shaw island race

Sam and Mom waiting for the wind to pick up - which unfortunately never happened.

During the beginning of the race when there was some wind.
As you can see Dad is trying to hold the sail so it will fill. Yes we were this desperate to try and get some wind. The Shaw Island race is held each year and you leave from Friday Harbor and sail either direction around Shaw Island. Based on the photos you can tell we picked the wrong way around the island. We started off great and were close to the lead but the wind died and we ended up floating in front of the same dock for the next 4 hours. We would get past this dock and then the wind would die and the current would push us back to the dock again, We weren't the only ones - there was a whole fleet of us. It is the only race I have been in where boats had their fenders out during the race since everyone was drifting in to each other. We had a DNF - next year we will try going the other way as the boats that won picked the opposite way around.
Hey it was a great day on the water - good thing we enjoy each others company.

Shaw Island Race August 2007