Woolie Boolie '06: The day of Threatening Skies...

Story by Mark Barr

We must have been desperate for wind. The forecasts were for gusty south winds of 10 to 20 and a 50% chance of rain. Did that stop us from sailing? Heck no! Most of us in the BSC are in the 40 - 55 age range, so it takes a lot to get us out there on a day with such threatening skies. However, the day shaped up surprisingly well in the end. Most of us managed to get in a good sail and the forecasted rain didn't arrive until we were driving home. Rigging in the upper parking lot were Mike Peavy and his crew Peggy (Nacra 5.8 catamaran), Mark and Paul Melcon (Prindle 18-2 catamaran), Kelly, Chris and Grant Barr with yours truly skippering (Thistle) and Jason Smith with crew Greg (Venuture 22).

This photo shows 3 of the 4 boats sailing on this day. Jason Smith arrived
and rigged up his Venture 22 right after this photo was taken. Photo: Chris Barr

While we rigged our boats, we could see dark puffs of wind out on the lake. It looked gusty, but there were only occasional whitecaps. The course for the day was set by the Principal Race Officer Mike Peavy. We were to start in the launch cove at the 5 mph buoys and sail upwind to the permanent orange buoys by the dam, down around Forman Island (Starboard rounding), over to the highway 162 bridge, and back to the orange buoys after rounding the floating bathroom 5 mph buoy. We had a 5 minute countdown and started to the sound of Mike Peavy's whistle.

The above Photos were both taken by Jim Adams. The wind was lighter in the launch cove and increased significantly as we headed out.

I'm sorry that I don't have photos from the race itself. It was pretty breezy and nobody on my boat had time to get our digital camera out of it's protective zip-lock baggie. We started 30 seconds late in our Thistle, but had a great view of the catamaran dogfight between Mike's Nacra and Paul's Prindle. They took off in convincing fashion and we followed, with Jason's Venture in hot pursuit. After rounding the permanent orange marks out by the dam, Kelly and the kids and I settled into a nice planing ride down the lake. The wind was southerly, so we broad reached on an easy plane on starboard tack. When the wind shifted aft, it seemed like the perfect time to put up our spinnaker. Just as we got it up, the wind came forward to a reach and we were presented with a predicament. With the chute up (all 200 square feet of it) and the guy untrimmed, the boat was suddenly healing violently. The boat rounded up suddenly and we capsized in about the same length of time that it takes to read this sentence.

As my family and I started our race, we had no idea that we would be swimming less than 20 minutes later.

We were all wearing polypro base layers and spray suits, but even so, the cold water shock was nasty. Kelly and I spun around and stood on the centerboard as the boat was going over. For a little while there, I thought we might jerk the boat up before it was swamped, but that was not to happen. We got the boat righted in about 15 seconds, but it came up completely full of ice cold water. To make matters worse, the spinnaker was re-inflated and in danger of taking us over again. I yelled at my oldest son Chris to blow the halyard, which he did quickly [Thanks Chris. Sorry about my vocal volume.] This dropped the chute in the water and gave us time to pull it back in and stow it. I climbed in the boat and Kelly swam forward and held the bow into the wind. We struggled a bit getting the bailing buckets out (fingers already fumbling with cold) and commenced vigorous bailing.

About 3 minutes later the water was only 12 inches deep in the boat and I was able to help Kelly into the boat. Before we could get under way, Grant got our spinnaker halyard untangled from the mainsheet and secured the halyard [Great job Grant]. We raised the jib and trimmed in sails enough to get the boat moving. After opening the transom drains, water started gushing out the back of the boat. We opened the suction bailers in the bottom of the boat and sailed away with no serious harm done (only psychological trauma, I should say). We were able to tack back towards the dam with only a little of that wallowing feeling, and head for home.

We all had cold hands and feet, but nobody but Kelly was shivering. It was good to get back to the dock. After putting the boat back on the trailer, we all changed into dry clothes and parked in a location in the parking lot where we could watch the other boats finishing. I couldn't have been more proud of my family. They all performed calmly under pressure and kept a positive attitude throughout the recovery. Nobody cussed or whined (not counting the skipper's initial "Oh Shat" comment as we were going over). I am certain that our capsize drill out at Black Butte Lake last summer paid off hugely. In my opinion, everyone should do this drill at least once.

Kelly and the boys and I got into dry clothes as soon as possible. All the wet gear was stacked on top of the car to dry. We made quite a sight.

After the handicap times were calculated, Mike Peavy finished about 4 minutes ahead of Paul and Mark in the Prindle. Jason and his crew finished in the Venture about 38 minutes further back on handicap. Because of my poor judgment with the spinnaker, my family had a DNF (did not finish) for the day. Even so, Mike awarded trophy socks to every body who raced, claiming that my team had earned the "Dunkin' Doughnuts" award. Thanks Mike for your continued sponsorship of this annual event and for the great Woolie Boolie socks you provide to the club at cost.

Mike Peavy presented the coveted Woolie Boolie socks to everyone brave enough to race (photo on left).
Jason Smith (center photo) and his crew Paul (Right photo) got 1st place keelboat. Photos courtesy of Paul Melcon.

The wind levels recorded on Oroville Dam are available for free from Sailflow.com. You can
see that the gusts were fierce indeed.

As we all headed across the dam with our boats in tow, the rain finally came. Paul Melcon stopped and snapped this photo of the water cascading down the spillway. This is a 17,800 cfs (cubic feet per second) release. Imagine what it looks like when they release the 150,000 cfs maximum volume down that spillway.