Regatta Party Photos

FOX UPDATE!!!

As you may know, a few days ago I spotted some strange looking animals in the neighborhood. I suspect that they were fox. This is strange because there is no real fox habitat anywhere near here, nor has there been for a long time.

Anyhow - there have been no further sightings of whatever it was I saw. Were there fox? Who knows. It is possible, but I lack any hard evidence to prove or disprove my hypothesis. So for now the hypothesis stands.

And now.....COLUMBUS DAY PHOTOS!!!

All the photos may be found HERE. File names ending in "a" are the resized versions, and less than 125k in size (photo1a.jpg, photo2a.jpg, and so on). All other photos are closer to three megs in size.

Here are some of the photos I selected for publication!

A visit from the US Coast Guard.


Random people getting drunk and having fun on some overloaded boats.

Strange shit found floating in the bay. Nobody was swimming anywhere near this object. My guess it that it was tossed overboard for creating an offensive stench.


There were a good many boats out, but less than last year.


Another shot of some of the madness.


Got into a little bit of a water fight. Good thing the camera is waterproof.


And finally, the boat that I was tied up to. The little tiny blue boat in the picture is a 21 foot Contender, and was my ride out to the party. It is not my boat, it belongs to a friend.


Well that is about all!! It was a pretty good time.

Getting Splashed

And sloshed.

I found a Columbus Day solution. I will have to contend with the Contender - which belongs to someone else.

This has MANY advantages! Probably the biggest advantage is that I do not have to put my boat in the water. This means I do not have to tow the boat to the ramp. This means I do not have to deal with the madness that will be at the boat ramps today. Already - there are a lot of boats anchored out at the party spot. Trailer parking spaces are already filling up. Some of the smaller marinas are already full, or close to full.

And that is not all! It also means I do not have to pull the boat out of the water (more marina madness), trailer home, wash the boat down, flush the engine out, and so on.

Oh yea - the fuel tanks in the boat will remain at the same level! This is always good. Sort of. Actually it is a conundrum. If the boat fuel tanks are full, it means I do not have to put more gas in. But if I do not need to put more gas in, it means I am not using the boat.

Anyhow a friend of mine has a new Contender 21 footer. They are also members of a private boat club that has a lift. The boat is at the club now. So they can put it in the water without dealing with the marina madness.

Once at the party spot, the Contender will tie up with some other boats and all will be good.

The only issue is that the Contender has no top. So there is no shade. Shade is good. Shade prevents skin cancer. But I was promised that the other boats will have shade. And maybe even AC. Nice.

I am going to bring extra sun screen. A lot of extra sunscreen. BECAUSE............

October is breast cancer awareness month. And on Columbus Day there are a lot of exposed boobs. Now these exposed boobs do not always see the sun, and so they are prone to nasty horrible sunburn.

So in the interest of breast cancer awareness month I am going to perform a public service by distributing free sunscreen to chicks who want to go topless. I will even apply it myself, so that I am sure that all areas are covered.

Because that is how I roll. I am all about the public service.

Weekend Plans.

Columbus Day is this weekend! And what is Columbus Day you ask?

Well it depends on who you are. If you are of European descent then it is the day we honor the dude given credit for discovering the new world. Which already had people living on it. Now call me crazy but how can I "discover" a place that already has people in it?

HEY LOOK! I just discovered Walt Disney World!! Amazing! Who knew this place existed! And it just got better! I discovered Space Mountain, and a haunted mansion! Wow this is turning out to be a pretty good day!

And if you are of Native American descent, then Columbus Day is probably a day of mourning.

Anyhow none of that crap really matters anymore. What does matter is that a few decades ago some hoity-toity sailing yacht owners decided that Columbus Day would be a good day for a regatta. A sailboat race. Why not. They had nothing else better to do.

And so it began. A humble sailboat race few people here gave a shit about. Sailboat racing was something for the well to do, not everyone else.

However for those in the race, after it was over why not drop anchor somewhere and hang out?

And thus was born something people DO give a shit about - A PARTY!!

Over the decades, not a lot has changed. Few people gave a shit about the actual race, but the party kept gaining popularity.

Today, the party reigns king. The boring sailboat race still takes place, but nobody really cares. Many people are not even aware that there is a race going on.


This shot is from last year. It is not all the boats that were at the party. Some overnight, some are day trippers. Last year I stayed on my boat for two nights. I showed up at the anchorage late Friday night and did not return to the ramp till Sunday afternoon. I was tied up with some friends in another boat. They cheated however - bringing a boat with an enclosed toilet, fresh water shower, and cabin.

I had to jump overboard to pee, my shower was taken on the deck using 1 gallon water jugs I filled before I left, and there was no cabin to sleep in. I am hard core like that.

I do not yet know if I am going out this year. Ill have to see who else is going, and how long they plan to stay. Leaving late Friday seems to work out pretty well. The ramps are not as busy, there are places to park, and the cops are still setting up the DUI station but are not yet ready to process anyone. So it is a good time to leave.

If I go I will try to go Friday night again. Traffic on the water gets pretty heavy Saturday unless you leave really early. The party ramps up by the afternoon and really hits overdrive in the evening. A plan to return on Sunday, if other people can stay out that long, would be workable. If not then a return home Saturday night is possible.

If I go, Ill do the same as last year. Attempt to find someone to tie up to, and of course bring the kayak!