Last year, Memorial weekend was crap for weather. This year made up for it big time! The hardest part was the 2 hours of packing up Saturday morning. Add to that the pre-teen resistance to anything that requires work and it was a bit of a challenge just getting out the door.

At the boat, we spent most of the day cleaning up. I use the term 'we' lightly here as it was actually Minna who did most of the cleaning up. I spent about an hour wiring up the mast correctly for the first time in 6 years. Celia kept up with her busy self and entertained us all. The winds were crazy and we didn't regret missing a day of sailing. It blew well over 15 with regular gusts over 20. It would have been too much for our warm-up sail. It blew all night and rocked us in the slip while halyards banged all around us (I'm not a fan of that sound).

Sunday was great! The winds had calmed down a bit and stayed in the 15 knot range with a few puffs near 20. The knot meter lied to us with the occassional display of 8kts (theoretically impossible). The wind was WNW which means flat water on Lake Pepin.  We sailed main and staysail down the lake, hoisting the yankee for the return trip. More than once we heeled to 30 degrees. The girls were on the downwind side, dragging their feet through the still ice-cold water and squealing. The Kyllanens were with us making for good company to add to the mix.

A major wind shift south came on Monday. When the wind is from the south, that makes for some serious chop on the 30 foot deep lake. Winds were near 20kts The forcast was for rain, but it missed us. We went out for an hour and bounced around a bit with some 4 footers crashing over the bow. It would have been fun if not for the anxiety over the little ones' comfort (though they seemed to be having a ball).

This weekend was definitely a winner!