Odyssey and I spent a week of my vacation "gunk holing" a number of reservoirs near here that I hadn't explored before. You probably cannot imagine the fascination that water has for folks in this part of the country. Rainfall here is ten inches a year or less, and irrigation water for agriculture is shipped across the Continental Divide in pipelines hundreds of miles long. This water is stored in a number of reservoirs that range in size from a few acres to several square miles. These larger bodies are usually managed by Parks and Recreation for boat launching sites etc.

Odyssey is an ideal vessel for exploring these waters; a 12' double-ender dory type, this year sporting a brand new yellow lugsail, which contrasts nicely with her dark green and mahogany hull. Draft is three inches with leeboard up, and two feet board down.

My home is on the edge of the Rocky Mountains. East of here for hundreds of miles is the gently rolling prairie. West of here two miles is the first low (1000') hill of the Rockies. Sailing on the mountain lakes can be exhilarating and treacherous. The lakes are usually sunken valleys - long and narrow. The wind patterns are cyclic, but consistent. From dawn until 10 - 10.30 am winds are 0 - 5 mph. From 10.30 on winds build up to 30 - 40 mph by noon, and slowly diminish by sunset. Direction is from downslope to upslope. In the night the pattern repeats in the opposite direction. Consequently, most sailing in Colorado is done on the reservoirs of the Front Range. Here the winds from the west have time and distance to settle down. Normal conditions are "winds from the west at 5 - 15 mph".

The most notable cruise of the week was to Lone Tree Reservoir, which is a misnomer, because in this relatively treeless prairie there is an unusually large stand of elm and poplar trees. I launched and rigged Odyssey at 7.30 am and proceeded to ghost along the western shore. In such ideal conditions, I trailed a line from the stern, and in a little under two hours had caught my lunch - four one-pound rainbow trout. About noon I grounded Odyssey, unpacked the stove, and prepared lunch.

About one pm the wind picked up to 5 - 8 mph and Odyssey began to hum along at her best angle of heel (weather chine just clear of the water). We reached the end of the reservoir in a short time, and came about 180° to explore the eastern shore. After an hour or so we approached the grove of trees, and I noticed a number of large birds in the branches. Closer examination disclosed that the grove was a rookery (heronry?) for Great Blue Herons. I eased off the sheets and guided Odyssey into shore. Sitting in the boat, I was essentially "invisible" to these majestic birds, and spent several hours observing them with binoculars, and up close. One particular bird actually stalked his minnow prey to within touching distance of the hull!

About 5 pm hunger set in, so I began the long series of tacks that took me back to the western shore, and into the state operated mooring where I tied up for the night. On the way back, I managed to catch two more trout, which baked up nicely with the two left over from lunch.

Odyssey's lug rig and wooden construction are usually enough to draw a fair crowd of admiring sailors (most of whom have seen only pictures of such, and are accustomed to fiberglass catamarans) but rigging out my onboard sleeping arrangements really brought them at the run. I use Odyssey's horizontal sprit/boom lashed higher on the mast, with a boom crutch at the stern, to suspend a nylon "pup" tent. With tent in place I still have a tiny "cockpit" area between the tent flaps and the after thwart and sternpost where I can prepare supper.

After supper I sat in the cockpit, smoking my pipe and watching a glorious volcano (El Chichon) inspired sunset over the "purple mountains in majesty".