Perfect Sailing Weekend

We had one of those weekends that's about a perfect as you can have.

It started a little late on Friday night. I had a 5:00 p.m. retirement reception for Al Black, a colleague for many years. The reception was in Blue Springs, near Kansas City...and about 3 hours west of Mark Twain Lake.

When Suz heard I would be going to the reception, she started looking for a ride to the lake. She was not surprised to learn that Tom and Sandy were headed up after work on Friday. They were happy to let Suz ride along.

Suz reported that they arrived a the lake at about 6:00, unpacked and stowed the supplies, and headed for Hannibal for dinner. Melissa, who owns Rustic Oak Restaurant at the lake, purchased another restaurant in Hannibal right on the Mississippi River. It's a great location with good food at a good price.

I celebrated Al's retirement and headed back to Columbia with my suburban full of passengers. It was right at 10:00 when I left my last passenger out at her car and headed for Mark Twain Lake. I gave Suz a quick call and learned they were on their way back to the marina after a great evening with Sandy and Tom. She would be ready to set sail when I arrived.

True to her word, Suz had most of the cobwebs cleared from Dragonfly when I arrived. I stowed my bags and changed into shorts and t-shirt before dropping the dock lines, unfurling the Genoa and sailing out of the slip to the light of a recently full moon. It's hard to beat a night sail with 5 knot winds, a bright moon and Suz snuggled up beside me.

We dropped anchor in Ski Cove at 1:30.

Clear skies and cool breeze awoke us the next morning.

Suz cooked pancakes while I planned the day. Surveying the cockpit and cabin top verified that a good scrubing was high on the list. Suz finished breakfast dishes as I grabbed a brush, deck cleaner and began the task. Two hours later we had a clean boat . We were both hot so took a quick dip in the lake to cool off and a quick shower on the stern swim platform to wash our hair. We were ready for the day.

I had just finished toweling off when a small John boat came around the point. As they passed about 50 ft away, the young lady on the bow flashed a big smiled and pulled down her top. I gave her a double tumbs up as they passed by.

The day was off to a good start.