Sailing Sardis Lake

September 3, 2011 over the Labor Day Weekend carried the boat to North Mississippi. Hurricane Irene sent good winds ahead of her that made Saturday a good day. The rest of the weekend Irene was too much to handle. Pictured here are my sister and daughter and son-in-law. Good winds, beautiful day, beautiful lake. I have been grounded all summer due to an injury that took surgery on my arm. This was the first time I was able to go back to the lake. We sailed about 3 hours.

6th Sailing, 9/25/10

Miracles happen! Margaret actually asked me if I wanted to go sailing? Needless to say I jumped at the offer and we took out to Lake Claiborne for a couple hours. We put in around noon and left the lake after 2 p.m. The winds were moderate for a awhile then died altogether. The winds were constant for about an hour so we were able to sail pretty far. We put in at the public landing and made it all the way to the dam area close to the state park. According to my GPS we averaged 2.5 mph with a high of 9 mph. It still gets hot during the afternoon but we are being promised a major cooling off in the weather this week. Margaret actually got into sailing holding the sheets and using the tiller. I keep telling her we are going to add the tent and go boat camping for the weekend to Lake Quichita... she keeps giving be the "read my lips" rouitine saying something like if our trip doesn't come with indoor plumbing, AC, and maid service, forget it!

Sailing Cross lake (5th Sailing) 9/17/2010

The motor was up for about 20 minutes,
the rest of the time we needed it.


Behind Larry you can see some of the beautiful
sites of Cross Lake.

We put the boat in at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Bossier (9/17/2010) for a couple of hours today. Larry Jernigan was brave enough to go with me again, his second sailing trip with me. Very little wind for most of the time, got in about 20 minutes of actual sailing, the rest was motoring around the lake. I am so thankful for my little 6 hp Yamaha. It really pushes the boat along nicely. The wind did come up for a few minutes and we were able to work on sail power alone. The winds weren't strong but the Wind Ketcher caught the wind and did well.
The heat was unbearable! These 100 plus temp days at the beginning of Fall is horrible. It takes the fun out of sailing in a hurry.
Every time I go out, I learn something new about sailing, rigging the boat, etc. I guess these low wind days are good training for me before we get some of the October gusts.

September 4th, 2010, Sardis Lake, Mississippi

My great niece


Showing off my boat to my nephew


Well, Wind Ketcher has been out 4 times since she took to the water. The best sailing experience was over Labor Day Weekend. I'm finally getting a feel for sailing. My daughter and her husband and my sister went out with us on Sardis Lake in North Mississippi. We sailed over 2 hours. The wind started very slow but finally started blowing. The boat handled really well in the stronger winds. We were able to plane out and she really moved over the water. Bethany and Brenda got out of the boat to swim. I had to make about four passes before we got them picked up. With the stronger winds the boat was very maneuverable. I surprised myself with the ease it took to come back to the same place in the water several times with nothing but sail for power. Now I'm looking for stronger winds. It definitely becomes fun when I can "ketch" a strong wind.

August 20, 2010, Second Sailing...

Jimmy Downs


Larry Jernigan


O.K. I'm learning to sail. My first time out I totally rigged the boat wrong, main and mizzen masts were interchanged, but she still sailed. My little motor quit. The center mast step, mizzen, cracked from a strong gust of wind. But it wasn't a complete break so we didn't have any trouble. I'm going to beef up the mast step to keep that from happening again. And, I didn't check the centerboard as I should have, it wasn't all the way down so we couldn't cut into the wind. But, it didn't take long to figure all that out and we ended up sailing for a couple of hours. The boat handled well and really moved when the wind blew. I've got a lot to learn, but the sailing trip was fun.

Larry and Jimmy joined me on this trip. They have absolutely no experience either, so at times we were rather comical. Oh, I never made it back to where we put in, I had to hitch a ride back from a nice older couple. We traveled so far down wind that by the time we decided to head back it would have taken too long to sail so we put in at the Claiborne State Park and I caught my ride back to the public landing. Also complicating the return was my little motor. I've decided a different motor is needed. The little 2 hp couldn't do much against the wind, and the gusts were coming directly from where we had put in and I just couldn't figure a way around due to the narrow channel. The motor just quit on me so I'm going to get it checked out, but I've got a lead on a good 6hp that may be better.

I'm learning... tips and advice appreciated!

August 13, 2010, 215.5 hours, 62 Days

Official LA ID Number for the Wind Ketcher


Well, she is official. Two Louisiana Fish and Wild Life agents came by Friday to inspect the boat. They gave me the official ID number.
Before they arrived I installed the Boston Bailer. A little bit of water leaked into the boat on her maiden voyage, so I needed a way to get the water out! The good news, the boat's sealed compartments did not leak at all. The only leaks seem to be coming from the rudder area, an easy fix. I will be putting the letters and name on the boat this next week. She will be called the Wind Ketcher. Hope to catch a lot of wind with my little ketch. I'm still looking for volunteers ready to go out and learn to sail with me...

August 12, 2010, Maiden Voyage!

The maiden voyage was a success. The sky stayed above and the water below. Light wind, so we had to use the motor when it was time to come in. The little 2.5 horsepower motor worked ok. It pushed us along about 4 mph, not going to win a race, but it will get you in. The wind was about 3-5 miles an hour so we didn't race about, but everything worked. She handles well and all in all I'm very excited about my new toy.

Loy and Deborah joined us for the outing. We ended up at Port-Au-Prince Fish house on the lake. Enjoyable dinner to celebrate. I can say one thing, Loy is an excellent boat builder and I enjoyed learning about boat building form him. Now, if I can just learn to sail...