May 14th Demo Day and Next Event...

Hello fellow sailors & Hobie mirage kayakers,

Yesterday, May 14^th was our big Demo Day for the year which I might add was a tremendous success. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all those that helped and also thank all those who wished us success.

This event is sponsored by the businesses of Coeur d’Alene Kayaks and SAIL Marine, along with the organizations of Coeur d’Alene Canoe & Kayak Club and Sailing the Inland NW.  This is an annual event designed to introduce people to sailing, kayaking, and paddle-boarding. The turnout was quite large this year and just gets bigger and bigger every year.

Related to our efforts at this event I would say that sailing and Hobie mirage kayaking was a great hit. The TI and Weta trimaran in particular had a lot of interest. Winds were gusting up to 15 or more knots, but the big challenge was the constant 90 degree wind shifts. The people went out on the Weta were amazed by its performance and acceleration. The Hobie Wave also was taken out... the Wave is extremely stable in strong winds and easy to sail. Quite a few intro-to-sailing-lessons were done on the TI. I think a lot of people were impressed by the TI’s versatility (able to sail, paddle, and pedal it) and to a slightly lesser extent this applied to all the Hobie mirage kayaks at this event.
The important point about this event as it applies to Sailing the Inland NW (& SAIL Marine) is to increasing interest in sailing and Hobie mirage kayaking and to that end I believe we accomplished it.

I will be posting a video of this event on the blog (http://funtosail.blogspot.com)shortly…

Next Event…

On Sat. the 11^th at 9:AM we will be sailing on Lake Spokane (also known as Long Lake) from the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) park and launch. There is a campground here as well... The plan is to sail from the park toward the dam and beach at a sand spit near the dam, just hang out at this spit and picnic, and then sail some more and return to the DNR park. The DNR park has a sea wall around the park along the shore, so you will either need to put your boat back on the trailer or pull it up and over the short sea wall onto the grassy area (if you are going to pull your boat over the sea wall bring a piece of carpet to protect your hull). I have not sailed on this lake but have been told by an F18 sailor that the winds are great and fairly consistent. As always AI & TI sailors are welcome and if the wind dies you will be even more welcome when non-mirage drive boats need a tow. All craft with sails are welcome. For camping and launch info contact the DNR region office at 509-684-7474 or email them at northeastregion@dnr.wa.gov . For info and details about Lake Spokane visit the following link and click on Lake Spokane in the table of contents http://www.funtosail.com/local_lakes_guide/spokane_river_&_reservoirs.htm#lake_spokane

Fair winds…

I hope you all have been enjoyed the sunny weather… I know I did, which gave me summer fervor…

Miles Moore
SAIL Marine
It's Tiller Time Sailing School
Sailing the Inland Northwest
http://www.funtosail.com
http://funtosail.blogspot.com
208-704-4454