Sailing on Lake Norman

North Carolina finally emerged from it's deep freeze and gave us a beautifully sunny, warm weekend to enjoy. I took advantage both days and got outside, brushing off the dust that has accumulated these last miserable weeks. It was most needed.

On Saturday, I was able to get out on the bike for a decent ride around town. Everything has been so desolate lately that with folks out and about, it looked like a scene from a disaster movie when people emerge from the wreckage for the first time. Good to know there is life after snow. I gave the bike a much needed bath and put on a new set of saddle bags I bought right before the first snow back in December. I enjoy riding quite a bit. I never thought I would, but the bug bit hard after tooling around town on a pair of scooters we bought last year and that was that.

On Sunday, I made my way down to lake Norman just out side of Charlotte, NC. My buddy Matt has his boats there and I went for the day to help out a bit and then for a sail. The first one of 2011 and it went very well.

We started working on his recently purchased Ericson 34. It's on the hard and he is going through a pretty intensive refit. She will be great once everything is done sometime in early March. Looking forward to getting out on her for some spring sailing.

Since we couldn't toil all day with weather the way it was, we walked down to the slip where he keeps his Morgan 25. He has done a great job fixing her up over the last couple of years and she is in great shape for a 1971. Although the wind was light all day, we were able to make a few knots and enjoy the afternoon. With a few cold ones and some good tunes to keep us company, the day was complete. We started in around 4:00 just as the breeze started to pick up and was able to sail the rumbline back to the marina. Actually, for the first time ever on any boat, I was able to sail her in to her slip without the motor. That was pretty cool. Anyway, I had a blast and look forward to hanging out more down at the Lake this summer. Thanks to Matt for the first sail of the year.