More photos from the flood                                                                                                  by Cathy

Flooding at White Rock Lake - Part 1 was originally written on 11/29/2015. There are several links there and some historical information about the flooding along the creek. Back then I didn't think it would flood at Northwest Highway, Lawther, and Buckner. That area has been improved with a higher bridge but with this last record breaking flood on 9/22/2018 that area did flood.

Butterfly pads were not prepared for the record breaking flood - on 9/22/2018.

We drill holes through the dock and put in poles or we attach lines to the stern and weight them. All to try to keep boats in place during floods. We may have a couple of floods a year but this time we had a record breaking flood and boats did not stay in place. At least we did not have any Butterflys which came untied and drifted into other part of the lake. That did happen to a few boats and also a toolbox.

The water was much higher than we've ever seen it. 

There is lots of clean-up being done at the boat clubs at the lake. Most boats seem okay and with a little bit of lifting the Butterflys are back in their pads. Thank you to all who helped.

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 Originally posted on 11/29/2015                                                                                             by Cathy

It's been a record year for flooding at the White Rock lake boat clubs (4 times), due to North Texas's wettest year on record.  Surely this will be the last flood of the year until spring rolls around.  Earlier this year we had the wettest May in Dallas-Ft. Worth history.  35 trillion gallons - enough to cover all of Texas in 8 inches of water.  It's nice to see the lake fill up . . . but this is too much of a good thing.

During heavy rains at night, it's become second nature to wake up and check the Corinthian Sailing Club harbor cam to see if the water has come up over the docks.  Usually the water is about 4 feet below the boats and a walk-way can be seen to the right.  If the walk-way is under water then White Rock Boat Club docks will also be under water and we will need to clean-up once the water recedes.   CSC webcam

Another interesting thing to check is the NOAA White Rock Creek Flood gauge.  This is upstream of the lake but if it floods in the creek then flooding at the lake cannot be far behind.  This also forecasts when the water level will drop.  NOAA White Rock Creek at Greenville Ave. flood gauge  

Here is a very detailed report from 1963, discussing some of the major floods to that point with some analysis of the flooding that occurs.  Things haven't changed much except Northwest Highway at Lawther and Buckner is now high enough that it doesn't flood.  Floods on White Rock Creek

Yesterday I walked around the lake and took some photos since there was no sailing.  It was chilly but invigorating and the pictures tell the story as the water was receding.  Unfortunately at the moment, the water is rising again.

White Rock Lake boat club as the water begins to recede but still unsafe to venture out on the docks. 

Lots of water pouring over the spillway.

On the path near the Arboretum, lots of trash left behind as the water recedes.

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                                                                                                                                                  by Cathy

Miles, Jim, and Burton checking out the fog.

Driving across the Mockingbird bridge about 1:30 pm, no Butterflys to be seen and a light layer of fog was still hovering over the lake. I was returning from out of town and was sorry to miss sailing but when I checked CSC's site - the wind was 0 mph! Suddenly I was not so sorry to be arriving too late to race as I fear conditions were not favorable for racing.  

After awhile I got some photos from Bob with a message "Merry Christmas from WRBC" and then one from Paul "Crazy fog"!

Wow - that really was some crazy fog. It's about 72 degrees and Christmas Eve. I guess we almost got our white-out Christmas.

Thanks for the photos and Merry Christmas to all!

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more pictures                                                                                                                              by Cathy

David B. did a great job as PRO!

Thank you to all the Butterfly volunteers who helped out with the Flying Scot Open House: Paul and Nancy on both days, Bruce, Doug G., John, Sandy, Cameron, Jim, Gary, and Stacy. You are all very much appreciated and you make us all proud to be a part of the Butterfly fleet. Heartiest congratulations to PRO David for the amazing job he did, not only controlling the weather to perfection, but leading us to a very successful regatta!

Some Sunday morning clouds with lots of Flying Scots and downtown in the background.

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more photos                                                                                                                                by Cathy

Before the practice race - which is all we had since the wind was so light.

There is light air and then there is no wind at all. Mostly we had no wind at all. The race committee tirelessly stood by to see if the wind would pick up. Thank you, race committee! Finally we had a few waves of light breezes and we had one practice race in the middle of the afternoon. By that time we were all grateful to get out on the lake and then go back to the great socializing, food and drink.

For the practice race, finishes were not recorded but I think the unofficial winner might have been Logan on his Hobie Cat pedal board. Several tried that out and seemed to have a lot of fun with it. Truth be told - some days are just better for pedaling or paddling.

It was a good day for pedaling.

For the Butterflys - Paul 1st with Gary 2nd. 

It seems October can be anything and is often windy. Let's hope we get into that trend soon as we have the State Fair regatta coming up on October 8th: State Fair NOR

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                                                                                                                                          by Robert Hunt

Coming Up:

WRBC all-club Regatta – the Commodore’s Cup – is on October 1st. A great day of camaraderie on the water and fun testing your sailing skills. And if you aren’t a sailor? Come out to watch one of the loveliest days of the year on the water. Or pitch in with managing the refreshments, working on the race committee, and just being part of the club. We’d like to have everyone out!

This is an especially fun event because it pits sailors from our club against not only each other but also against many of the best sailors at CSC! After all of the racing everyone can retire back to the club for a bite to eat and drinks with friends. Sailors of ALL skill levels are encouraged to participate. This is meant to be a FUN event which means the more racers the merrier. Trophies will be awarded to the winner in each class as well as an overall champion. This race is open all one design or Portsmouth class boats. If you’re not sure if your boat is a Portsmouth class boat, contact us and we’ll look it up or try to pair you with someone looking for a crew.

We hope you will come out for this event, there should be some exciting racing and some good fun out at the club. More details as well as the official NOR are available on the clubs website. Looking to volunteer or have a question? Contact Miles Zitmore at miles.zitmore(at)wellsfargoadvisors.com.

Entry Form: http://www.regattatech.com/events/WRBC/CommCup16

Entry List: http://www.regattatech.com/events/WRBC/CommCup16/entries

Results: http://www.regattatech.com/events/WRBC/CommCup16/results

(Please note that results will only be available after some races have been created and scoring has begun.)
Check in will start at 8:30 a.m., first of five races will be at 10:00 a.m.., breakfast, lunch and adult beverages will be provided. This race is a FREE event.

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                                                                                                                                                   by Gary

After 30 races the Summer Series came down to the last race on a light wind summer day. Paul won series, but the next three places were within 3 points during the last weeks of the series. Sandy and Burton tied for second, with Sandy taking second place because he beat Burton by 3 racespoints. Throw outs played a big part in the scores with many newer sailors making improvements/gains as they sailed competitively in many races with the good sailing weather this summer.

               Score     

Paul       318        
Sandy    269        

Burton   269       

Tie breaker scores - points made in only the races when they both competed against each other
Sandy    377
Burton  374 

Why do I sail a Butterfly?  -- Because of the friendly competition!

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                                                                                                                                                    by Cathy

We had racing this past Saturday with about 10 Butterfly sailors out, nice in the morning but the wind seemed to dwindle and I think several of us bailed for the last race and I'm not sure if anyone went back out.

This blog is not about Saturday sailing. Sailboat racing is always fantastic just to be out on the lake with a great bunch of people and race committee out there taking care of us. Instead this blog is more about the art of capsizing and recovery. Unfortunately I am quite good at capsizing . . . but can't say too much about recovery. So, I'm inviting some comments of those who are better at recovery. 

For capsizing I can say it happens in a variety of ways and my best chance of self recovering is if I can quickly jump over the high side out to the end of the dagger board and pop the boat back up, hopping in. An empty bottle at the top of the mast is very helpful in this situation as it may keep the mast on the top of the water. (A more elegant solution is the flotation panel that is sold specifically for the Butterfly.) If the mast sinks, it will most likely get stuck in the mud and just being on the dagger board will not help.  Check it out. If Dave K. at his weight can't get the boat up, then it's unlikely you can either - which is when the committee boat has to come in and help.

Awaiting rescue. 

Even if the mast has not sunk, it can be difficult to get on the dagger board unless you jump over the high side and you have to be fast, even with the bottle. Check out Paul.

Moving fast!

 And love this whole series of Pam. She pops that boat right up and climbs in. If you're lucky you don't even get wet!

 

Marshall also has a method which consists of taking the extra halyard from the mast and throwing it over, putting your feet on the bottom side of the hull and pulling the halyard. It's similar to the "righting line" concept for a catamaran. I tried it a few weeks ago and did get unstuck - but still couldn't get the boat up. And all of that struggling takes a lot of energy . . .

So, then what happens if you didn't move fast enough or the boat capsized in such a way that you just didn't have a chance to self-rescue? That's when the committee boat comes in. I'm going to suggest that the safest thing to do is to get the sailor into the committee boat first before trying to recover the boat. It's up to the parties involved - but unless you have good visibility and the water is warm - having everyone in the boat adds a margin of safety. When everyone is in the boat they can all help get the boat up - so then you have an extra set of hands on deck. It's also easier to step into the Butterfly instead of climbing over the side - especially if you have your life jacket on.

I'd like to hear what others have to say as far as suggestions for recovery by RC. Get the painter and pull the sailboat into the wind? Grab a side stay and pull the boat up? What's the best method or does it just depend on how the boat is stuck . . .

Capsizing is a part of sailboat racing! Let's get better at the recovery part.

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by Pam

Potato ... po-taah-tow ...

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                                                                                                                                                 by Cathy

Yesterday it was cold, windy, and cloudy.  A few of us met, had some hot chocolate (thank you, Bowman), then headed to Green Spot for tacos.  No sailing, but fun to see friends.

While wondering about sailing yesterday, I remembered seeing a Go/No-Go chart at CSC, so searched on the internet and found a chart and interactive calculator.  Since these are handy to help us determine when sailing is safe this winter, I have saved them here.  There are also some links on the bottom right side of the website about cold water survival.

RCYC Go/No Go Calculator

And here is a chart I found which comes very close to matching the calculator.

#1 Wind Speed
MPH	Points	MPH	Points	MPH	Points	MPH	Points
8	0	16	30	24	42	32	55
9	1	17	31	25	44	33	57
10	5	18	33	26	46	34	59
11	10	19	35	27	47	35	62
12	14	20	36	28	49	36	65
13	19	21	38	29	50	37	68
14	24	22	39	30	52	38	70
15	28	23	41	31	53	39	73

#2 Ambient Temperature
Degrees	Points	Degrees	Points	Degrees	Points
60	2	48	13	36	28
58	4	46	14	34	38
56	5	44	16	32	46
54	8	42	18	30	58
52	10	40	20	28	66
50	11	38	22	26	76

#3 Water Temperature
Degrees	Points	Degrees	Points	Degrees	Points
66	4	56	10	46	23
64	5	54	11	44	30
62	6	52	13	42	36
60	8	50	14	40	42
58	9	48	16	38	48

#4 - Weather Conditions
Other	Points
Sunny	-5
Overcast	0
Rain	10
Lightning	71	Don't go out for 20 min until after the last strike.

#5 Hypothermia Chart
Water temp	Exhaustion	Time of Survival
Over 80	Indefinitely	Indefinitely
70-80	3-12 Hrs	3 Hrs -Indefinitely
60-70	2-7 Hrs	2-40 Hrs.
50-60	1-2 Hrs	1-6 Hrs.
40-50	30-60 Min.	1-3 Hrs.
32.5-40	15-30 Min.	30-90 Min.
32-Below	15 Min.	15-45 Min.

Accumulate points
If it is less than 60 points:	Sail
If 60-70 points:	Committee's discretion
If greater than 70:	No sailing

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