Hi Tim,
Good to hear from another dry side sailor. You must have some good sailing up your way...how are the winds on Okanogan Lake? Pat and I occasionally come up hiway 97 to do some tasting at the BC wineries, and have stayed at Jack Newton's Observatory B & B in Osoyoos (neat place).
The winds are much like any interior lake as far as I can tell. Often too little or too much. ~:0) There are those fantastic days when everything is just right. Brilliant sunshine, 80 degree air temps, 70 degree water temps, 10-15 knots of steady wind from within a 30 degree range, preferable a cross lake direction either East or West, the long days of July... and plenty of cold micro brews. The Canadian Med is what I call it. There is lots to explore, the lake is very deep with almost no nav hazards. 75 miles long and around three miles wide at the widest part of the lake. The ends of the season are the best times for wind. I find May, June and early July are the best. August tends to have these giant stable highs that settle in. Great for the power boaters, no so much fun for us. Even having said that, there are still some all-star days even in the middle of one of these highs. And when the wind kicks up here, the power boaters go home....hell, most of the sail boats seem to go home too for that matter. Then there are the 'Ninja' winds. These are what keeps you on your toes. Sneaky little rascals. They seem to have a minimum initial slam of 20 knots, then they settle in to the high teens with gusts over 20. This is the usual routine it seems. Fantastic scenery, clean water and lots of stuff to watch. I think it was Larry or maybe Randy....or was it Tom......we were talking about a possible cruise here some day. Isn't that BnB amazing? I have a great shot of it somewhere. Lot's of wine related stuff for the whole length of the Okanogan. In Osoyoos we like to go to the Brewery/Pub on the hillside there....across from the Husky ...forget the name....they make some good recipes there, nice and fresh. A decent IPA and OK pub food.
Lake Wenatchee is actually a pretty good place to sail. There are pretty predictable westerly winds in the afternoon. My wind surfer buddies say it is right up there with the Columbia River gorge as a destination for them. There is a Monty 17 on the Lake also, and we sometimes sail together. I coveted it from my kayak for a year or two, and that led to buying Vanilla.
Nice. Sounds pretty good to me. My previous 'home' lake was a 1 X 10 and had a riot on that one. I have seen those folks on the CR Gorge a few times. Always an amazing sight. Plus the wind always seems to blow against the direction the water is moving...so lots of bumps to play with. The kite boarders are the most fun to watch....we have a few of those on our lake now. If they are out....then you know it is windy. They won't even show up for anything under 15. ~:0)
I was glad to see you and Puff on the San Juans list...hope to meet you there.
That is a tentative plan for me, for now. I will wait and see what Mr. Corn Dog comes up with for dates. I have already scheduled some cruise times for next year so the timing will be a factor. I guess we will be meeting all kinds of folks by the sound of it. A small trip like this, amongst all these folks....will be a stretch for a old Hippy Hermit. Have you done any saltwater sailing? My 15 seems a bit small for
the San Juans, but Gary Hyde tells me he's done previous trips in her, and there's no problem.
I am sure a 15 would be fine for the San Juans. The summers are notoriously light for wind in the 'Inland Sea'. But as with any sailing ground, things can get interesting at anytime or anywhere, so best to be ready or capable for the over the top stuff. I learned to sail in the 70's and 80's in the Gulf Islands (out of Sidney) and Victoria/ Sooke area. The main issues, in my mind, with sailing the salty is navigation/ hazards/ tides/ currents (timing) and anchoring. Sailing and boat handling are pretty much the same where ever you go. Other than a day sail over to one of the US San Juan islands ....about 25 years ago.....I have never been there. I would love to explore the area. Cheers, Tim D. M17 'Puff' Kelowna BC ===========================================
Bob Ogburn
From: Timtone <tim@timtone.com> Reply-To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats<montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: M_Boats: San Juans "07 Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2006 07:03:49 -0800
Hey Bob. Great story. I always wondered what that lake would be like to sail. Drove by there a few times. You are just a coupla hours south of me. I went through as through Wenatchee on the way to picking up my 17 in Portland last spring. Beautiful country. Nice to hear from you.
Glad to hear you are enjoying your new boat. Great stuff.
Cheers, TT #369 'Puff' Kelowna BC
Hello everyone,
I've been a lurker on the web site since I bought Gary Hyde's M15 Vanilla this Spring. What a great group of folks...very helpful and well informed. As a newbie to this sport, I've gotten a lot of good info from you all. In a previous life, I owned a 12' AMF Puffer, a sloop rigged day sailor which was a real kick to use. I sail mostly on Lake Wenatchee, which is a 1x6 mile mountain lake in the Washington Cascades. It's a favorite for the windsurfers, but a bit challenging for me, since winds can change pretty rapidly, and are sometimes a bit flukey. My wife's enthusiasm for the Puffer waned a bit when we took some unscheduled swims in the cold lake water.
The Monty 15 has proven to be a good choice for me...easy to trailer and rig, stable and fun to sail. Vanilla is a great boat, and nicely equipped (thank you Gary!). Pat and I have had a lot of fun on the lake this year, and I think we're comfortable enough to try some salt water next year. I would love to tag along on the San Juan trip in June, and would look forward to continuing my OJT with you folks.
Bob Ogburn M15 Vanilla (235)
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