Follow the directions and play by the rules!

Didn't we learn this at a young age?

We are once again anchored in woods Bay on Flathead Lake. It is a warm sunny morning and the water is smooth as glass. We got the word last night that I didn't have to paddle in the races this morning. So our plan is to have a delicious breakfast cooked by Mark and then go out and explore on the paddle board.
Mark is making hash browns in a small frying pan on the right burner. The flame is getting lower and so he knows that the denatured alcohol is getting empty. I am out in the cockpit doing my thing and I see him grab the alcohol to refill the stove. Good thinking! Otherwise breakfast will be lunch. He keeps on cooking the hashbrowns on the right and starts to pour the alcohol down the burner on the left without turning everything off and opening the stove like it is supposed to be done. I think that these kinds of directions are written for a reason and I can't help but hear Jeff Foxworthy in my ear, "Here's your sign". "Honey", I say, "do you really think that is a good idea to pour the alcohol down there without turning out the burner and opening the stove?" It will be fine he says. Don't worry! I watch closely in disbelief, thinking that this isn't going to work out as well as he thinks. However, I can't seem to leave his side wanting to see what's going to happen. BOOOOMMMM!!! That's what happened! Fire went spraying after an explosion sound and I went running out into the cock pit. I turn back to see the new cushions that I recovered are now burned in a spray pattern and Mark's hair on top of his head is crispy! Wait a minute...so is mine! Damnit!
He turns to me and says humbly, "go ahead and tell me, I told you so". You know that I did! Quite a few times in fact. We are damn lucky that is all that happened.
So, the next time that you want to cut corners and save a step, remember the directions are written for a reason. We know that and so does Jeff Foxworthy!

 

2014 Dragonboat Races Kalispell, MT

It is a very cold morning waking up in Woods Bay on Flathead Lake in Montana. It is overcast and dark outside being 530 in the morning and we are the only boat on hook.
Friday evening we got to the marina and unhooked from the dock. we motor sailed all the way to Woods Bay since the wind was straight on our nose. It was breezy and we were getting waves with white caps. Flathead Lake can be downright scary at times and you don't want to be caught on the water at those time. This reminded me of the gentle rolley (auto correct didn't like my spelling) rocking motion of the ocean. We arrived in the bay a little after dark dropped anchor made our beds. It was quite cold tonight with the forecast dipping to  36* so we got on our "jammies"and crawled in for the night .
We arrived at the Flathead Lake Lodge around 7:30 am. Mark swung the boat around and dropped me off at the dock.
I am registered to be a paddler on the Got Mamm dragonboat in the 2014 Dragonboat Races. This is a huge event that supports breast cancer. There are about 30 teams with 20 paddlers. Four boats race at a time and they have a chart set up like a softball tournament. Eventually the winner will have raced everyone in a set and prevail.
In the afternoon there are four boats full of only breast cancer survivors for a ceremony in honor of the battle with the disease. They are given roses that are thrown into the water. It really is quite beautiful.
I paddled in 3 races. Two were our randomly put together team from Kalispell. We had no experience and most had never done this before. The other race we joined up with the Abreast of the Rockies. They are a team from Canada who have been together for 9 years and they practice twice a week. Weather permitting, they are in the lake or paddling poolside. These are some serious ladies who aim to win but have a lot of fun building friendships and bonding over the years.
By the end of the day there were about 28 races with 4 boats a piece. The winners compete the following day to separate the winner from the rest.
It was a fun experience and I am so excited that I got to participate in the event. Perhaps next year I will be a better paddler as will our team.
If you get a chance to watch the dragon boat races as a spectator, you will not be disappointed Overall a lot of money was raise for a worthy cause.

We were able to keep New Girl anchored out here for the entire day. When I was finished racing we paddle our paddleboards back to the boat and watched the rest of the races with the spectators!