Sailing on Lake Dillon, Colorado

In a few weeks we are off on our vacation. This year we are going to Keystone in the Colorado Rockies.  One of the local attractions, Lake Dillon, which is rated one of the "Fifty Places to Sail Before You Die" according a book by that name I was given for Christmas.

My father-in-law, Ward is there right now and took these beauties of sailing on Lake Dillon. Their are boat charters to be had so there will be sailing. I have never sailed in the mountains.

Comments

[O Docker]

Three things to remember:

- Sunblock, sunblock, and sunblock.

When I first came to California, I spent an afternoon in a rubber raft on Lake Tahoe (elevation 6200'). At that altitude, the UV is much more intense and the cool mountain breezes mask how fast you're frying. You can get badly burned in an hour. Worst sunburn I've ever had - was in bed for a week.

[Pat]

Adam,
Carol Anne, Gerald, and I have sailed Dillon a few times and we put lots of pictures in our blog beginning back around July and August of 2006 if I remember. Dillon's sort of in our backyard, within about five or six hours from our cabin in northern New Mexico.

Dillon's at an elevation of 9,017 feet above m.s.l. when full. Sunburn is of course a danger when it's sunny, but in this high mountain country, with snow capped peaks visible even in August, sudden storms or gusts are a cause for some vigilance. If the pollen blows off the side of the mountain, batten down the hatches! Also, if a cold rain blows in, it can get chilly quickly, so don't forget some foulies.

Will you be there in time for the Dillon Open (first weekend in August) or not until afterwards?

[Adam Turinas]

Yikes. Alice and I will slather on SPF 150, aka a bandage!

Thanks for the heads-up about the regatta. We might catch the Sunday

[Carol Anne]

One thing about sailing in the mountains is how variable the winds can be. For example, sometimes there will be two sailboats, both with spinnakers flying, headed right at each other. At some point, somebody's going to have to take the spinnaker down.

Also, there is often a "hole" of dead air right in the middle of the lake. It can be kind of frustrating to sit there not moving, while boats all around are heeling over nicely (in all different directions).

[Adam Turinas]

I heard about the weird wind thing. It has to create some interesting right of way issues. The protests must take ages to sort out

[Pat]

Funny, but there don't seem to be many protests; people seem to grin and bear a certain amount of strangeness. I think a lot of people are courteous and give each other a little extra allowance for error, just because conditions can be challenging and the open can have more boats closer together than local sailors usually see.

The first time we were there for the open there was a protest involving our division with the result that the protesting parties all got DSQ'd. Another year, we were tempted to file a protest against boats in another fleet that had interfered with our fleet's start, but we couldn't get to the other marina in time (we were at the "overflow marina" across the lake from the marina that had the regatta headquarters) and it really wouldn't have done us any good, anyway.

[Lowry Chamberlain]

I liked the comments regarding Lake Dillon where I sailed quite a bit during my time in Denver.

To say the winds are flukey and shifty would be somewhat of an understatement. A thermal condition takes over the lake during the hot summer months. Generally in the early morning up to about 11 or noon the winds will generally be light or non existant. However as the valleys to the east warm up during the later morning hours, keep a very close eye on the winds coming off the dam. These thermals create literally a wall of wind usually 20 MPH and above, that can last for a couple of hours and lead to some pretty exciting sailing. But the novice sailor needs to use EXTREME caution.