February 2022 Papoose Article

Yacht Clubbers had a great time at our December party hosted by new members Dori Scanlan and Patrick Jalbert who recently moved to the Lake. One day last summer they strolled by the Yacht Club and encountered some friendly sailors who encouraged them to join our jovial group, which they promptly did. They were busy last year moving in and didn’t go sailing, but they came to most of the parties. Then they decided to host one, and generously welcomed us in their new home in December. Pictures of the sweater contest and gift exchange are posted on our website: www.LakeMohawkSailing.org Many thanks to our webmaster Ian Oldridge for keeping us up to date!

We are planning the first of our 2022 events – an indoor movie night. We will be screening the movie “Wind”, a spoof of sorts on the America’s Cup race, which debuted in 1992. The racing scenes are intense, and fully capture the importance of knowing about wind – where it’s likely to come from, what it looks like on the water, how to handle it when it gets to you. So I thought I’d pen a few paragraphs about the winds on Lake Mohawk.

Sailing on Lake Mohawk is always challenging and usually fun. We can have really strong winds, as in this picture of a Snipe on the brink.

Or we can have light air days when we can barely keep out of each other’s way, as in this scene of a calm late summer day.

But our usual and favorite sailing wind comes straight up the lake from the southwest heading toward the Boardwalk at 5-10 mph. Due to the hills around the lake, the “prevailing westerlies” travel down the western hillsides and then curve up the lake due to hills on the east side, turning the wind direction into a southwesterly. Then we usually have a race that follows the diagram pictured, from the starting mark (1) to the weather mark (2) over to the jibe mark (3) then back to the start to repeat that sequence and end with a 7^th leg up to the weather mark to finish. With this wind, sailing to weather (mark 2) you usually get a nice lift off either the Island or the Balsam shore which often beats trying to tack up the middle of the course.

In the summer we often have light air in the morning and on race days we hope for a shore breeze to fill in. (Yes – the Jersey Shore.) This happens in the warm months when the cool air over the ocean rushes under the rising warm air over the land and then keeps going 30 or so miles inland. It takes a while to get here, usually not until the early afternoon. It comes over the Byram end of the lake as if cruising down Lee Hill Road. We can watch the ripples on the water as it comes up the lake and fans out upon reaching the widening of the lake between Balsam Pkwy and the mouth of Turtle Cove. This fanning is more pronounced on the West side where the wind is stronger (the East shore being largely in the lee). Often on the beat, after sailing on port tack past the Island, you want to tack to starboard to reach the mark but keep getting lifted and have to sail past the mark in order to round it. Much thought and anguish are put into the decision of when to tack, complicated by the unseen subterranean rock wall in that region. But after rounding the weather mark we usually get a decent reach and run back to the start, and then do it all again.

Our next most common wind comes from the North and is usually strong and shifty. Easterly winds are not so common, and are generally lighter. Too much to cover here, so perhaps in another issue. If you are interested in the wind (what sailor isn’t?), a classic in the field is Dr. Stuart Walker’s 1973 book “Wind and Strategy” which is still in print.

Thinking of why we do this, here’s something Gary Paulsen wrote in his book “Caught by the Sea: My Life on Boats”:

“...this beginning motion, this first time when a sail truly filled and the boat took life and knifed across the lake under perfect control, this was so beautiful it stopped my breath...”

Until next month,

Smooth Sailing and God Bless America!

Gail Miner