Spencer & Debi's Opening Day Adventure

 

We get up to the lake around 7:20 PM Friday.  It's cold and drizzling a bit, but we don't care, it's supposed to clear out by Saturday afternoon, and we're excited about our first Issy weekend in our "new" trailer, which we spent many hours prepping last year; new battery, solar panel, waxing, etc.

Find a spot near Mark & Lori & level the trailer - now it's starting to blow & rain with gusto, temp around 47, look at the iWindsurf chart to see how windy, average 30, gusts to 45!

No power.  Not a single miliamp, and the heater needs power to work.

Now I'm running around in 44 degree (and dropping) temperatures, it's gotten completely dark, and it's raining sideways at 30 mph.  I get the jumper cables out of the van and hook the trailer up to the van, voila!  Everything lights up perfectly, including that light on the outside.........wait a minute!  What  light on the outside?

It seems there's a light over the sewer dump station that has an exterior switch, and either we never noticed it was on, or some joker though it would be funny to turn it on.  Either way, it was on for weeks or months while the trailer was being stored, and drained the new battery dry; Our tiny solar panel was unable to keep up.

Mark & Lori, in our old trailer, can't light their heater either because it's too windy.  They have to brave the elements and run over to us to pick up the 2 quilts we had for them.  While they're doing that, the rain is changing back and forth from rain to hail.  HAIL!!  So after they go, we pile 2 quilts and a blanket on and go to bed fully dressed.  Poor Dinka's first trailer experience is not going well - we've trained her not to sleep with us, and now she won't, even when we place her on the bed.  We finally cover her up with a huge towel, which she seems to appreciate, and we all go to sleep.

In the morning, it's 41 degrees with a nice 12-14 mph breeze and a dusting of snow on the surrounding mountains.  Kevin & Linda arrive, the wind picks up a bit and they actually rig & go out, albeit briefly.  Then Debi, and Mark & Lori.  Where's Spennie the King, you ask?  Huddled safely on shore, watching the wind go up & down wildly from the warmth of his new trailer, and being a big weenie.

A few hours of charging with the van and the trailer works beautifully, even overnight.  Sunday dawns cold (39!) but beautiful, and warms up quickly, but very little wind, only about 14-15.  I have a brand-new Gaastra Neutron 7.0 that needs testing, so I go out for a bit, but it's not enough so we pack it up & come home.  Ironically, I'm the only one to NOT sail Saturday, and the only one TO sail Sunday.

We have high hopes for next weekend, grab your full suit & booties & c'mon up!

 

Spennie