The 100th Mills Race is in the Books!

We Finished!

We finished the Mills Race about 3:15 am Saturday morning, following a 5:25 pm start Friday night.  We had a pretty good start and lots of wind, which began from the west but moved north as the night progressed.  This was our third Mills Race for our crew of 6 on Encore, and it turned out to be the most exciting by far.

We headed south of West Sister Island on a starboard reach downwind, surfing the waves and at times exceeding 14 knots, which is as fast as we have ever gone in Encore. We felt that we were in 1st or 2nd place as we approached Catawba Island about 9:30, just as the sun was setting.

But then just as we tried to jibe over to Port right about where the Battle of Lake Erie was fought we got hit with a blast that must have exceeded 30 knots, knocking us down hard.  I thought the race was over for us but my skilled crew got things sorted out quickly and we were back in the hunt.

Just as we neared the Sandusky Bay light, the most easterly mark of the course, the spinnaker halyard, our downwind sail line, got twisted around the jib line.  We couldn’t get the spinnaker down and we couldn’t get the jib up.

While my crew worked feverishly to untangle the mess we drifted to the east, the opposite direction we wanted to go.  Finally with maximum effort the mess was untangled and we were able to continue.  Later we calculated that we had lost almost an hour in these two incidents.

The ride back to the west was all upwind, requiring several tacks until finally we got in the lee of Middle Bass Island, rounded Starve Island, and headed south to the finish. Everyone was exhausted and some of us, including me, fell asleep at the tiller for a few seconds.

After finishing at 3:15 am we were convinced we were dead last.

The worst was yet to come.  We took down the sails after finishing and tried to start the engine.  Nothing.  The wind was still strong from the west.  Two nearby boats ignored our request for a tow, so we drifted down wind and I steered for what appeared to be a large pier.

Once we had tied up we realized it was the ferry dock for the Jet Express Ferry!

We were too exhausted to care.  After securing the boat we all fell asleep, in spite of the bouncing boat and jerky motions.

A few hours later we awoke to a horn, and concerned that the ferry was approaching jumped up on deck.  It wasn’t the ferry but I decided to try and work on the engine.  I bled out the diesel line and sure enough it cranked right up.  We moved to our assigned berth and tied up on the outside of 2 other boats.    

We headed to Frosty’s for the traditional post race breakfast and finally checked the results.  Surprise!  In spite of all our troubles we still finished 4th in our fleet! Suddenly the world was a much better place. All our troubles vanished.

The wind started to back to the southwest Saturday morning, which is favorable for a return ride home, while Sunday’s forecast was for a return to a strong westerly, which is NOT good for a smooth ride home.  So we decided to head home after the party. 

While the crew was putting in an appearance there I walked over to the International Peace Memorial to watch them fire off a carronade of the type used by Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie.  It was fantastic!  I will try to journal on this tomorrow.

The wind held in the Southwest as Matt skippered us south of West Sister Island, uninhabited except for the lighthouse and thousands of cormorants.

The wind switched to the Northeast and Steve took over the helm.

After bundling up Encore, the battle-hardened crew headed for home. I crashed in the boat for the night and got some much needed sleep, now home, although it still feels like I am on the Lake as everything is still rocking.

A huge thanks to the best crew on the Lake: Garry, Rob, Matt, Steve and John. Well done Gentlemen!

Thanks to everyone for following and for the many good wishes for success!