Friday, July 27, 2012

Lazy Days of Summer

We spend our summers in Switzerland, and also enjoy sailing here.  It's a very different experience than sailing in the Caribbean, though.

We have a small keelboat, a Beneteau 21.7s, that we sail on the Lake of Lucerne.  The "Baby Beneteau," named "Little Dipper," is 21 feet long and has a keel that can swing up in shallow water.  She has a small cabin where you could take a nap if you wanted, but not really very much in the way of accommodations.

Sailing here is usually a very relaxing affair.  The scenery around the lake is absolutely beautiful:




Which is a good thing, because the sailing isn't very exciting.  It's very common for the wind to blow at only 3-4 knots, and then get lighter still in the middle of the afternoon.  It's a pleasant surprise when the boat moves faster than 3 knots, and not uncommon to be moving at less than 1 knot.   Like I said, relaxing.

But the scenery makes it all worthwhile, and we really do enjoy being out on the water, in the sunshine, enjoying the feeling of being propelled, almost silently, solely by the wind.