Sunday, race 7: Andy Douma, crew for the race-leading Butch Minson, got his camera out (having no spinnaker to fly!). Alas, I think he set the camera for aperture priority and the camera couldn't handle the brightness of the day at that setting. Still, this picture shows the wind and wave conditions more realistically than the earlier pics from the shore. (l to r) Nick Seraphinoff got to helm The Maltese Falcon while Joe De Brincat crewed and is lying a clear 2nd; Richard and Michele pursue Marc who is 4th and trying to recover from a big deficit incurred when crew Al managed to wrap the entire main halyard tail around the flogging jib sheet as SHADES luffed on the start line; even without a spinnaker, Dave Moring and Kevin Rankin (r) are holding 3rd in this hull speed weather that makes having a spinnaker up almost superfluous on a run.

... Brown Water Snake which is harmless. Regardless, this fellow caused a certain stir until one of the LESC members picked it up (with a shovel) and moved it into the bulrushes up the shore a ways. In any case, even with the temperature having shot up into the low 60's F (15C), it seemed pretty lethargic!!

Gathered at the bar from left to right: Nick, Marc (in his new cap), Linda, Jeff Baker, Carl Schroeder, Tony and Jim. Jim looks especially happy, as we all congratulate him on winning the last race. In fact, it turned out that the Race Committee saw the finish in a different order: Butch ahead of Jim and Linda. Either way, a great race for both!!

Mike Murto points out an item of interest (an alligator) to his wife, Dotty, and to Joe De Brincat (l) - a little rest before he goes on duty as the awards MC. This seems as good a time as any to trot out the best Joe De Brincat story of the weekend: Race 4 had just started on Saturday afternoon. Marc and I were bow to bow with Joe and Nick about a minute into the race, when suddenly I heard Joe yelling: "Do you know where I am??!!" It turns out his son was calling him on the cell phone. The conversation was short-lived. Later, we were still neck and neck, as Nick and I were trying to out-spinnaker each other. To his credit, Nick chuckled when I asked if they would order us a pizza.