My Worst, Most Awful, Terrible Sail (Part 1)

In this episode, I sail to the shallow north end of Eleven Mile Canyon Reservoir in central Colorado where I get repeatedly fouled by milfoil, get caught in a storm, and fear I may not make it back. It was my worst, most awful, terrible sail. The north end of the lake is about 2.5 miles long by 1 mile wide and separated from the south end by a string of small islands and rocks that run across a narrow neck of the lake. I normally stay on the south end of the lake where the water is deep (up to 136 ft) and there are fewer boats, beautiful coves and less water milfoil to foul my boat's rudder and centerboard. The north end is shallow, more crowded, and has a serious Eurasian water milfoil problem (an invasive aquatic plant species spreading across the U.S.). The north end is more wide open, surrounded mostly by prairie land, and opens up to the valley that makes up South Park (in Colorado, a high-altitude valley is called a Park). The South Park National Heritage Area was created by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in March 2009. The openness of the north end normally makes for more consistent, less swirly and less gusty winds than the south end. The south end has unpredictable winds because it is closed in on three sides by 11,500' tall mountain peaks. During this worst, most awful, and terrible sail I get fouled repeatedly by invasive Eurasian water milfoil and have my rudder kicked back by large clumps of weeds. As an afternoon storm approached and the winds picked up, I was not sure how I was going to get back to the marina. This video also includes a cool underwater view of leaving the slip and lowering the centerboard. Subscribe and follow @ColoradoSailing on YouTube for more original sailing videos, gear, boat maintenance, sailing tips and travel content as I sail my Precision 18 trailer sailer and Precision 16 sailing dinghy in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota and more. Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 1:00 - Underwater view of leaving the slip 1:38 - Sailing plan for the day 2:43 - American White Pelican sighting 3:03 - Clouds starting to build 3:42 - Middle of the north end 6:03 - Very shallow water 6:55 - Getting fouled by milfoil 7:27 - Milfoil everywhere! 8:33 - Sailing with rudder up 10:32 - Locking rudder down 10:49 - I gotta get outta here! 12:23 - Winds building 13:17 - Hove to and reefing 13:47 - Sailing double reefed #sailing #lakesailing #mountainsailing #saillife #sailingchannel #coloradosailing