A Nice Day Off

From West Shore State Park

 With the Lido sold the plan was simple. Borrow the Lazy Shamrock from The Typesetter and do a bit of daysailing at Dayton. How hard could it be? Well harder then we thought but the results were pretty good.
We left the house around 0830 with the hope of meeting the new owners of the Lido for some sailing. However we did not make the final exit out of Missoula before discovering the port side indicator light was missing off the trailer. Now those who are more unscrupulous then myself may have been prepared to feign ignorance of a non working trailer light. It happens. But when the entire light is missing that makes such a ruse a bit more difficult. With heavy hearts we returned boat and trailer from whence they came. However we decided to continue our drive north and see what we could see. Nothing else to do anyway.
 Upon arrival in Dayton the whole town was abuzz. It was Dayton Daze, the end of summer celebration that turns the sleepy little wine and sailing town into a wonderful zoo. We pulled into the SFYC and made our way inside. The Lady had not seen the inside and was delighted with the amenities. I dropped off our dues and some magazines, Wooden Boat and Good Ol' Boat and decided to walk the docks.
 Set up in front was a pop-up with the sign "Sailboat Rides". There was a suggested donation to the local volunteer fire department for the privilege. Twist our arms why don't you! Donation given we meet with Skip, who invited us aboard one of the twin Capri 22's that the Yacht Harbor keeps as rentals/instruction boats. Motor out of the tight confines, where I had one my first yacht race previously, and sails up. And just like that the magic happened.

Motoring out

Under a full press of sail

Didn't think I was going sailing.

 The Capri was a wonderful boat. Now I've never used a winch before but learned pretty quickly! Or a roller furling jib system. I've since been informed our next boat must have the latter if equipped with a jib. There was also the novelty of a true down below which The Lady tried out.

The plush accommodations. A step up from a Lido 14!

This also met with her approval. We were not out for long but it was marvelous to simply be on the water again. It was over too soon and we were deposited back at the dock. We took the opportunity to walk the dock and enjoy watching the sailboats.

The aptly named S/V Minion

Making sail for parts unknown

Putting some speed on

Heading in

Wooden tender beautifully done

 Our time in Dayton came to a close. We decided to drive north and found ourselves eventually at West Shore State Park. The views as always were stunning.

After a quick lunch we found ourselves near the National Bison Range. Sadly we did not have the time for the full tour but did get a few quick photos.

Our National Mammal

They looked like statues

 Then it was finally time to head home. But not before a short train chase. I couldn't get far enough ahead to take my own photo so I quickly pulled to a crossing and gave The Lady the shot. The result was stunning.

Notice the boat fender in the grab iron there. Photos by KB

A wonderful end to a wonderful day. We pick up the FatCat2 this weekend. I can't wait.