Chivita returns to her birth waters

Labor Day weekend, Lake St. Catherine, Vermont.  Chivita shakes off a l-o-o-o-o-ng hiatus and sets sail where she was meant to.

The LaFontaine Family camp, "Que Sera Sera"

The current fleet (not shown: the Sunfish "Brisas"

Headline: Boy Skips Stone, Follows Dad's Footsteps!

The following sequence needs a little bit of background explanation.  I set out with my niece, a Miami native with some dinghy sailing experience who now attends college in Massachusets.  The lake has been struggling with weed growth for several years and this summer is no different.  They collect on the foils (daggerboard and rudder) quickly ruining the boats ability to point up wind; we struggled with horrible lee helm all day.  Also, it's important to note that I still haven't addressed the halyard and downhaul cleats.  The sheets enter the cam cleats at a bit of an angle such that the tend to ride up and out of the cleats' jaws.  This happened again as seen in the time-lapse photos below (frames are at 30-second intervals).  Final note: we never went over.*

Trying to beat upwind in spite of weeds, Erin works the main

Keen observer will note shore has slip from right to left, indicating leeway

Helm crouches down, keeping hull flat in fresh breeze

POW!!! halyard lets go with tremendous sound; all ballast is windward, throwing hull to port; captain scrambles to make sure she doesn't fully tip!

Crew keeps her cool, but takes a nice safe seat while captain gather the rig prepares to row...

The rest of the story is that we struggled to row against the wind until we got to shore.  After a bit of deliberation, Erin determines we would look totally badass if we sailed home anyway.  THAT's the spirit; you have a bright future young lady.  Badass it was as we fought our way up wind, lifting the dagger board periodically and using an oar to come about.  We were both justifiably proud of our ability to overcome adversity.  (It helps that we were within walking distance the whole time, but still...)

Headline: Boy Commemorates Labor Day By Enjoying Leisure 

*...cue Robert DeNiro as Jake LaMotta: "You neva got me down Ray... hey Ray, you hear me? You neva got me down..."