After helping to build his team’s own plane, our DIY flier takes to the skies, ready to explore the mountains and valleys of British Columbia and the Yukon, probably visiting places that few people, if any, have ever stood. The first big test? Landing on blacktop. [...]

During the weekend of June 14th, we held a small regatta at Heron Lake which had some interesting challenges and "learning experiences". Our committee boat was a Catalina 22. After the pre-race meeting, the Catalina's skipper and I placed some racing marks in the deep waters of Heron Lake, then anchored near the lake's eastern shore to wait for the racers to gather and start the race.

Unfortunately, the racers later told us that our anchored boat was very hard to find against the background of the shoreline. Also, some of the longer-term club members remembered when the previous Olympic Circle race course had been further out into the lake, and went looking for the committee boat further out in the lake. It took us quite a while to collect enough of the boats to start a race, and one of the starters ripped a mainsail when unreefing in the still-vigorous winds.  read more »