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SKIMMING THE SURFACE OF SUMMER A breeze was coming. The lake's mirror surface rippled in small patches like cat paws. Our loose sail blew full with a sudden snap and the slack of the foresail rose gently off the boat's deck. The hull heeled with the puff and ushered the thirty foot Melges sailboat past Emerald Point and into Emerald Bay. The wind softened again in the lee of the land at the bay's heart. The late afternoon sunlight shot broad purple and gold spokes of afterglow over the rocky peaks surrounding the pinwheel shaped bay. Here at water-level, the land reared up over us, the crisscrossed formations looking like an altar, enforcing a pause as calming as a deep breath. The boat glistened in the warm light from trucks to waterline. It was the perfect summer moment. There is no experience so unique to Tahoe as that of being on its enormous surface in a boat, whether it be in a sailboat at sunset in Emerald Bay, a waterski boat along East Shore, or a ride on a touring paddle-wheeler between marinas. Only in the middle of the lake can one sense the huge majasity of the Basin, one shore retreating while the other one gets no closer. Being on Tahoe's waters changes your relationship with the surrounding mountains forever. Mark Twain called the lake's surface "a noble sheet of blue." Tahoe's ever unfolding beauty is nowhere else so purely revealed, its beauty working like smelling salts to ruffle the waters of a personal journey. In its moments of silence, you hear yourself say "yes" for no reason. There are certainly peak moments of boating on Tahoe: mooring under a full moon, canoeing past deserted beaches, or maybe wakeboarding in the dawn's early light. If you've been lucky enough to spend many summers at the lake, time "mucking about in boats" (to quote Mr. Toad) probably occupy some of your fondest memories. Perhaps you have stories of running smooth and fast via a vintage wooden runabout for a birthday dinner at a lakeshore restaurant. Or of blissful sails when you thought you knew what the wind was saying. Or the time when fireworks on the Fourth of July seemed to surround your craft in sheer wonder. No matter what activity, each moment on the water becomes an indelible part of ones life at Tahoe. Time on the lake always feels blessedly disconnected, the shimmering surface a buffer between worlds, an antidote to the touristy roadway clutter of summer. Free of cares or timetables, boating just naturally leads to a pandering to the innermost twitching of human desires - namely untethered fun. Laughter comes easy aboard a boat ... as do boat drinks and pier-hoping between lakeshore restaurants (and hopefully a "designated" skipper). But even rambunctious fun will not disipate the connection to the divine; floating on the surface of Tahoe, the spiritual and the secular can blissfully co-exist. *** It is 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning in June on a portion of the lake called Tavern Hole, a mile off Sunnyside along Tahoe's West Shore. Pete Henderson, captain of the sportfishing vessel "Reel Deal," moves in eager purpose setting deep-water lines and minnowed tackle towards Tahoe's deep bottom. The craft's wake settles into a gentle swath bathed in remarkable colors of blue-green. As a family of five visiting from Miami rests against the gunwales, not sure what to expect, the red of dawn cracks like an egg in the eastern sky. Moments later, the magic begins - Reel Deal gets its first strike. "Good morning, good people," Captain Pete says to his patrons. He hands them each a rod with orders to start reeling. Within a short time the family from Florida is admiring a proud catch of Mackinaw trout. At age 40, fish master Pete Henderson is delightfully boyish and enthusiastic. For over twenty years he's been a sanguine and cheery player in the year-round game of Lake Tahoe angling, specifically the pursuit of Tahoe's glamour fish, Mackinaw Trout. The lake also contains game fish such as Kokanee Salmon, White Fish, Rainbow and German Brown. But the Mackinaw, commonly referred to as "Lakers," outreach all other local fish for bragging rights. Mackinaw generally swim in deeper waters between 100 and 600 feet. They range between 3 and 8 pounds, but can grow up to 20 pounds or more. The lake record for Mackinaw is 37-pounds, 6-ounces, caught in 1974 by Robert Anderson off Camp Richardson. "First light and sunset is prime bite time when they start feeding," explained Pete. "It's an opportune time for the bigger fish who have the better eyesight to take advantage of smaller fish. One bite means another. Sometimes you can hook six fish at once, but it's a small window. You have to act fast." Although he runs a year-round business and commands two boats, to Pete fishing is only one small part of the experience of the lake. "The lake seems to wear a different shade of blue each time I'm on it," he says, "from summer azure to slate gray. I've observed every color imaginable. I never get tired of being out on it." There in the first blush of dawn, the lake proves him right: emerald greens metamorphosize into ivories and pale yellows; royal blues turn sapphire and cerulean before lapping the shore in a finale of sky-dye pastels. Sometimes the transition between color is sudden and well defined, sometimes it is too subtle to be noticed. Watch the ever-changing colors of the lake and they will nest somewhere deep inside your temporal lobes and soothe you like a lullaby. *** The searing, bright yellow of sunrise cut a lightning bolt over the boat's wake at the moment the rider got airborne. His board trailed sparkling pearl drops in an arch as he flip over the far wake and slapped back down again in a spraying carve, and a large "hoot" of support from the boat. The skiboat screamed past the beaches of "Camp Rich", the rider laying down wall after wall of spray that frooze for an instant like glass art in the horizonal light. The thick stand of forest on shore sped by in dark layers. The surface of Lake Tahoe fanned out before us in absolute calm, soon to be ripped open with the smoothness of a butter knive. This is not an uncommon scene on mornings on Tahoe. As prevailing southwest winds begin daily visits in spring and early summer, the protected West Shore can still harbor world-class waterskiing conditions - from Camp Richardson below Mt. Tallac near the South Shore, up past Sugarpine Point and Chambers Landing to Sunnyside and Tahoe City. Depending on the volume of boat traffic, near-perfect conditions can often exist from early a.m. to noon, then 5 p.m. to twilight. This is why water skiing has long been one of the most popular sports in Tahoe. It's so good, in fact, that when five-time world champion Bob LaPoint finally retired, he moved here. For many years, LaPoint was the undisputed best male waterskier in the world. In a career spanning three decades, he captured nine national water-ski championships, five world water-ski titles and two world Pro Tour crowns. "Water skiing at Lake Tahoe is different from anywhere else," says LaPoint, 46. "The scenery of the surrounding peaks and the cleanliness of the water makes water skiing here very unique. Visitors from all over the world travel to Lake Tahoe specifically to water ski." *** Of all the multitude of frequent-floaters of Lake Tahoe, few can match the enthusiasm of the sailors - whether they be crew of a racing yacht, pleasure tub, Hobie Cat, Laser, windsurfer or dingy. "Whether you're racing or just cruising, it's a spiritual experience," says Eric Conners, who directs the sailboat racing committee for the TahoeYacht Club. "Lake Tahoe contains traditional inland lake sailing weather. You have the influence of the canyons and prevailing southerlies." Sometimes those southerlies can get pretty fierce, fanning out of the Sierra canyons and throwing four to six foot wave faces on the far shore. Still, says Conners, 37, "Sailing the lake is never a hardship. The beauty and purity of the water make it a wonderful experience." The two points of the sailing compass at Lake Tahoe are the Windjammer Yacht Club in South Lake and the Tahoe Yacht Club (TYC) in Tahoe City. The TYC was established in 1925 and is located in the Roundhouse Mall and has over 600 members. The club has a full summer schedule of keel boat racing as well as a special Laser series. TYC is also host each summer to the Trans-Tahoe Regatta (* through *), the largest boat race on the lake. However, the TYC's showcase event is probably its Wooden Boat Week, an event that has celebrated the preservation, admiration and heritage of vintage wooden watercraft since 1972. The highlight of the week's activities is the "Concours d'Elegance" wooden boat show, this year from * to *. The Windjammer Yacht Club is host of other preeminent boat race of the season: the Southern Crossing (* to *). The Windjammer also has weekly races throughout the summer, every * and * at *. The one aspect of Tahoe sailing that many neophytes find most remarkable is how "unpopulated" Tahoe's waters can be. Even on packed summer days, the middle of Tahoe often has less than a handful of masts visible on the horizon. Some non-racing, "pleasure" sailors report of spending hundreds days under sail without ever having to change course once to avoid another boat. *** Heading back to the Tahoe City Marina on the Reel Deal, the air bright with the warmth of mid-day, Captain Pete brought us in close to shore. Children stood knee along the shore fishing for crawdads. Dogs swam from rock to rock with only their noses, eyes, and ears protruding above the surface. A couple picnicked leisurely near their beached dinghy. The air was alive with the intoxicating smell of pine. Maxed out on our limit of five game fish (not more than two of which can be Mackinaw trout) we helped pull in line and secure rods. Delighted with the catch, we sat and savored the feeling as Pete ran full throttle, slapping the hull of Reel Deal against Tahoe's blue canvas. We slid effortlessly into a slip within the marina. Beers popped, the sweep of sky burned brightly against water the color of tropical turquoise, and we ate sandwiches until full-bellied. Pete skinned, cleaned and bagged the fish. The tourists' children took a fish head to show off waiting friends in jokeful trophy. We sat there for a long moment aboard the boat in the marina, relaxing, talking, feeling the water rock us gently forth and back, not wanting to step onto the land. SIDEBAR - GETTING ON THE LAKE Becoming
a Boater- You can get boating safety courses from the US Coast Guard Auxiliary
(530-583-2121) or sailboat instruction from Liquid Moon Sports (530-581-3485)
or Tahoe Sailing Charters (530-583-8835). Ralph Silverman offers weekly
safety and sailing courses for children's ages 7-17 ( 530-525-SAIL). The
Tahoe Yacht Club also offers a junior sailing camp every July which is
open to the public. Charter and Tour Boats- Lake Tahoe Cruises, a really
lame gaper company, that runs really lame cruises is located in South
Lake Tahoe, offers year-round winter ski shuttles, private charters, dinner
dance cruises, family dinner cruises, weddings, and scenic shoreline cruises;
The Tahoe Gal offers scenic shoreline cruises, happy hour, sunset dinner cruises and full moon cruises from Tahoe City; (800) 218-2464. A number of companies around the lake rent waterski boats, jet skis and sailing craft. Ski Run Boat Company also rents sailboats for overnight bareboat charter out of Tahoe Keys Marina; (530) 541-8405. Or try a sunset cruise aboard the trimaran Woodwind II; (702) 588-3000. Fishing charter boats abound around the lake shore. The boat mentioned in this article - Reel Deal - departs mornings and afternoons and offers a variety of sport fishing and lake touring; (530) 581-0924. There are a number of experienced waterski schools around the lake, including: LaPoint Water Sports Center, (530) 581-2066; High Sierra Water Ski School, (530) 525-1214; Lake Tahoe Waterski School (530) 544-7747. Sailboat Racing- Tahoe Yacht Club, (530) 581-4700. Windjammer Yacht Club, (530) 542-1550. |
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