Pocket Cruiser

 A few weeks back. In between runnin' laps around the lake, while alternately in between shakin' some pesky gay dude who sprang from the bushes (an occasional annoyance over at the lake we've come to learn. He finally backed off after being asked if he could swim), we were lookin' on with interest watching a guy and gal in the parking lot prepping' a small trailered sailboat for launch. Never saw a sailboat in the lake before.

A bit of skepticism on our part. The lake seems a bit small for a sailboat. Whole time watching we're doing a bit of cypherin'. Think that the lake measures just a bit over 100 acres. Maybe 1/2  mile N-S and 3/4 mile E-W at it's widest. Subtract maybe another 1/10th mile along the eastern shore which is silted up to just under 1ft depth - we've had to line the SUP a distance throughout that area when it's 9 inch fin dragged bottom. Map distance for our usual paddle route is a shoreline loop of around 1.8 mile circumference hugging the shoals. Venturing outside that loop will afford ya' a draft of less than 1ft. We're figurin' they're gonna' need at least 3ft. Winds were fine - maybe 5mph. It could be double that on the water. It can get pretty windy out there. There were several instances that we've really struggled paddling into the wind. Quit paddlin' and you're quickly blown in reverse 5 or 10ft. Cross-current you're ridin' a bongo board. Once saw a gal out there on an inflatable SUP bein' blown around in circles. Couldn't get 100ft off shore. At least a hard board can cut the water and not just bob around on the surface.

Back in the '80's - '90's there used to be a few sailboarders who frequented the lake. Sailboarding used to be a big deal back in those days. Knew one of 'em through work. Talked a few times of meeting 'em over there to give it a try. Never came about. Eventually lost contact with 'em after he moved on to a new job. That eventually all died out. Haven't seen one around since then. 

But, back to the sailboat. Hey, what do we know. Our sailing experience is limited to plastic boats in the bathtub.

(Internet Image - source Greg Pease Photography. Thanks - no harm intended. Nice work)

We were always fascinated with sailing while living in Severna Park, MD, along the shore of the Severn River, in turn just up the road from Annapolis, MD, in turn along the shore of sailing mecca Chesapeake Bay. About every third person in the neighborhood owned a sail or power boat. Never got to go for a cruise, however. Invited a few times but was always busy at some other endeavor come the weekend. One thing that we always noticed about those older hard-core sailing guys was that they were all pretty physically fit - must be a pretty good workout tacking and jibing all weekend.

Anyway, once launched, it was obvious that the skipper knew the lakebed and had probably been there before. That small sailboat added a bit of dimension to the scale of the lake. Is a bit larger lake than it appears. Looked like fun.