Patti

Not necessarily in that order. Details to come.

We had a mini pre-celebration carrot cake for Fran’s birthday (which is tomorrow)— I guess I was enjoying it too much to think to get pictures. (That’s the birthday girl/skipper at the helm.) The wind was indeed all over the place today, both in direction and strength. Not exactly unusual, but hey, it keeps us on our toes. Gorgeous sunny day with Mt. Hood looking clearer than usual, lots of holiday-makers out on their boats and the beaches (I use the term loosely), plus 2 barges from 2 directions just in case we got bored. (We didn’t.)

A long list of firsts for me today: — first time on Skipper John’s boat River Weasel — first time participating in anything having to do with racing — first time being on a boat that anchored — first time learning about the role of the Race Committee Boat, including an introduction to the Great Flag Codes — first time meeting most of our crew, including Claudia, Dana, Letha, & Skipper John! While we were out on the river, we saw the I-5 bridge raised to let a big barge through, several long canoes (or something of that ilk) that looked like they were out for a training session, a large cruise boat, and a second, smaller barge. The wind, which was almost non-existent when we were on the dock, cooperated very nicely during the 2 races— then died down just when we were thinking of starting a 3rd race, so we decided to cancel it. Naturally, the wind came back up as we were on our way back to the marina! Still, it was a wonderful, beautiful time out on the Columbia!