I found a great site called GPS Visualizer which will take your GPS tracking information and turn it into a Google Map. Shown here is our track from our Sunday sail of Lake Gaston. Winds were out of the south-southwest if I recall, and were fairly strong.

You can see our outbound trip in blue and our return trip in purple. As you can see, we had to make a few tacks as we were sailing close-hauled due to the wind. The southernmost point on the purple line is where we almost got dumped by a rogue gust (one of the dangers of sailing close-hauled). At that point, I yanked the sails down and we motored back to the dock!

There was also an incident where a pontoon boat, apparently piloted by a blind woman, crossed dangerously close in front of us, missing us by mere yards. Apparently she was unfamiliar with the rules of the road and couldn’t see the 25-foot sail in front of her.

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.

I tell you I’m running from one thing to another lately. I’ve still got to blog about the hijinks in the General Assembly with Time Warner Cable’s attempt to kill off fiber competition. I also have some bad behavior to expose from a local activist. And there’s a few bigger issues I’ve been meaning to write about.

This weekend’s going to be packed full of events, though I should have time to write tonight as Kelly’s going to kid-sit for the neighbors. Saturday starts with a bang with Hallie’s soccer game. Then we get to take our first look at the new N.C. Museum of Art. After that, our neighbors are hosting a party in advance of the World Beer Festival in Raleigh (I’m just attending the party). When we get done with that, we go to ANOTHER neighborhood party where we may spend some time.

Sunday is … uh, relatively quiet with just a neighborhood birthday party for the kids, a piano recital for Travis, and another party after that. And maybe I can get some exercise in there, and perhaps some gardening. Wow.

I got word today that my contract may not be able to be extended due to company policy. Thus I could be in need of work.

If you’re looking for a good sysadmin or (preferably) sales engineer, drop me an email. Thanks!

(Oh, and you can find more about me here).