Conference unifix::sailing

    I'll make your summer sound great !
    
    We have had the worst summer I can remember in my 20 years living in
    Newfoundland.  The cause is the fact that there is more Ice around this
    year than there has been recorded before.  Here we are in July and I
    could go to the local vantage point and count 15-20 bergs !
    
    We had 2-3 days of snow in June, the Inshore Fishery is a disaster here
    as the water is so cold that the fish are staying in the deeper/warmer
    Atlantic waters, just this week we got our first 2 days of sun back to
    back.
    
    I bought "Secret Arrival" in April, hoping (hah!) for an early spring
    - instead I got this.  We finally sailed her back in 2 trips, the first
    on June 29th -July 1st and the second July 12 th - 14th.  We saw
    Icebergs all the way, even counted 31 bergs one day and that was in 2-3
    mile vis.  We also had to contend with 2 stretches of pack ice (50% or
    so) that were about 2 miles wide each.  My crew were quick to remind me
    that I was not sailing my steel boat in that !
    
    Saw one incredible berg, we originally thought it was pack ice but the
    Ice forecasters confirmed it was one berg, the dimensions are 1.25
    miles by .25 miles by 60' height.  It was grounded in 120' of water. 
    Estimates of its size range from 80-100 Million tons !  You could land
    a Jumbo on it it was so smooth on top.
    
    Anyway, I'm very happy with my new boat, if DEC would only give me some
    time to sail her.
    
    Graham
    

    Hate to rain on your parade, but...
    
    New England has had the warmest, dryest summer I've seen in a LONG
    time.  We were sailing by the first of May and I haven't had my foul
    weather gear on for any length of time since!  Today is in the mid 90's
    and expected to stay that way through the weekend.  I was down in
    Newport early evening yesterday and the wind was a solid 20 knots out
    of the west and expected to stay as well.  
    
    The weekends that were bad in the Boston area we had the boat in
    Martha's Vineyard and had remarkably different weather, so we've lucked
    out!  The talk of icebergs sounds pretty good compared to the heat I
    just came in out of.  Now all we need is a report from San Diego saying
    it's like that all the time!
    
    Dave

    I think one of the problems we have had in UK this year is that the
    weekends seem to fall on the wrong days. I have sat at work looking
    at the glorious sunshine and steady breezes, only to arrive at the boat
    on Friday night to be greeted by a half a gale and rain.
    
    Perhaps we should start working Saturday to Wednesday instead.
    
    Chris.
    

    The dream is to have sufficiant funds not to work at
    all.................In '87 the Azores High didn't get established by
    the end of May and we had a poor season. The Channel Islands and the
    Brittany Coast were empty this year. If the weather continues like this
    a Motor Sailor could become to look attractive, or is that a symptom of
    old age creaping on. (A Moody Eclipse sails well as well as being a
    motor sailor) Last night all I saw was more lows on the way
    in...........so this weekend maybe summer......
    
    Pete

	G'day folks,

	Here in Sydney, Australia, it has only been officially winter for about
	three weeks.  We have had to put up with clear skies, winds from 5 to 35 
	knots, and daytime temperatures around 15 to 20 degrees Celsius.  This
	has been the best "winter" weather here that I have experienced in the 
	three years I have lived here (having moved from the South Island of 
	New Zealand, where relatives tell me that they have had the coldest 
	winter in thirty odd years - down to about -21 degrees Celsius).

	I only took up sailing after moving to Sydney, and am glad to sail in an 
	enviroment that allows me to sail all year round in reasonable comfort.
	Don't get me wrong, it does get cold, and occasionally the wind blows 
	strong enough to blow dogs off chains, but there is no need to winterize
	at all.

	Just FYI, Digital sponsor a winter series (round the harbour bouys) on
	Sundays, and a twilight series during the summer.  Certainly is a lot
	of fun.

	Smiles from down under...

	Klaas

    Meanwhile back in good ole Geneva, the weather is pretty close to
    perfect. the temp goes up to 37 C around lunchtime, & working in the
    shade around the house is the only place that is liveable.
    
    The lake of Geneva is a glorious deep blue & there is a force 2-4 which
    I have been enjoying over the last 4 days of Summer Hols, sailing &
    swimming, along the boat, whilst I've rigged it to move just under 2
    knots. Lake temp around 24 degrees, last time I checked it.
    
    			All the best,
    					Nick
    

    I have just returned from a week on the East Coast of UK - DEFINATELY
    summer there... the problem was how to keep the milk cool enough to use
    the next morning...
    
    Whenever it looked like rain (the land forecast kept on mentioning
    showers) we just hopped out to sea by 1 to 2 miles, and had gorgeous
    sunshine. 
    
    The only rain we had all week was 6.00 pm one night until 4.00 am the
    next morning... and that was a day when we finished sailing in the
    evening at 5.00 pm, and started the next day at 5.00 am

    Here in Mid/South of Italy I can say an obvious warm/hot weather.
    28 to 35 centigrades, good N to W winds, a couple of sudden N 
    storms on Bracciano lake have created some problems mainly to a
    couple of cats (capsized and rescued after many hours).
    Anyway good enough for sailing. The luckiest (sp) were windsurfers
    speeding the double of various Hobies 18.
    The real problem is the lack of crew: due to that my Snipe is still
    under her cover. Sigh! all my friends were on holiday and my kid was
    not so skilled, and now... I'm back to work.
    I agree with the shift of week-ends.
    
    Bye, and may the 4 winds blow you all a lot of (safe) fun.
    Ciao.
    Arrigo
    

    I would agree that on average it's been a beautiful Summer in the
    NorthEast US; however, I would note that virtually all the little rain
    or overcast we have had has managed to come on the weekends.
    

Here in Colorado it's been a wet summer,  which is unusual for a semi arid 
climate.  Just this week we had one day where it looked like it might even snow.
Normal weather here this time of year is bright sunny days with low humidity,
less than 20%,  warm 80 to 90 degrees with a chance of late afternoon thunder
storms.

I recently returned from a 2 week vacation at Blue Mesa Lake. My wife and kids 
decided it was too wet and cold for them so they went home after 2 days.  I 
stayed to see what the weather would do.  There were thunder showers nearly
every day but the sailing was great just before the storms hit.  The trick was
knowing when to get off the lake.  One evening my timing wasn't  too good.
The storm hit when I was about 1/2 mile from the marina.  Luckily I had my sails
down. I made it in ok but there were whitecaps and a strong wind blowing spray
in my face.

Blue Mesa is at an elevation of about 7300 ft above sea level its usually windy
every day warm during the day and cool at night.

Lee  B. 

    
    Well, here we are in June and it's still cold (59 degrees) and
    rainy.....very rainy. Over the past weekend, it rained 1"/day. The
    local rivers are flooding. I dropped a bundle of cash this year to have
    a bottom restoration done. We launched on Friday, and were unable to
    move our boat to transfer our boat to it's summer home due to the
    weather. Currently, our temporary dock is on the Black River.
    Yesterday, the docks were submerged, and there was a fairly strog
    current. Our boat is listing at the dock due to the current. We
    couldn't get to the boat to check inside. Too stressed to sleep, I
    drove back to the docks around 1:00am this morning. Found a big stick
    to feel my way down the docks (water was about 8" above the docks).
    Boarded boat, checked lines, inside, all o.k. Made sure seacocks are
    all closed. 
    
    This mornng, the owner of the shop that completed the bottom called.
    "Your boat is resting nicely". We talked about moving the boat down
    river to a safer place if we get a safe window. 
    
    Today, I'm listening to the radio, and they're talking about more rain
    for the next 4 days. People and businesses near rivers, and in low
    areas are being evacuated. Looks like more boat prayers. 
    
    Time to build the ark!