Summer is definitely here! ...and so are the thunderstorms that build over the mountains and roll across the lake in the afternoons. Last week they were not particularly huge but they scored some direct hits that caused considerable damage.

Kunundrum Passes the BOC Initiation Test with Flying Colors

The Macgregor 25, Kunundrum, formerly owned by Cochiti Man, was caught on the lake as it tried to seek shelter in a cove by wind surfer point. The high winds flipped the boat on its side and capsized it when the keel was raised for clearance in the shallow water. As luck would have it, the companionway hatch was open and Kunundrum's cabin was completely filled with water. It rested on the bottom of the cove for a couple of days before it was retrieved. The sailboat was considered a total loss - whether it will ever be rebuilt remains unkown. Fortunately, no human or wildlife casualties were sustained in the sinking incident.

Another micro burst from a different storm about four days later scored a direct hit on the BOC Floating World Headquarters in BOC Bay and made a mangled mess of steel tubing out of the upper deck shade structure. The canopy skeleton and what was left of the white awning cover were removed this weekend by BOCers who discovered the damage on Friday (7-31-2009).

BOC Floating World Headquarters is Missing the Upper Deck Awning (8-2-2009 photo)

In addition to these expensive damages, there was also some wind damage to tarps, sail covers, biminis, and other external accessories on several of the sailboats stored in the mast-up lot behind the C-Store. The little $50 airplane that rests at the top of the mast of the sailing vessel "Blue Frog Too" took off during one of these storms without filing a flight plan and has not been seen or heard from since.

Every mushroom shaped cloud has an orange-colored bottom.

Exercise caution around any blue, black or bright orange clouds this summer... it's a wild, wild, wild, wild world out there.