El Mirage in Southern California is open

> 10 years ago
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dudevato
dudevato
19 posts
19 posts
10 Apr 2011 8:46am
I stopped in at the visitor's center today (Saturday) and the woman there said the lake bed is open. She said she just recorded a new answer machine message saying so. I'll be there tomorrow, Sunday, at Sailer's Cove, or whatever the name is on the map they pass out.
I've an old white Toyota truck, with a white chassie mounted camper. Stop past, introduce yourself, and teach me a few tricks about my new hobby. Gary
desertyank
desertyank
1264 posts
1264 posts
11 Apr 2011 3:43pm
Well, did you get out there?
dudevato
dudevato
19 posts
19 posts
11 Apr 2011 11:57pm
yes, I made it. Bought my $90 season pass and SAT. I never got more than 100 ft. (33 meters ) from camp. Good thing I brought 3 double bergers and 4 beers I slept in the shade and waited. Is there a Wind Season out there I need to be aware of? I'm going to post in the 'construction' area right now, please read and respond
desertyank
desertyank
1264 posts
1264 posts
12 Apr 2011 3:30pm
Oh well, it's still better than working, right?

The typical wind at el mirage is light in the morning, then builds up during the afternoon. It usually comes in from the west or northwest. During the 'santa ana' season, the wind will be out of the east.

Do yourself a favor, though, and check one of the weather .coms (no seabreeze data for el mirage....) or even one of the phone apps for weather. there are days where the wind is non existant all day, and some days where it might even be too strong for ya..
cisco
cisco
QLD
12365 posts
QLD, 12365 posts
12 Apr 2011 11:02pm
^^^Nothing better than local knowledge is there??
desertyank
desertyank
1264 posts
1264 posts
14 Apr 2011 9:25am
FINALLY!!!!! Got out there today. I stop my truck, and a toyota truck that was described by dudevato pulls up near me. We shared small talk, then we sailed!

Lake is in great shape, and several sailers besides us were out there. Wind was waaaaaaay more than i wanted (wind 24mph with gusts over 50mph predicted; and i verified 25mph while there) for the first run on the beer-5, but everything worked great I can't get the data off my gps yet, but one of the other sailers took the beer-5 out with his leg mounted gps, and went 56mph in it

Dudevato was still sailing when I had to leave. All in all, a pretty good day in the desert.

The beer-5 was very stable, and I think I'll add another mounting point for the steering rod to slow down the steering a bit. Thanks Paul for sharing the Pacific Magic plans online, as I used them for the basic design.

CHEERS!!!, John
Nikrum
Nikrum
TAS
1972 posts
TAS, 1972 posts
14 Apr 2011 2:00pm
Dudevato
Patients is a virtue........Obviouslyand according to local gossip it happened.
Great I am happy for you and as for the Desertyank... You break 58 before me an I'm gunna Kick your Ass. Right!!![}:)] Sounds like you have both had a successful and happy time.. Good Stuff.
Ron
Test pilot 1
Test pilot 1
WA
1430 posts
WA, 1430 posts
14 Apr 2011 4:42pm
Dudevato break that 58 as soon as you can[}:)] Nikrum's leg aint long enough to reach yo ass from where he is(way way down souff) and any way 's to fat to run after ya ifn he could get to ya
landyacht
landyacht
WA
5921 posts
WA, 5921 posts
14 Apr 2011 8:49pm
desertyank said...

FINALLY!!!!! Got out there today. I stop my truck, and a toyota truck that was described by dudevato pulls up near me. We shared small talk, then we sailed!

Lake is in great shape, and several sailers besides us were out there. Wind was waaaaaaay more than i wanted (wind 24mph with gusts over 50mph predicted; and i verified 25mph while there) for the first run on the beer-5, but everything worked great I can't get the data off my gps yet, but one of the other sailers took the beer-5 out with his leg mounted gps, and went 56mph in it

Dudevato was still sailing when I had to leave. All in all, a pretty good day in the desert.

The beer-5 was very stable, and I think I'll add another mounting point for the steering rod to slow down the steering a bit. Thanks Paul for sharing the Pacific Magic plans online, as I used them for the basic design.

CHEERS!!!, John

photos or it didnt happen
please

desertyank
desertyank
1264 posts
1264 posts
14 Apr 2011 11:28pm
.........ummmmmmmmm.....eeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrr...........aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....... damn! no camera.....

If i can get the info off the data tracker, I'll send a pic of the screen, tho....

The other guys we met had some nice stuff to sail too. 1 'soup', 1 'fed-5', and a 'fisly-5'. At least I think that's what they were. No one knew what dude's rig was, tho...
Nikrum
Nikrum
TAS
1972 posts
TAS, 1972 posts
15 Apr 2011 9:24am
Wake Up Desertyank, wake up. If it sailed and did all the stuff it is meant to, then "It's a GOOD RIG"[}:)]
Ron
dudevato
dudevato
19 posts
19 posts
15 Apr 2011 12:18pm
YA, we had a day of sailing as DesertYank said. I got there about noon. I was going to stop in at the visitor center and see what they'd tell me, as Anything would be better than just driving out on the lake and setting things up.
As I'm pulling into the parking lot I see a truck with a cart in the back, so I figure he'd know more than a Park Employee, so I follow the truck. Turns out it was the DesertYank.
So we talked a bit and I got in a Full Day of sailing. The GPS DY borrowed I got to use also. I got it to read 41 mph. And I can tell you what you all already know, "with your butt 4 inches (100mm ) off the dirt you are rolling along pretty good.
I was suprized how large the lake was, how smooth the ride was - I had 30 psi in the tires. I figured I was going to rig up some kind of suspension - No need for that.
There was like 5 carts out there and I spoke to 3 sailors total, what a nice crowd. I originally asked the GPS owner if he'd sail along side and yell out the speed we were going, as I had a $10 digital bicycle speedometer rigged up that I stole off my mountain bike. Well, with it set up for the 26 inch tires I had the thing Pegged @ 99.9 mph. The guy hands me the GPS and says 'check it out, and take your time' Wow.
I had a Great time and only stopped sailing to pee a few times and eat a burger I had with me. Is it permitted to drink and sail? I finished off a 40 oz beer. I now realize the glass bottle was not the correct packaging choice. I'll go with aluminum next time.
Tomorrow I'm going to figure out how many miles I put on the cart, my speedo showed 222 miles total for the day, I'd guess I did some 70? I started pulling the cart apart at 6:30.
I've got to comment on DesertYank's cart, Very Nice, nice looking welds, wheels and seating. And if it goes 56mph I need to make one Just like it.
It's going to be a Great, Fun summer
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