Back From The Harvest Moon Regatta

Heading to Start Line



Starting Line



Leaving Boats Behind




 

Overall the Harvest Moon Regatta was a great experience. Everyone on board learned alot about sailing in heavy weather. The start was looking like we were not going to have any wind at all for the race. The gulf was smooth and it was a slow start. But within a few hours it started to blow and the the seas came up to about 3 to 4 feet. As we passed Freeport the winds were blowing about 28 knots and we were in about 6 foot seas. We were cruising along really well on a close reach.  As we were approaching Matagorda the wind was blowing 32 to 35 knots and the seas had grown to 8 to 10 feet and now we were more on a close haul and pounding through the waves. The waves were not swells but more like a washing machine on turbo wash. We were running full canvas so when the wind went to 38 knots we reefed the jib down about 40%. Glad we did because the wind then went to 40 knots steady with gusts to 49 knots. We were close hauled with the wind on the nose and beating into 12 to 15 foot seas with 20 foots breaking waves. This was making for a very wet ride. We also had the cap rail buried in the water. So if you looked out the forward portholes all you saw was water and fish swimming by. When we crossed the finish line we were doing 9.2 knots.


Everything inside had got soaked. Elaine & Jodie drove up to Port Aransas to meet us at the dock. We had reserved a slip at Island Moorings Marina. It was nice to see them on the dock waiting for us. Once we got the boat secured, another boat pulling in the slip beside us was blown over by the wind and hit the back of my boat. There was no damage except a gps mount. We then all went to the Club house at Island Moorings, which the service and food there was not all that good. But we were all glad just to be on stable land having a meal that didn't include salty sea water. Most of Saturday was spent cleaning up the boat. We found water being held in lockers and storage areas. We fresh water washed all the cushions and dried out all the cabins. Once we all got cleaned up off to the City Marina for the BBQ dinner, free rum and the awards...then the live band Hanna's Reef and Troy Allen.



On a Run Before the Big Seas

We took 4th place in our division. Not to bad since I lost two of my crew to severe sea sickness that incapacitated them. And I had one rookie helmsman that took the boat over five miles off course north of the rhumb line.

We came back the ICW from Port Aransas and had a great trip. The first night we found a place to pull in and tie up in Port O'Connor. There were several other sail boats tied up in the same area. The next night we were experiencing a minor boat problem and pulled into Bridge Harbor in Freeport for the night. It was like another party there with all the sailors from the Harvest Moon there. 



Sunset on the Gulf.



We left there and motor sailed back to Kemah the next day and averaged over 8+ knots.  

Jim

It was a great experience that will never be forgotten.



Oil Platform in Gulf

 


Dave & Mark

 









 Location : Kemah, Texas

Getting Ready for the Harvest Moon Regatta 2010

2008 Finish Line Port Aransas

The Harvest Moon Regatta time is here again. The race will start Thursday October 21st at 2:00pm. The race starts in the Gulf of Mexico off the old Flagship Hotel galveston Island. The finish line is in Port Aransas in the ship channel between the jetties. The race is offshore and about 156 miles. We didn't race the Harvest Moon last year but we are excited to do it again this year. The crew is together and ready to go and see what happens. We do this for the fun of the race and parties that are held in Port Aransas. To many of the boats that do this race are so anal retentive that they miss the fun of sailing. If there was a Bar-B-Que class we would be entered into it.

This year we are entered into the class called "Cruising Non-Spinaker Classic Canvas" I guess that this means we have old sails a flying. Or maybe this is a medafor for the old codgers running the boat. Who knows?

This year anybody can track all the boats that are running a spot tracker. We will be running our Spot Tracker so anybody interested can see how we are doing.

To see all the race boats click here http://www.trackleaders.com/harvest

To track just our Spot click on the top right of the blog to find s/v Barefoot Babe.

We have a Captain's meeting tonight and will get our sailing packets. This will give us our start time.

We will be staying at Island Moorings Marina in Port Aransas

Location: Kemah, Texas