TAHOE YACHT CLUB
LAKE TAHOE —
isn't twice as big." The South Shore faces a similar problem. "It's gotten very expensive to keep a boat anywhere in Tahoe," said Steve Katzman, who trailers his Express 27 to the lake from the East Bay in the summer, and sails out of the Tahoe Windjammers Yacht Club. "Rates have skyrocketed — a mooring that used to cost $800 a summer at Camp Richardson Marina is now $3,000." Katzman said that other infrastructure in the area has similarly risen in price, which, along with other factors, has adversely affected sailing. "Our numbers are really down. Like everywhere in sailing, it's the lack of infusion of young people. We don't have a junior program; we try to take people out sailing and boating when we can." Tahoe Community Sailing, a nonprofit that partners with Tahoe City, has one of the largest junior programs on the lake. "We'll have about 400 kids that will go through the program this summer, plus some adults," said Bryce Griffith, adding that about 70% of the kids are local, with the rest hailing from Sacramento and the Bay Area. Tahoe Community Sailing's race team heads over to TYC for the Monday night Laser series, keeping that fleet strong and participation high. Dinghies might be better suited to Tahoe's unique boat-storage challenge, although hitting the road with a trailer poses its own unique problem. After a short ski trip in December 2015, it took us nearly three hours to drive five miles on our way back to the Bay (it was snowing, but conditions weren't too bad). "What's the problem?" we asked a Caltrans worker, who shrugged his shoulders. "It's just Sunday night in Tahoe in the winter," he said. Some locals say that the summer traffic around the lake is actually worse because there are more tourists and an abundance of road maintenance. We're told that more roundabouts are being Page 98 •
Latitude 38
• July, 2018
When snow-covered mountains meet an alpine lake, there's bound to be plenty of magic in store for sailors and skiers.
built, and that — much like the Bay — timing (and patience) is everything. For example, try to avoid driving home on a Sunday night.
W
hile swiping through Instagram this winter, we found that a large number of our followers were on the slopes when they weren't on the water. It's not surprising. Skiing and sailing are, in some ways, similar pursuits for whatever unique category of athlete, enthusiast and bum the devotees of each sport fall into. It takes years to hone each craft, and while a high level of skill is attainable, true "mastery" of a sport dependent on nature is elusive. And that relationship with nature, which entails waiting for the conditions to be just right, is a process both agonizing and glorious. In a sping 'Lectroinc Latitude, we asked about sailors who ski, and skiers who sail. Here are some of your responses: "As for sailing and skiing, here's some of the obvious," said PJ Landreese. "Beautiful views, freedom to go/ stop/pause/the experience of exhilaration. Also, it's the fact that each activity includes something for the individual to accomplish and be fully engaged in." Paul Close said that he used to have "an O'Day 25, Another Snafu, on the lake. We'd put it in the water about this time of year [in May]. Often, my son and I would ski at Squaw Valley in the morning and sail in the afternoon breeze. From the top of Squaw, we could see Snafu on her mooring. When sailing later, we could admire the runs we'd shredded a few hours earlier. It was wonderful!" Tom Barr told us that he lived, skied and sailed on various lakes in Mammoth, Aspen and Shasta for 40 years. "Now I live on my Catalina 30 Banana Wind,
and sail my boat in the Bay. I've skied since I was 12; my two children were Jr. Olympic skiers for five years in a row." Mike Staudenmayer told us the story of how his Tiffany Jayne 34 got to Tahoe: "In 2012 I found the Mildred T. (or she found me) on the hard in Vallejo, left for dead. I dragged her up to Tahoe and spent a year refurbishing her in my side yard in Truckee. We launched in the spring of 2013, and were happy to see that she floated, and even more happy to see that she could really sail. "The sailing on Tahoe is pretty damn fun. The zephyr (thermal) kicks in pretty much every afternoon and blows at least 15-20, if not more, from the southwest. The north end of the lake gets pretty choppy with tightly-spaced 3- to 5-ft waves, but the narrow beam and deep fin keel of the TJ slices through nicely. Anchoring out for the night on the East Shore is like a cold-water Caribbean paradise. (Don't tell anyone.) The wind dies, the water gets calm, and everybody leaves, making for some unforgettable cruising. If you are patient for the zephyr, you don't even need an engine." Mark Blum told us that "skiing nicely fills the gap in the sailing season, which is pretty much limited to May to September. Summer sailing is quite mellow; winds generally blow from the southwest at about 5-15 knots from 2 to 6 p.m. Because of the surrounding mountains, winds tend to vary considerably. At 6200 feet, the typical afternoon temps, usually in the 70s to 80s, can be quite intense, making a bimini a nice addition (though a cockpit dodger isn't really necessary). "Except during low-pressure events, which usually last one to three days and are associated with winds of 20-30 knots and 2- to 3-ft chop, mornings and evenings tend to be calm. When it heats up to 100 degrees in the Central Valley it's not uncommon for the afternoon breeze to fail to fill in. You can be fooled