Pymatuning Messabout Results

[Scott Widmier]

We had a wonderful messabout and I am hoping some of the attendees will be posting with their impressions and stories as well. I am sure we will be back to Pymatuning next year!

The campground was excellent with the wonderful protected harbor for our boats. My family and I arrived Thursday to be greated by Joe Horvath and his beautifully finished Weekender Finch. Friday morning Joe and I went out for a nice long sail in the morning with increasing winds towards the end. Since the campground is downwind this made for a fast and wide broad reach back to the channel leading to the protected lagoon. Friday afternoon there was a lot of wind and we decided to relax around the camp and look for the other folks to show.

Jim and Pat arrived close to the same time. We got Jim's vacationer launched in the high wind and waves. One of the only faults with this campground is the poor location of the launching ramp! Jim motored around and parked his Vacationer next to Joe's Weekender. The funny thing is they are painted with the same color scheme and made with the same care so the Weekender looked like the younger sibling of the Vacationer. Stuart and family arrived and we all sat down to a communal meal of kabob (chicken and steak) and some wonderful sides provided by the Stumpfs. After the wind had died down, we launched Pat's wonderfully detailed Weekender and all sat down around the campfire.

Saturday morning, after pancakes cooked by Stuart, we all headed out for a great sail in steady winds that increased as we approached lunch. Jim's Vacationer left the rest of us in the dust with the longer waterline and higher maximum hull speed. After lunch, Jim, Pat, and myself in our respective boats headed out for another sail. By this time the wind was really blowing and the waves had built up to as high as 2'. Pat decided to be sane especially with the Benbow's on board and headed back into the protected cove. Jim and I forged on and had a really screaming sail! I had the bottom 4' of my sail reefed but Jim, with Joe as crew, didn't even tie in a reef. As I understand it, the rail was buried quite frequently. Pat's wife Anna was in my boat and we hooped and hollered over the rollers and had a screaming broad reach back through the narrow twisting channel (had to jib twice).

After a wonderful dinner of hamburgers and hotdogs cooked by Pat and Anna and sides provided by the Stumpf's, two boats, mine and Pat's, headed out for a twilight sail. By now the wind had died down to a perfect level and the sunset was beautiful. Then the heavens lit up with stars! It couldn't have been more perfect even though the wind died down 3/4 of the way back to camp. Navigating the twisting channel with flashlights prooved to be easier than I had thought.

Sunday we all packed camp and took another sail before putting the boats on the trailer. Unfortunately, the wind, which at times had been a bit strong, decided not to show. My boat and Jim's ended up motoring down the lake to sightsee. Pat would have joined us but his antique loaner motor decided to belch a good-sized ball of flame and catch on fire! He had a fire-estinguisher so nothing got singed. Joe went for a drift with the sails up.

[Stuart Benbow]

Hey, better late than never.

Well, what can you say about a weekend in paradise. Good people, beautiful boats, and perfect weather. We all had a blast, and got a sampling of most of the boats.

Even though the gaffers were the most noticable on the lake, it amazed me to see so many sailboats out on Saturday in the stiff breeze. Everything from a couple of catamarans screaming along as fast as they could (one pushed the limit a bit too much and dumped), to keelboats of every description to our homebuilt craft ... it reminded me why I love sailing so much, you can share the lake with that many boats, and we don't make the lake unpleasant for anybody.

Nighttime sailing is always fun, as the world goes quiet, the stars come out, and you can sit and relax to the creak of the rigging as you glide along the water. Pat even spotted a bat searching for a feast in the glow of our stern light.

If you're ever in the neighborhood, checking out the lake is strongly recommended.

Thanks all for the great company, hospitality, and the rides on all the boats. When mine's done, you're all welcome to come sailing anytime.

I've added a page to my website, which has a few photographs of the event. There is a link on the main page, as well as the Sandusky Fleet page of my website.