Growing up next to a lake in Jamestown, North Dakota had its benefits. It was always fun to explore the shore for hidden treasures, skip shards of shale, and fish for northern pike and walleye. I remember many sunny, fall afternoons growing-up when I had the chance to grab my pole and a landing net after school to head-off down to the reservoir and try my luck landing pike. Sometime around my early teens, my Dad bought a 16 foot Lund fish-n-ski boat for the family to go fishing and water skiing. My friends and I must have run-up some big bills charging all that gas and oil on my dad's tab at J&L gas station. Thanks Dad!
Fast forward about 20 years to 2004. I took a job in the Twin Cities with
Sauer-Danfoss. My wife, Liz, and I found a nice home overlooking
Excelsior, MN, a wonderful bedroom community on the south side of
Lake Minnetonka, thus far unaffected by the extreme make-over Wayzata wannabes. With Lake Minnetonka so close by and growing-up on the water, it was only a matter of time before I would get my own family involved in water sports.
It didn't take me long to discover that Lake Minnetonka is smack dab in the middle of "Lah-Lah Land," a local term I first heard from my brother-in-law, Jeff. Lah-Lah Land refers to the unencumbered spending by more than our "fair share" of corporate executives (especially healthcare related) living in the Twin Cities area as evidenced by multi-million dollar mansions and 40 foot multi-big block engine yachts lining the shores of relatively small Lake Minnetonka. I hold no grudges against these so-called "rich" people, just telling you the facts.
When Liz and I took the kids down to the beaches around the lake during the dog days of summer, there was always no shortage of boat traffic on the lake. I wished that we had a boat to get out on the lake as well. There seemed to be an unusual number of PWC jumping the wakes of power boats. Well those weren't PWCs wake jumping, those were 16-20 foot runabouts, ski boats, and fishing boats going airborne on the wakes of those mega-yachts! It is chaos on Lake Minnetonka during those perfectly still wind days when all power boaters want to get on the lake. Then throw into the mix the locals'
Big Island scene, a smaller version of the Tampa Bay Gasparilla.
With all the mega-yachts creating 3 foot waves with superposition'd 6 foot swells appearing out of nowhere, I quickly figured out that we were either going to either get bounced around in a "small" runabout as well or we needed to look beyond a 20 foot craft. So the hunt for a 20+ foot boat began.
Let me tell you that the cost of boats, at least locally, has risen just a tad since my Dad bought his boat. It didn't help that I was also looking for a bigger boat. Coupled with the limited amount of public access on the lake which drives up the price of slips on the water, owning a boat on Lake Minnetonka in no cheap affair. Matter in fact, owning a boat and storing it on Lake Minnetonka is cost prohibitive for most families. My family was no exception. Owning a 20+ foot power boat and fueling it was simply not an option even if I trailered it home after each use, but I was determined.
A few of the times we visited the lake, the wind was blowing like many of the days I remember growing-up in North Dakota. On the longer fetches, stronger winds created 3 foot waves rolling into shore instead of the endless parade of power boats running up and down the lake. Sailboats were now in a long line with only a few power boats dotting the horizon. The sailboats seemed to gracefully scoot back and forth with the ease of the wind. What does it cost to own a sailboat?
The cost of sailboats is deceptive. Older boats with worn sails are nearly give away. Yet cutting edge, high tech rigs are all the cost of any power boat. After looking for some months as what was out there and what I could afford, a Lyle Hess designed, 1976 Balboa 26 from the South Shore Yacht Club in Milwaukee, WI came-up in my search.
My older son, my Dad, and I made the trip to Milwaukee in the middle of a late March snow storm to go look at this sailboat! I ended up buying her and we hauled it back across Wisconsin on clear roads lined with high snow banks. It was a fun and memorable trip. My first boat! What should we name her? How exactly do you sail?
Our neighbor, Ed, back in North Dakota invited us kids to sail with him a few times, but that was hardly enough time to have learned anything about sailing, but I knew it was fun. My wife agreed to
Take Five after
Hot Ruddered Bum didn't fly.
Take Five was no doubt the right choice looking back. After reading about the basics of sailing and stepping the 28 foot mast a few times in my front yard, it was time to give her a try on the lake!
Take Five was fun to sail, at least for my first sailboat! Besides being my first boat, she carried the entire family with room to spare, was stiff in a breeze, slept five, had a porta potti
with a door, a kitchen table, an alcohol stove, and even two small sinks! The first few times we took her out, only the mainsail was raised and we went nowhere fast. It was still fun! When I gained confidence and added the jib,
Take Five started to move. One weekend when my brother-in-law, Jeff, and I took
Take Five out in a stiff breeze, I took my attention away from the tiller and in a moment we proceeded to spin cookies in the middle of the lake doing back to back round-ups.
Take Five was a 3600 pound RV including the 1200 pound unfaired keel she slogged through the water and thus moved relatively slow. Speed wasn't a problem because I had nowhere to get to quickly and the sheer size of her yellow hull was like a warning beacon to those 40 foot power boats to stay clear on this inexperienced but determined "prairie" sailor!
The boys on our first outing with
Take Five with me motoring into the evening. I was just happy getting the boat off the trailer, stepping the mast, and into the lake with everyone in one piece.
My buddy, Chris, helped my get
Take Five into the water. Couldn't have done it without you, Chris!
I wasted no time gaining experience sailing by going for an evening sail on Lake Minnetonka. My oldest son and I sailed into the moonlit evening in a gorgeous warm freshening breeze.
Once we hit the channel and hoisted Ego Tripp's main and genoa, it was off the races! It was my first time experiencing the countdown sequence, 5 ... 4, 1 ... and the start of my first race! The wind was blowing 12-15 knots that day and the sail was perfect. The tide helped us move 13 knots upwind! This was racing and I was hooked! There had to be a way that I could get involved in racing back on little old Lake Minnetonka.
CBYC runs IRC, PY, and J/80 sportboat fleets. Through that summer and the one to follow, I made some wonderful friends that I shall never forget racing on the Bristol Channel. I became known as "the American" at CBYC. Thanks for the invite to your backyard barbie, Tom, and crewing for you on Ego Tripp! I'll bring the wine again any time. Thanks for schooling me on proper English, Steve Parker! Ta ra!
Grinding on the winch on the low side of boat is no fun when going over those rollers coming down the channel. After coming up for air and to see the horizon, I tossed my cookies :-) You always seem to feel like a champ afterward so I took some photos.
