Participating in Century Club was one of the highlights of my 2023, and with 156 days on the water it certainly helped me get out there often. I'm going for it again this year, and I started off the year with our traditional New Year's morning sail on the Barba Roja. It was cold and cloudy, with good breeze coming out of the river. We sailed out to the Bay, and beat up north until we could see the Cove Point lighthouse. We set a nice reach back, and passed by Arctic Tern, the Coast Guard Academy yawl sailed by NPSC, in the river basin. We sailed out in front of Solomons and then headed for shore. A nice brisk morning and a great way to start the new year!
Century Club: Jonathan Nepini
Monday, January 1, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
A couple snapshots of today's crew
A couple snapshots of today's crew
Saturday, December 30, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
About to round the lighthouse
Some of today's crew
Out on Barba Roja today for the last sail of 2023. We decided to take advantage of the steady, moderate breeze and run down to Hooper's Island. Nice sunny conditions made for a pleasant run down to the lighthouse. Our intent was to round and beat north far enough to reach back to Solomons, but after a couple hours of beating into 15-19kts apparent the wind shifted and we had to beat back anyway. I spent a good turn on the helm and enjoyed spending time with friends. A great day out on the water to close out what turned out to be my best year on the water yet. Here's to doing it all again in 2024!
Saturday, December 16, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
New main looking much improved from the old one
Out for a quick test sail this morning with our local Quantum rep to check the fit of the new main Dewey ordered for Dangerous. The sail looks great and will be a welcome upgrade from the thorougly worn and delaminated old sail. We found light conditions so we also took a look at our light #1. After we sailed we packed the boat up for winter storage. Excited to get out there next spring!
Friday, December 15, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
End of week sunset
Quick after work cruise up to the bridge on hte Barba Roja. Very little wind, so we motorsailed for the most part. A nice sunset followed by rapidly falling temps made the ride back a little chilly.
Saturday, December 9, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Racing to the dock
Lighted spinnaker
A great, full day of unseasonably warm sailing. Spent the day out on the Spicy Meatball racing in the Freeze Your Bucc Off race, the last event of the SMSA season. A great turnout, with 17 boats on the line for 5 good races. I wasn't quite on my game, but we still had a lot of fun and managed a 7th of 17. Still working through some quirks on the boat and techniques for mark roundings, etc.
Spent the evening on the Barba Roja with Steve and the Pax Sail high school team. Lots of well decorated boats, but only one actually sailed part of the event... us, of course. We motored most of the route through Back Creek, but put a spinnaker up once we got out on the river, and lit it up with projector lights. Our efforts were rewarded with an honorable mention.
A great late-season day on the water once again.
Thursday, December 7, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Spectacular Sunset
Met up with Steve to take the Barba Roja on a quick sunset run up to the bridge and back. Left just as a truly spectacular sunset was getting going, painting the sky with a carpet of reds & oranges. Enjoyed the view as we motored out to 6A, then sailed under headsail up to the bridge. Cold temps but nice to be out here as always.
Saturday, December 2, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Went for a short sail on Dangerous after a long & involved halyard problem that had me spending about 4 hours hanging from the mast. Cool, damp conditions and little wind made for pretty mediocre sailing, but nonetheless it was nice to get out there after working on the boat, and we did see some cool cloud formations as the fog rolled in.
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Sunset under the clouds & through the bridge
Out on the Barba Roja this evening for #150. Cold conditions and light-ish wind prevailed, and we took a short sail up to the bridge and back as the sun went down. I got some helm time and despite the frigid temps was glad to be out there. Spending so much time on the water has been perhaps the greatest joy of my year.
Sunday, November 19, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Dueling with Pony Express at the windward mark
Yours truly holding down the bow
SMSA Frostbites #4, and the last keelboat race of the season. Hard to believe it's come and gone already, it seems like it just started. RC made us work for it this time around, with a 3 lap W/L course. I was up on the bow, and put in a ton of work getting the spin up and down. We had several problems early, but got consistently cleaner as the race went on. A great day on the water, and a solid day of racing to end the season. I already can't wait for March!
Sunday, November 12, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
The fleet charging out of the harbor
Out on Dangerous for SMSA Frostbites #3. Our summer-like weather from the past couple weeks is gone, with actual fall temps and corresponding strong breeze. A downwind start, with a bit of a late run to the line and spinnaker set. A clean douse, followed by a quick upwind leg where we made up some pace. Tried a spinnaker set innovation and it failed spectacuarly, somehow getting about 15 wraps in the spin. Did my best to get it worked out, before dousing and resetting. Got back in the game and had a strong finish.