Launch day #2 Sailing in the rain

Today we launched the boat for a 2nd time with the help of friends Jenn and Chris.  The weather today was going to be light winds with little chance of rain. When we headed for the boat it started to sprinkle  just a bit. We looked at the radar, and were not concerned by what looked like some light sprinkles that appeared to be passing through. We had a couple of small things to do to the boat before heading to the lake. On the way to the lake the rain had stopped and the winds dropped to nothing. As we started rigging the mast and boom, the wind picked up and the skies got a bit darker. We launched the boat without incident, and found that the keel was hardly dripping, after fixing it.

We  found a used electric trolling motor on Saturday that we put to the test. With the winds today the boat was all over the  place till Lori lowered the keel into place. After that the motor worked fine and should be good for most of the sailing we plan to do. As we pulled away from the dock, the rain and the wind increased, and it began to thunder and lightening. We were actually able to sail halfway out into the lake with just the main sail. It will be fun once we get the jib up. The rain steadily picked up until there was a complete downpour. All four of us were completely soaking wet as we headed back to the dock. We loaded up the trailer, and as we were taking down the mast and boom, the sun came out. Soaking wet, we returned the boat back to the "Nicollet Avenue Yacht Club." After a quick change into dry clothes, we headed to Punch Pizza for warm food.

We're looking forward to some sailing days this summer. Lori is officially not going to sail in the rain again, and plans on doing only fair-weather sailing.