Sailing is a time machine
The abrupt end of summer weather is a relief for the possibility of an early end of fire season but leaves a somewhat melancholy air with the memory of hot summer winds so fresh in memory.
Jim and Gloria Boland of Quincy sail on Lake Almanor through the summer. They extended an invitation to come along. “Sports” surely needed a “sailing” story. So in the name of duty, I bucked up and went along. Truth is that sailing is one of my all time favorite activities and I was jumping at the chance to get on the water.
Their 25-foot Catalina 250 named, “Between the Sheets,” does a wonderful job of catching the breeze under the guiding hands of its two competent co-captains. The boat came to the Bolands in 2015 when they hauled it all the way from its purchase location in Texas to the clear waters of Plumas County. It’s easy to imagine, Between the Sheets, she is happy about the move.
The early September afternoon winds were plenty to keep the boat moving across the east section of the lake for hours. Boat traffic was light and only one other set of sails was spotted raised and filled. A few wave runners passed by and a boat or two splashed through towing a rider bouncing along on a float of sorts, but even that only fattened the feel of a summer day full of serenity and solitude.
One day on the water is enough to instigate thoughts of, “I have to do this more often, I think I need a boat,” a common reaction apparently. The motivation is easy to recognize for this reporter; Youth!
Getting on the water is timeless and memories of my first trips in Newport Bay rush to mind. I can see the 3-year-old in my eyes riding on the bow of the boat. I quickly recollect sailing in Dana Point Harbor on a 43-foot Ranger and our racing team. I was 23, and it all comes rushing back in just a few minutes on the water with the wind in my face and the waves bouncing beneath my feet.
Au revoir summer, until we meet again on the other side of a Plumas winter, and snow and frosty magic. Oh boy!