We had a bunch of stuff to do this weekend, as evidenced in my last post. Today was no less busy.

After Hallie’s soccer game yesterday we went directly to the Naylors’ house on Lake Gaston, arriving in time for dinner. We had time to unpack and visit a bit before turning in (though I had time to send some pictures to Facebook).

This morning we ate a breakfast of bagels before I began to rig our sailboat for a sail around the lake. We shoved off a little after 11 AM and enjoyed strong winds as we sailed up to the Eaton’s Ferry end of the lake. The wind direction on our return leg wasn’t as favorable and we found ourselves tacking one too many times, which delayed us for lunch. I finally pulled down the sails when we almost got pushed over by a freak gust of wind on our last leg back. We motored the rest of the way in, in spite of the brisk winds.

After lunch, I spent the next two hours unrigging the boat and pulling it out of the water. It had been a long time since the boat had been out of the water and it showed in the hull’s appearance and my mistakes in loading it on the trailer.

We almost lost the boat this afternoon, too! Ralph and his neighbor Ken helped me tow it back to the tiedown pad where we keep it. As Ken and Ralph unhooked it from Ken’s hitch, the front of the trailer rocketed skyward, tipping the boat backwards and almost dumping it over the hill! Fortunately, Ralph and Ken held on to the trailer long enough for us to get it under control. It turns out that we hadn’t lifted the boat far enough forward on its trailer and thus it was back-heavy. Fortunately, a quick tow back to the ramp successfully winched the boat into its proper position.

Now it’s late. I’ve done far more lifting this weekend than I should have, I’m partly sunburned, dehydrated, and I’ve got work tomorrow morning. This weekend was a lot of work but a lot of fun, too.