The Shibumi Log: Devils Lake 2009

This is a tale of how crews have come together for sailing aboard Bill Davidson’s Shibumi that often has Larry Koster at the helm on Lake Lansing and at regattas in the Michigan area. I am told that the name Shibumi refers to an oriental game, something like checkers or chess. Supposedly it means “Anything for Victory”.

The skipper went out to LSC on a Friday afternoon in August of 2008 to mow Shibumi's parking spot next to the clubhouse. A gal parks her California licensed VW convertible nearby and came over to introduce her self. It is Deon Claiborne from Los Angeles and she will be at MSU to obtain a Doctorate in Medical Anthropology. What's that? A short while later Blaine Severin makes his appearance. The topic is sailing, Deon is telling us about big-boat sailing out west. Someone says. "Lets go sailing!" Shibumi is uncovered, rigged and launched. It is a delightful few hours of sailing for the three of us. And the parking spot did not get mowed that day!

We will now fast forward to Saturday, May 9, 2009 and LSC have their annual “Tune-Up” Lightning regatta. It is a blustery, cold and wet day. Deon and I are getting Shibumi rigged for launching while we are waiting for our 3rd crew person. A car pulls up and parks, a gal in foul weather gear comes from the car to introduce herself as she was looking for a ride. She is Cassie Guarino, we mention that we are all set. Our 3rd crew person arrives just before the skipper’s meeting and elects not to sail with the extreme blustery conditions. I then approach Cassie to be our 3rd crew person and she was more than willing. Would you believe that she is also a California gal? Cassie and Deon are acquainted with mutual West Coast sailors, but never met each other? Cassie is with the faculty at MSU’s College of Education. Oh yes, we did sail the first 3 races of 6 races, then called it a day…

Cassie and Deon crew aboard Shibumi for most of the early part of the summer. Cassie has also crewed with John LeFevre and Mike Moody. Then each of the gals disappeared mid-summer; Cassie to be with her parents in California while Deon went to Seattle to be with family. Gary Marx sailed, as in the past 3-4 years, when daughter Cristie was not involved with tennis. Now and then Ron Marshall crewed on Shibumi; it is always interesting when 2 skippers are aboard. Ron is now getting the ‘hang of’ flying the spinnaker!

The LSC Adult Learn to Sail Program began mid-summer on Thursday evenings. There were opportunities to sail a Laser, Sunfish or learn to crew aboard a Lightning. Sue McIntosh elected to sail aboard a Lightning. Shibumi’s skipper drafted Sue to crew for several Sunday races and she gained further knowledge while crewing aboard Pat Dolan’s Wind Dancer.

The summer of sailing quickly passes by; it is now late August. It is time to think about attending a fall regatta and putting a crew together for Shibumi.

The Fall Circuit for the Michigan District Lightning sailors begins the weekend following Labor Day with Pontiac Yacht Club’s 51st Annual “White Cap” regatta at Cass Lake. Devils Lake Yacht Club is hosting their 66th annual regatta September 19 & 20; it is called the Bruce Goldsmith Memorial. Wawasee YC at Syracuse, IN has their regatta on October 3rd & 4th, the weekend of the Michigan at MSU football game.

Deon is the first ‘to sign on’ for the Devils Lake regatta. Cassie is unable to participate due to her heavy workload at MSU. Gary Marx and Jonathon Ahlbrand have family commitments; Neil Harrison and Sue McIntosh have other plans. The old guy, Ron Marshall is attending the 50th anniversary of his high school class down in Ohio. Hey, there is Blaine Severin. We have crewed for each other at various regattas over the years. I have crewed with Blaine at the Tawas Bay Districts and other regattas. He has crewed with me at a Mackinac Island regatta and on Saginaw Bay out of the Bay City YC.

It is an easy 67-mile drive down to the Devils Lake YC. Once again this was a fun regatta with 12 Lightnings on the lake along with 22 Sunfish sailors. We had the first start with the Sunfish gun 5-minutes later, with one General Recall where the Sunfish went first. The Lightnings were very competitive and we had a 6th place finish in the first race. Two boats and crews, one was all women, came from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, a 6-hour drive. Another participant came from Sandusky, Ohio.

George Sipel of North Cape YC, with Jeff Hagman & Chris Snyder, took first place honors with 4-firsts, a 2nd and threw-out a 3rd. George is a graduate of Okemos High School. Our crew work aboard Shibumi was excellent with Blaine handling the sheet and the guy for the spinnaker and with Deon taking care of the foredeck. We placed 10th for the regatta against twelve boats of competitive sailors; we were pleased with our teamwork. All in all, it was a fun regatta with 6-races and a throw-out. This was the first time that Blaine, Deon and I sailed together, in a race or regatta, since August of 2008 when we met each other. All in all, it has been a fun summer of 2009 for the skipper of Shibumi. Thanks to everyone…

Larry Koster