Sailing Away from the Office

Fewer sailing ventures than planned, but still delightful

Article by Ted Johanson

Ted aboard his Core Sound 17 Mk 3 Avocet

WITH MY TWO SAILBOATS TUCKED AWAY IN WINTER STORAGE I can look back on my sailing experiences during the 2023 season and feel satisfied with a lot fewer sailing ventures than I'd planned. Two things contributed to this. First, most of June was devoted to a long road trip with my wife and family to vacation at Lake Tahoe. Second, I began working again last December after three years of retirement and boat-building—in 2020 I built my open cockpit CORE SOUND 15 from a full B&B kit and then, from Glen L plans that I had purchased in 1983, a 15-foot STILETTO ski boat that I had wanted to build since I was in high school.

I named them after my parents: Norma T (CS 15) and Joe (ski boat). The year after I built the CS 15, I bought a ready-made Core Sound 17 Mark 3 (with a cabin) named Avocet. Having three registered boats, I guess I now have a “fleet”… do I need some kind of special cap?

In my part-time work this past year I was essentially working 75% of full time, and it required nearly constant thought and availability. I greatly enjoyed what I was doing, but I began to feel tired by the time of my June vacation; it reminded me of how I'd felt just before I retired previously. I enjoyed my day-sailing in the 2023 season and even managed to venture onto some new waters with my boats.

A delightful memory from this year is an afternoon during our Family Camp Weekend when, for the first time, I launched all three of my boats (and 3 kayaks) onto Lake DuBay for a family messabout at the beach. I did not do any onboard overnight ventures this year. In contrast, 2022 included a few overnights and one several-day DCA venture on Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan with my friend, Don Silsbe. (Don wrote about that first DCA North America Region rally to Grand Traverse Bay in the DCA Autumn Journal, #255.)

I shall write now about a day-sailing venture this summer that stands out for me as particularly satisfying. I felt tired that July day and in need of a break from work. Instead of heading into the office I headed north for half an hour to the boatyard where I keep Avocet. I wanted and needed a relaxing non-work day in the middle of the week. What could be better than ditching work and being on the water for a while? I brought a blanket and pillow, anticipating that I’d take an on-the-water nap in the cabin. I also bought a tasty foot-long sub sandwich for my lunch and supper.

In 20 minutes or so the boat was rigged and launched onto Lake DuBay. DuBay is one of many lakes created by dams along the Wisconsin River. The River runs south from the dam through Stevens Point, Wisconsin, where I live, and there it offers another nice long flow behind the Stevens Point hydroelectric dam. This is where I often sail Norma T, my CS15. Another way I enjoy boating on the Stevens Point flowage is in my 15’ ski boat, Joe. Several times this summer my wife and I took guests up the river in Joe for a pleasant half hour cruise at about 20 mph to dock at the riverside restaurant ‘Bullheads’ where we enjoyed a beer, meal, and conversation before returning to the municipal boat landing. These ski-boat cruises have been a new pleasure for us this year. Several other taverns are located right alongside the flowage if we want some variety… but we really enjoy “Bullheads.”

Lake DuBay is much wider than the Stevens Point flowage, but not nearly as long, at least the part of the lake that doesn’t require going under bridges. For sailing purposes, Lake DuBay is about two miles wide and almost five miles long, with some interesting bays and diversity. The sun was shining and the wind that afternoon seemed strong, about 15 mph with some good gusts. I’m still enough of a novice sailor to not like my sailboats heeling very much, plus Core Sounds are designed more for flat sailing than are many keelboats. They are seaworthy craft and resistant to capsizing but can certainly go onto their sides, according to some Core Sound owners. I will need to do some capsize drills with my sailboats next year to learn my boats’ limits and maybe increase my comfort with heeling. Easing the mainsheet quickly reduces heeling to what is comfortable for me. With the strong wind and sudden gusting, I was easing the main a lot that morning.

My CS17, Avocet, has a water-ballast tank. Opening the forward-facing Andersen bailer filled the tank in just a few minutes. It provided more stability, like having some crew aboard, but I also decided to reef the sails. I had purposely not rigged all of the easy-reefing lines before launching because I wanted to see how my new system of lines could be rigged while on the water while dealing with significant wind. On a cat ketch, which is the sail design of choice on B&B’s sailboats, when the mainsheet is let free and the mizzen tightly trimmed the boat will naturally turn head-to-wind… the heave-to maneuver.

Avocet’s reefed main  

While hove-to, I quickly rigged the two lines on the mizzen sprit that, when pulled tight, can establish the clew for the two available reefs. I then put the first reef into the mizzen sail. Tightly trimming the mizzen sail again to keep the bow pointing into the wind, I moved forward to attend to the reef lines for the mainsail. When rigging at the boatyard I had attached the two extra downhaul lines for the mainsail that establish the tack for both reef positions, but I still needed to rig the clew lines for the two reefing positions. Things were flapping around a lot, but the process went well. I’m happy with how the controls are organized on Avocet. I double-reefed the mainsail to see what it is like. Woah! That created an amazingly gentle and calm feeling while sailing in the blustery winds… too gentle, even for me. I took out the mainsail’s second reef and, as with Goldilocks, it was just right for the day’s conditions.

With a single reef in each sail along with the water ballast, the boat felt great and stable in the lively winds. I enjoyed the sunny sky, mild temperature, and wave action as I sailed about the lake with no destination in mind. At lunch time, I decided to anchor the boat. I was experimenting with my new Navionics iPhone app and I noted a spot with about six feet of depth. I used the app to arrive directly onto the spot and released the anchor. Yep, six feet alright; the app works. The anchor immediately set with almost a jolt… I was impressed with the new anchor’s performance compared to what is now my back-up Danforth anchor.

Speaking of anchoring, my friend, Don Silsbe, had my boat for the six winter months of 2022-2023. He lives about a thousand miles southeast of me in a much warmer North Carolina climate. That allowed him to do some modification work to Avocet, including an intimidating (to me) structural project of moving the centerboard trunk forward about ten inches into the cabin space to enhance balance. He also added some niceties for sail-camping. Among the additions, he installed an anchor bowsprit that he had on hand and placed my new Rocna Vulcan anchor there. Plus, after doing this modification work, Don was able to spend a couple months in Florida with Avocet, sailing with new dinghy-cruising friends, some of whom are DCA members. I flew down to Florida for a few days in February to sail with him on Cayo Costa.

This morning, while reading again through the Summer 2023 DCA Journal, I saw Don’s recent Facebook post that had been brought into the Journal *. There, on the top of page 72, I spotted a photo of my blue two-masted Avocet beached on a sandy shore in Florida with Don Silsbe and “Commodore Dan” chatting together with coffee in hand. Seeing that post in the Journal motivated me to write this article… just for fun… being retired and all.

Back to my story. While remaining anchored and after lowering my mainsail, tying it around the main sprit that I raised above head level, I lounged in the sun on the cockpit seats and enjoyed my lunch. After some sun-time, I put up a shade tarp over the companionway and mid-boat cockpit. I’ve placed it before, but Don did some modifications and I wanted to check it out. Next summer, I plan to further improve the tarp’s shape and headroom with some lateral tent-type poles that spread the tarp out rather than forming an A-shaped slope down to the gunwales. Then, I will replace the cheap plastic tarp with some good material.

After all this playing around, I decided it was time to move into the cabin and nap on one of the two bunks. I enjoyed the peaceful wave action and sloshing sounds. I slept very well for a couple hours. It was much needed and felt absolutely delightful. Yes, this was much better than working in my office for the day.

                                   Avocet’s experimental sunshade

Getting things back into sailing shape, I enjoyed a couple more hours of sailing in the good breezes with a single reef in each sail, eventually heading back toward the boat landing to return Avocet back to the boatyard. Feeling very satisfied with the day and having everything put back together in the parking spot, I enjoyed my supper, the second half of my sub sandwich, before returning home.

As I write this, the weather outside is making its way toward the cold and snow of a Wisconsin winter. I have season-long ski passes to four ski resorts in northern Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. I’m looking forward to trying my newly designed downhill skis that I bought over summer; they are called Fun Carvers… do they sound like they could be fun or what? We shall see if they measure up to the promotional video.

I’m also in the six-month period where I must be content with remembering, reading about, watching videos, and imagining new sailing adventures I could take during the coming season. Some of my possible 2024 sailing destinations in Wisconsin that come to mind right now are:

• Lake Winnebago (30 by 10 miles, Wisconsin’s largest lake)

• Petenwell Lake (14 by 2 miles, Wisconsin’s secondlargest)

• Lake Geneva (maybe Wisconsin’s wealthiest lake?)

• Wazee Lake (Wisconsin’s deepest lake: an old mine with super clear water)

• Lake Mendota

• Castle Rock Lake

• Chippewa Flowage

• Lake Pepin (a natural lake of the Mississippi River)

• Leech Lake in Minnesota (possibly)

That is a sizable list, I think, and I didn’t include a bunch of other interesting-looking Wisconsin waters. I don’t feel all that ready or secure yet for getting onto the Great Lakes, such as sailing in the Apostle Islands area of Lake Superior or launching into Green Bay of Lake Michigan. I’m hoping to do several day cruises in some of my 2024 sailing adventures, as well as just staying aboard for an occasional overnight on my local sailing areas. I’m hoping to connect with other local DCA members to rally with them for some sailing. I’ve devised a comfortable way to camp aboard my Core Sound 15 with a cockpit platform and small tent. I’ve only slept on Norma T this way once, in 2022, but I will do more of that next year.

I also hope I can get my two sons and grandkids to join me using both sailboats together for some overnight sail-cruises. I have a good imagination, which can produce almost as much satisfaction as real experiences. I’m hoping that the real experiences will end up outnumbering the imagined ones in 2024. We shall see. —TJ

                           Avocet being retrieved onto her trailer. 

* This was placed in A Short Selection of Posts from the DCA Facebook Page, a regular four-page feature in the journal, produced by Jennifer Muscott the DCA Website Editor

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