really blowing now ( more than 20 ). I decided to try to get to Crooked Creek Marina this time. I passed by Warren again as he came back down the lake and rounded the point by Sinclair Marina. I passed by Goat Island by 14:10 and made Crooked Creek Marina by 15:00. Turning back, it seemed the wind had lightened some so I shook out both reefs and sailed down the lake. The wind had not lightened at all as I neared Sinclair Marina and the narrows, but most of the sail was down wind so I made it back to OSYC by 17:10.

Time to warm up and get supper while in the slip. The wind stayed all night and sleeping at OSYC was noisy and bumpy. With the electric heater on, the cabin did not drop below 50 degrees that night. I sailed out the next morning at 09:15 with reefed main and my 100 storm jib, with winds of 15 to 20. I sailed up Island Creek turning at the power lines at 10:17, and arriving back at OSYC at 11:15 ( a very quick trip). With still a lot of daylight left and with the wind blowing probably 20 plus, I headed back up the lake. I thought I might try going around Airport Island but then as I was on the back side of the island, I thought going thru the narrow passage might not be good idea with the strong wind and the water being a little low. With that I decided to go for the power lines on the main river channel. I made a fast trip of that and arrived back at OSYC at 13:40. I was very tired by then and decided to pack up the boat and go home to get warm.

Bob...