Full Tilt Sailing Team

Anchoring at Charles Island

Last Friday (the 4th) we anchored the boat at the island. Joyce had to work Sunday, and I'm on 24-hour call for work, so we couldn't go far. And since the weather was nice, we anchored by the island.

John & Celeste aboard Witchcraft came over and rafted up to us right around sunset. We broke out the bottle of rum we won during last year's Wellness Cup, since I'm superstitious and think if we don't finish the bottle we won last year, we won't win another this year! We didn't finish it, but we put a good sized dent in it, and I'm certain we'll have no problem dispatching with the rest shortly.

A spectacular full moon rose over the Sound, and towards 10PM our friends left to anchor on their own for the night. The next morning, we noticed that several boats were arriving and rafting up together. Most of them were flying rainbow flags, and (unsurprisingly) the crews seemed to be comprised mostly of same-sexed individuals.

It turns out that a little research when we got home early that evening (I Googled "gay and sailing and charles island") I found a link to something called the "Knickerbocker Sailing Association", which is a gay and lesbian-oriented sailing club. They had planned a raft-up to Milford/Charles Island for the Labor Day weekend.

After we left Saturday night, the weather changed dramatically. The wind shifted to the east at 15-20 kts, and that night two men took a double kayak out from the beach for a full moon midnight cruise. Apparently their kayak swamped and, unable to right it, they tried to swim to safety. Sadly, one of them was lost, and despite the massive search that was initiated early Sunday, is still missing and presumed drowned.

It's very tragic, but should serve as a reminder that you should always wear a PDF when kayaking.

posted by CT Bob @ 10:34 PM