From the Boathouse: Mother Nature mars Lady Liberty’s weekend

Ahoy!

I was racing C-Scows out of the Lake Arrowhead Yacht Club over the Fourth of July weekend, and a bizarre change of weather occurred on Saturday afternoon.

The San Bernardino Mountains were experiencing thunderstorms and rain that began on the Fourth and lasted periodically for a couple of days. The weather almost quashed the plans of many visitors, who drove up the mountains to enjoy the three-day weekend, and the conditions were ever changing on Lake Arrowhead.

On Saturday, I was racing aboard a C-Scow named the S.V. Yacht Rod, and aboard were two past commodores of the club. The boat owner and skipper, Kurt Zimmerman, was at the helm, and Harry Borak was in the middle seat while I was playing the board monkey — as my daughter likes to call the crew position where you are the most forward person on the boat. This crew position is the one who works, along with other duties, the two bilge-boards, which are similar to centerboards but are located on both sides of the hull and angled out for the boat to sail at a 15- to 20-degree heel.

When we approached the starting line, the sky was darkening and the winds were gusting strongly over a very choppy lake. Our class began the race with the storm winds and water coming over our bow, which made for a very wet ride for a long course that the race committee had planned for the day. Our team was doing well in the lead while the race lasted, but we could see lightning in the distance.

Lightning is a major concern while on a boat with a tall metal mast, because that mast could become a lightning rod, especially when sailing on a wide-open body of water. However, the thunderstorms did not hit the lake. The race committee decided to cancel the race not because of lightning but because of zero wind.

The wind completely died, and every sailboat in every fleet was just floating on the lake, to the point where we could have drunk red wine without spilling a drop. We were towed back to the yacht club along with two other C-Scows by one of the chase boats, which are private boats whose owners volunteer with their crew to keep the racers safe.

The moral of my story is that Mother Nature does have a sense of humor, and you can never be 100% certain what she might have in store for your day of sailing.

Tip of the week is for boaters to check the weather before setting off, and to keep an eye on changing conditions while on the water. Throughout the years, I have received many thanks from radio listeners and readers for my weekly weather and sea condition reports, not only locally, but also northerly at Point Conception.

The local broadcast news and newspapers do not touch on boating conditions as part of their weather reports, which is usually “the sky is falling” — cut to a camera shot of water in the gutter. So that is why I conclude each column during the summer with my predictions for coastal boating conditions for Southern California, basically the San Pedro Channel, including Point Conception.

Weekend weather conditions will be wonderful for outdoor activities, with the daytime air temperatures along the coast reaching the mid-70s with sunny skies. The nighttime temperatures will drop only to the mid-60s, with increasing early morning clouds.

The local seas will be mixed, with 2 feet from the west and 1 foot on Sunday with a 2-foot south. The afternoon winds will be 10 to 15 knots with up to 2-foot wind waves.

Point Conception will be good, with the winds gusting to only 15 or 20 knots creating 3-foot wind waves. The seas will be mixed with 4 to 5 feet from the west-northwest and a 2-foot south. This is a weather window to round the Point from either direction.

As always, just keep an eye to the weather for any changes. Please be boat smart and boat safe. Lastly, please boat responsibly and look behind you before you turn the wheel at the helm.

Tune in to the No. 1 boating radio talk show in the nation, “Boathouse Radio Show,” broadcasting live coast-to-coast on a syndicated network. See times at https://www.boathousetv.com, https://www.facebook.com/boathouseradio and https://www.twitter.com/boathouseradio.

Safe voyages!

MIKE WHITEHEAD is a boating columnist for the Daily Pilot. Send marine-related thoughts and story suggestions to mike@boathousetv.com or go to https://www.boathousetv.com.