At least we finally went sailing !!

[Timm R Oday25]

We finally launched Enigma in the first week of July this summer .I couldn't find our mooring . A complete stranger on The Sail Net forum was kind enough to let us use his .
I made a trip down to the boat every Saturday for over month . Each time was to install some goodie that I had purchased but had never made time to actually install .
 One of them was a long overdue replacement 135% Genoa . Along with a Boomkicker topping lift and a Tiller Tamer .
Yesterday morning Bobbie and I loaded up the dinghy ,oars ,our new to us 2.5 Yamaha outboard ,water bottles ,dog's pfd ...and hit the interstate for the hour drive east to Milwaukee .
The winds were consistently 10 miles a hour out of the northeast . Fairly unusual for us . Once we had motored out to Enigma , we started offloading the dinghy Ruby first .
 Bobbie was wearing a straw cowboy hat . A gust blew it off her head .
Trying to be a valiant husband ,I volunteered to bring it back to her .I was lowering my self back onto the dinghy when the dinghy started to fall away from the mothership . Gravity took over and withing seconds I was overboard and in Lake Michigan . This time of the year ,the lake is as warm as it's ever going to be. I popped back up to the surface and threw my glasses into the dinghy .
During the fall one of the oars popped out of it's oarloack and sank to the bottom . I received a fairly nasty gash on my elbow .
A minute or two to collect myself and I retrieved the cowboy hat .Once back on the sailboat ,I changed into some spare dry clothes we keep on the boat . We hung my wet clothes on the lifelines .
The ouboard started eventually and we headed out of the mooring field .
With a reefed mainland the new Genoa only rolled out to perhaps 100% we sailed for a few hours behind the breakwater .
To use Charles phrase ,Bobbie's " Personal Pucker Factor " had been reached quite a few times .
It truly felt great to be sailing again after all this time .

[Spot]

Your joy is also our joy, your pain is also our pain (but not as much)! 
Glad you made it out. Hoping to do so myself today.
I got surprised by a hornets' nest under the cover of the trailer brake mechanism.
I lost the retaining knob some years back so I need bind it or remove it before flight.  So glad it happened in the driveway not far from a can of spray.

Waiting on crew for final loading and departure. Winds are 5-15 mph and it will be reaching the long ways on the lake/reservoir coming and going except a small upwind back to the ramp.

[Norm L.]

While your actions may cause some people to wonder, there is no real doubt that you are not just wet behind the ears.

That was a bit of a concerning incident. We're so pleased that it ended in a happy sail.

[Riley Smith]

I hate it when that happens! No, not the sailing part, the falling in Lake Michigan part!

[Captain Kidd]

Sounds like the sail was nice if not the start.

I'm planning a 3-4 day sail in October. More than my normal couple hours or occasional over nighter. Looking forward to it.

[Timm R Oday25]

Norm nt , most folks who around me daily wonder about me . I was complacent for just split second .
During the day ,being complacent for even a split second has caused me more than one trip to the local E.R.