Gypsy traveled up to Marina del Rey for a weekend of boating and an attempt at the annual Malibu and Return race sponsored by Del Rey Yacht Club (www.dryc.org). I say attempt as many times this race turns out to a light air sloppy seas affair and this year was no different. The turnout though is usually over 100 boats and this year had 106. Sometimes though it can be a beautiful sail up the Malibu Coast and back so worth the effort to make the trip. The weather for the weekend was shaping up as a summer weekend in dead winter (Which it did). So Dad with sons Steve and Paul (Chris elected to hang out on land) took off for some good times on our boat. The delivery up Friday was stunning as the air was clear and temps were mid 70's on the water. Visibility was great with views from the snow capped mountains of SoCal out to Catalina and up to Pt. Dume. We arranged for a guest slip at DRYC and had a great afternoon/evening there enjoying the facilities and a nice dinner in the dining room.
Saturday brought the same weather to enjoy with Steve Steinberg, Jenny Paul, Chris and Karena joining us for what turned out to be a nice day on the water but the race was not to be for us. The wind never really filled in so we started the race and sailed only 5 miles made good in two hours and elected to spend the next two hours lazily sailing back to the harbor. The conditions (Sloppy seas and light air work to windward) were not Gypsy's strong suit. Our position at the time of withdrawing was well in the back of our pack with no potential of any improvement. The fact that this could easily be a 10 or 12 hour race for us on a 22 mile course was not really an option for us!
We then dropped off the folks who drove up to MDR to sail with us and the Washburn Boys proceeded to deliver Gypsy home to Long Beach. This 4 hour motorsail was the highlight of the weekend and what owning Gypsy is all about. Dad, Steve and Paul spend the time on deck having fun, talking, answering questions and looking up stuff we could not figure out. We had the pleasure of a fellow boater on his Hunter 46 motoring out the channel asking if Gypsy was brand new!! When we said she was 33 years old we got the thumbs up. A great feeling. We watched in amazement as the sled Magnitude 82 motored by us 40 feet away going 10-12 knots with no wake off Pt Vincente. Steve commented that we must have looked good ourselves as they were taking pictures of us. We enjoyed a stunning sunset and red sky with a tiny green flash. And when the stars came out Paul dove below for the star charts identifying constellations for us. He insists that Leo looks more like a mouse than a lion, who am I to argue!!! The traffic in and out of LA Entrance was busy so the Washburn Boys got a lesson in running light and range light interpretation.
We arrived back in the slip safe, did a quick put away and headed home for dinner and relaxation.
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