Lady Bird 5.2 meet proposal

Posted By: Pehr Jansson (5.2 Austin, TX)
Date: 8/14/07 5:35a.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: Lady Bird (Bob Skewis)

>>Sailing on the East side toward Longhorn Dam would be nice. I would not do that. Some years ago, well at least three, my wife and I went for a walk around that part of the lake. We saw a guy out on a Hobie Cat. It was a beautiful sight. Father and son out for a sail on a sunny afternoon. At the time I was without a sailboat; naturally I was very envious being stuck walking the trail. When we were on the south shore about half way between Longhorn Dam and the I-35 bridge we heard a large bang from the direction of the dam. It seems the guy in the Hobie cat had run into the power wires that cross the lake. We were quite a distance away so we could not really see how bad the situation was for him and there were plenty of people much nearer to assist. EMS came via boat after a few minutes (surprisingly quick actually). Since we were not closer, I don't know what the final outcome was. Hopefully not as bad as one might fear. However, it certainly is something I would not want to experience or have anyone who reads my post recommending Lady Bird Lake as a sailing venue experience. That said, I think the power wires are quite far down the lake. But I would want to be dead certain that I knew exactly where and that there could be no circumstance that could carry me into them. Remember that is the direction of the current; so if something weird were to happen - as it sometimes does when sailing - that would be the direction one would drift. >>Hope to see you there one day . . . That would be great. Jenny said she had wanted to try sailing Town Lake also. May be we could have an Austin 5.2 meet on Lady Bird Lake some time this fall. If there is an interest, I propose the first Sunday in October.