This evening was truly a special event for the Blue Sky Sailing Club members.  It was the ending of one phase but the beginning of another.  We started the evening with the hauling out of our boats and then we looked to the stars with thoughts of voyages to come.  We hauled out Andante and the CL 16 in preparation for their winter hibernation.  The club members were out in force to pull down the sails and fold them for storage.  The lowering of the masts went smoothly with many hands on the lines.  All that’s left is to give them a scrub and tuck them in for the winter.  It was a bit of a sad event but with great reflections of one of the best sailing seasons in recent years.  We’ll be lifting Epic out on October 7.  There’s still a chance to get in a few more sails until then (check the club’s calendar). 

Once it got dark, we met with members of the North Bay Astronomy Club.  Dave Roscoe, Bob Chapman, and friends, showed up bringing a variety of professional and homemade astronomy observing devices.  We began the evening locating the Summer Triangle and progressed to stars such as Vega, Deneb and several M Clusters. 

As the sky got darker, we moved on to binary stars, horses, teapots and inverted clothes hangers (no kidding).  They shared not only the scientific explanations but also some of the mythological legends associated with the constellations that we were exploring through their telescopes.  We also learned about sextants and celestial navigation with a demonstration of how to make your own sextant.  The evening was top off with Jupiter rising in the east with three of its moons showing in almost perfect clarity. 

Thanks to everyone for helping in getting Andante out (especially Jonathan for driving up) and many thanks to the North Bay Astronomy Club (www.gateway-to-the-universe.org/) for sharing with us the night sky and many of its wonders.