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| Summer Sailstice 2014 on Utah Lake |
As the sails take flight on the evening’s breeze, I watch the quiet ripple of water disappear behind the rudder along with the diffluence of the day’s cares. Tonight is our annual Summer Sailstice flotilla, with 20 sailboats spreading their sails on the relaxing sail over to Utah Lake’s Pelican Bay.
Winds typically run out of the northwest, and sailors take one of two tacks. Either sail north out of Provo Harbor for a few miles until you can beam reach across to Pelican Bay, or Beam reach out of Provo across the lake, then head up to Pelican Bay.
There’s a pizza place in Saratoga Springs that will deliver pizza down to the Pelican Bay Marina, and everyone was trying to make it to the docks in time to get orders in before the pizza business closed. That meant motoring for the last mile as winds were quite light.
The boats arrived spread over the hour following sunset, and crews busily helped each other with dock lines and stowing sails.
Sailstice brings out many sailors who don’t get an opportunity to meet at other times. Kids meet new friends, adults get to know one another and everyone agrees we should do this more often.
The Pelican Bay Marina does not have seasonal slip rentals, so the docks go unused each evening. On busy Saturdays, ski and fishing boats are busy loading and unloading through the day.
It was a beautiful sunrise the next morning, and everyone slowly got their boats ready for the sail back.
View down one of the docks, with 11,000 foot Mount Timpanogos in the background.
To catch the early canyon breeze, sailors left early. One guy even sailed a 14′ Lido all the way across the lake.
