First Winter Sail Nov. 27th 2020

We have our boat in a very unique lake. With a 30% Salinity, the water rarely freezes, allowing us to sail year around. The day after Thanksgiving we were able to do just that.

We got to the marina about 1230 and left the slip about 1. By 1:30 we left the channel and motored out a little further to put up the sails. The weather was about 36°F with wind out of the northwest at about 7 knots. It wasn't a lot of wind, but was a bit rocky coming out of the channel due to earlier wind. We headed north which is not our normal direction in hope of getting part way up Antelope Island.

We had packed a ton of clothes to be able to bundle up. I had bought a Buddy Heater to warm the cabin in case we got so cold we needed to take turns warming up. Luckily we were able to just stick with winter jackets, an I still haven't fired up the heater for the first time. The winds were mild enough that we didn't have any heavy line pulling to have to switch to sailing gloves.

We still didn't make it to the south end of Antelope Island though. We tacked after about an hour of traveling at about 3 knots and then sailed for another two hours at 2.5 knots before the wind completely died on us. We dropped sails and had to motor back in. I am determined to make it all the way up Antelope Island next year.

Overall it was a really really great day.