Konza Sailor, April 2004, page 4

Fall is upon us and another sailing season is about to fade into memory, but hopefully not before several more chances to enjoy skimming along on our amply full (unlike last year) lake. It's been a fun year to sail at Tuttle Creek Reservoir with unusually consistent water levels and cool (for Kansas) temperatures giving the lake a more Northerly feel. Come about January it will probably feel downright Canadian, but for now our weather has been most tolerable.

I'm happy to report that all moorings have been serviced, at the same time confessing a rather Tom Sawyer position on the whole affair. After having completed construction of the new work barge last year with the help of several members, some refinements were made this spring and a few bugs were worked out. The addition of a 3700 lb. Warn 12 volt winch and deep cycle battery to the barge made the job of pulling moorings "almost like fun". Bob Mullen and I tested the apparatus by servicing three moorings one morning and after working on a few more refinements I thought that the barge was ready to go to work. While I was involved with servicing one other mooring, that was my last involvement with the mooring work this year. Bob recruited volunteers, namely Ron Frey, Ned Gatewood, Chris Ross, Gene Lindgren, Bart Bartholomew, Ken Hays, Chuck Oaklief and Doug Gibson, and while my attention was diverted in other directions succeeded in totally completing the entire job. Not wanting to deny these worthy gentlemen the "fun" of pulling moorings I of course did not voice any objections. I do have small pangs of guilt, however, because I keep thinking that there may have been some way I could have charged them for the privilege of doing the mooring work.

Seriously, though, thank you to all the volunteers who helped with the moorings this year, especially Bob Mullen for heading up the project and getting all the eager unpaid helpers. Chief Pulled-in-Many-Directions really appreciates it.

Next year may be a quieter year at the club, that is until your board of directors decides what improvements to make with next year's membership proceeds. Like responsible drunken sailors with a paycheck I'm sure the board will act on several proposals designed to make the club more enjoyable to the membership as well as easier

to maintain. There's a lot to be said for ease of maintenance. For instance, after replacing all the hinge hardware on the dock this spring with much sturdier bolts and pins, I did not find myself hanging off the dock attempting emergency repairs in forty knot winds even once this summer. A few more years of these improvements and the hardest job we'll have will be to let the dock in and out. Saturday morning may become a time for sailing. What a concept!

Here's hoping that we have the same high water levels next year. It's great to sail without colliding with underwater obstacles. The rudder always looks better affixed to the boat than lodged on the aquatic equivalent of a granite boulder with half the transom dangling off of it. One particular stump I know of proudly wears at least four different colors of bottom paint (yes, you know the one). We hope that the claims of the Corps holding the lake relatively near normal pool during dam reconstruction are accurate. If we have to start yielding to dump trucks while sailing we'll know those assertions were in error. Find out next year….

Many thanks to everyone who helped at the club this year. Our facility is looking better than ever and will continue to improve. Just a reminder that we will be winterizing equipment and pulling the dock walkway out of the water on 4 December. This is an informal workday, so if you would like to join us in battening down the hatches please plan on being there.

Until next time, stay upwind