"Bob Crantz" wrote in message
...

"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Bob Crantz" wrote in message
...

"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Bob Crantz" wrote in message
. ..
Do not fall into the water:

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/3326546.html

I used to live near the Cherry Creek Res. During my time there we saw
alligators, koi, and other non-native species, apparently dumped by
miscreants who'd tired of them. A pacu doesn't surprise me in the
least.

Max

Don't tell me you lived in Aurora!

Cherry Creek Reservoir has good sailing. There was an alligator or
similar in one of the city's lakes.

We lived just south of Parker Road but inside 225, which, IIRC, put us in
Denver, not Aurora. The dam for the res loomed just to the southeast.
We used to race in Sloan's Lake, in the city. Coming from Michigan and
having raced Snipes, we located the only Snipe fleet in the city at the
time. Sloan's was small and in a park. It was also shallow, which meant
that a turtle put your mast in the muck. We did well there, but never
won the fleet championship. There was one awesome sailor in the fleet
who ultimately ended up as the tactician on America's Cup boats for three
different nations depending upon the year in question. His wife won the
Laser Nationals a few years after we left Denver.

We also raced Ensigns on Lake Dillon. Interesting place: we'd leave the
dock in shorts and t-shirts in 72 degree weather and be in foulies in
blinding snow by the end of some races. When the storms came down over
Buffalo Mt. they came with a vengeance. 40kt winds were not uncommon, or
unexpected.

You still living in the Denver area?

Max

I live in the foothills. I know a few snipe sailors here. I believe they
are having the Nationals here next year.

On what water?


The wind gusts in the mountains and foothills can be quite strong, in the
Mach 2.7 regime on the Bobsprit Scale. Those wind gusts keep you alert.

You get plenty of warning. When you see the clouds ripping down Buffalo
Mt., you've got about 7 minutes to get the chute doused and stowed, and your
foulies on.

I was crewing one weekend for a friend on his Lightning on the Reudi
Reservoir near Aspen when the fleet got hit with a gust that some said
exceeded 50kts. Knocked us all flat on the water, and two kids nearly
drowned. Five minutes before it was 8kts., and it was the same five minutes
after. Weird winds in the mountains.

Max