12/9/15 Grants 5.8m 109L 85L

[John Freed]

Ken is either a good influence on me or bad... today it turned out to be good actually. Although when I left I-80 with a temperature of 39 and a slight north wind, I had my doubts. Surprisingly, by the time I got a little ways past the cattle guard outside Grantsville, the temp quickly went up to 50 and a strong south wind was blowing... Ken of course had his 6.0 rigged by the time I pulled up (plenty of parking was available). I quickly rigged my 5.8 before I could think twice about what the hell I was doing. We jumped in on the bigger boards (109L), thinking it best to avoid falling in... subsequently, I immediately blew my first jib and got a taste of that cold water. But from then on it turned out pretty good, for December sailing that is. The wind proved to be extremely gusty, but eventually we went down to 85 liter boards. Sailed from about 11:00 to 1:00, air temp not too bad, but water temp a little brisk, with snow/ice lining the northern bank. Again, I think the key was to avoid falling in as much as possible... So... with that, I'm thinking it's pretty much over for the year in Utah (although Ken will probably get 2 or 3 more days)... so.... Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! Happy Holidays everybody!

[duanekarren]

You guys rock!! The shock of hitting water that cold is enough to keep me away.