Doug, I'm jealous!!! We had plenty of wind here on the east coast (your old stomping grounds) but the temps were in the mid 20's and cloudy. No rain (snow) to speak of on New Year's weekend, even though they were calling for it. It's even too cold to think about working on some of my many projects. All I can do and sigh every evening when I pull into the garage from a long day at work and dream about the past CB cruises and looking forward to next season!! I'd give you some pointers on anchoring, but you know me............I can't even set an anchor on the muddy sandy bottom. (ha ha ha) I'm getting better though!!! Enjoy the weather and sailing. Skip M-15 1982 #208 'Wild Guppy' P.S. If you remember the story about how my boat was named, here is some irony. My two older brothers both have motorcycles and wanted me to purchase a bike so we all could go riding. I decided to buy my Monty instead. This was about the same time the movie 'Wild Hogs' came out, so my brothers started calling my boat 'Wild Guppy', the name stuck. Here's the irony. My one brother had been in Iraq and is now in Afghanistan. His tour (2yrs) will end in July of this year. He plans on riding for the month of August before he returns to the 'grind' of civilian life. So, we all decided to ride to Sturgis S.D. in August for Biker Week 2010. I now have my motorcycle license and a 'Wild Hog'. If I wear the right cloths, do you think I can pass for a biker?? -----Original Message----- From: Doug Kelch <doug_kelch@yahoo.com> To: Montgomery <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Mon, Jan 4, 2010 10:17 am Subject: M_Boats: New years resolultion - first cruise In keeping with the suggested New Years Resolution to sail/cruise more, I just pent 3 days cruisng on Lake pleasant in AZ. The conditions were apparently ypical for this time of year with high temps 65 - 70 and lows 35 - 45. The ights were cold enough to prevent any length star gazing but the stars were rilliant. The morning winds were around 10 kts, calm mid-day and 5-10 kts fter 3 pm. The night winds actually get quite strong. Generally very nice hough. The water level in the lake is up at this time of year and I was warned about he heavy brush and trees on the bottom of the coves shallow enough to anchor n. I bought a fish finder with a suction cup transducer to attach to the ransom and it worked well. There were some areas that were very dense with rush and others relatively clear of debris. The waters here sure are deep and he bottom is hard packed stuff that is poor holding. Has anyone tried a fishermans anchor from http://www.blueoceantackle.com/kedge_fisherman's_anchor.htm I am not sure where to store it but I think I will try the 15 lb one. The local club had a 14 boat raft up on Saturday night with the boats lternating anchors, bow and stern. I skipped the raft up and anchored in a iny little 12 ft deep cove at the far end of Coles Wash Arm. There was very ittle swing room so I anchored bow and stern. A CQR off the bow which was acing WNW and a 15 lump of vinyl coated lead off the stern. The winds that ight were quite strong out of the North and I was nice and secure. The large aft up however got quite exciting. Many of the anchors dragged and 3 boats ere on the rocks but little damage. Not much sleep there. One the way back to the ramp my topping lift block fell off the upper tang and I ouldn't remember how it was attached except that it was a shackle on the hrough bolt at the hounds. In fear of loosing the mast I dropped/furled all he sail and ducked in a quite cove. The binoculars showed that the nut was till on the through bolt and it was safe to continue. When making the repair n land I discovered that I had use a shackle with a screw in pin. The pin had nscrewed itself. I gues the lesson here is that any upper fitting that cannot e inspected should be using good cotter pins. Well, Happy New year to all. Looking forward to the Lake Havasu Poker run. Thanks Doug Kelch 15 #310 G Seas the Day" ______________________________________________ ttp://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet!