Sailing 'Teaser' Video

I decided that one of the first things I should work on this week is putting together a short 'teaser' video of some of our sailing at Lake Groton.  I have a lot of video footage to sort through but here are a few short clips of some of the excitement we had while sailing last week at Lake Groton...

I have video clips shot from the rudder, low on the mast, on top of the mast looking down, from the end of the boom, and from shore.  Certainly, the most exciting video is shot from the boat during periods of relatively high winds! 

The view from the top of the mast proved to be a bit boring because the view was not wide enough to get a real feel for what was really happening.  I did manage to get some decent footage from this view, however.  I will include some of these clips in the full-length video.

The camera mount on the rudder broke after the first half hour of video!  Adam was sailing the boat at the time...   he was tacking and, as the boom swung overhead, the block on the bridle transverser zipped across the bridle and whacked the camera...   the mount snapped in two and the camera dangled off the aft deck in the water!  The camera was fine but the camera mount was destroyed.  I will redesign the mount and try again sometime this summer.

The best video was from the end of the boom and low on the mast looking aft toward the cockpit.  We captured some really beautiful and exciting footage from those two vantage points.

I wanted to put together some video shot from the boat because when you are standing on shore watching the sailboat, you really have no clue as to what is happening on the sailboat nor do you have any idea how fast the sailboat is skimming across the lake.  It could appear as though the sailboat is just lazily gliding across the lake but, in reality, the boat is almost-violently being forced to go in directions which are unnatural for most vessels...  splashing and spraying...   slamming through waves...  the roar of the wind in your ears...   the hard tugging of the mainsheet...  the constant pull of the rudder...  all while you desperately try to keep from sliding off the highly waxed deck of the little sailboat.  In one of these clips you can see I zipped across the entire lake in about 30 seconds, and that was including a slow start next to the house where there is hardly any wind.  I am moving so fast in this clip that it appears as though I could easily pull a waterskier behind my little sailboat!

It was great sailing!  There were exciting, heart-racing times...  and there were quiet, peaceful times...   I love both extremes...  Adam and I are definitely looking forward to more challenging sailing this summer!