Arrived after the previous two days of gale force winds to find Bubbles none the worse for wear - except for a bent solar frame and a partially detached solar panel. Took that down to repair (on March 17th) and went for a sail. Highs were in the low to Mid 50's - beautiful sunny skies with winds from the South - South West at 8 - 10 knots. Left Lankford Bay Marina about noon and headed out towards Langford Creek. Got the sails up prior to daymark 7 and easily sailed down the creek in 4 tacks. Stayed close hauled on a port tack down the Chester towards Eastern Neck Island. Saw a commercial boat setting/checking their fish pound nets - but other than that didn't see anyone else. When I decided to turn around and head back, the wind had lightened up a little, so I decided to bring out the Gennaker. Got her up with no problems at all and had a nice sail back - all the way in to the marina area in Davis Creek before I doused her. Need to repair the solar, so a St. Patricks day sail may not be in the offing!
Century Club: Tom Dean
Flying!
Out into Chester
Reefed headsail
It was a brisk day - in the high 40's, very low 50's but sunny. Nice winds from the Northwest 10-15 with some bigger gusts. Got out of the slip and as soon as I left the Lankford Bay Marina area, turned back to get up the main. Thought about reefing, but decided to leave out a full main and just reef the headsai - which worked very well - the boat had a nice balance to her. Flew down Langford Creek and into the Chester sailing on a beam reach down to the Chester River channel bouy 11 - off of the tip of Eastern Neck Island. That was about 7 nautical miles in an hour - quite a feat for a sailboat that has a max speed (according to the formula) of 6.7 knots!! After I made the turn to head back, the wind slowed a bit, but still moving well - but on a bit more of a close reach. Wind began picking up again up near Grays Inn Creek and into Langford Creek, so I had to re-furl (reef) the headsail (a 150 Genoa) so as not to be overpowered. Lovely sail - lovely day. Only one other boat out - and that was a powerboat!
Captain and mate
On a beam reach
Starboard tack
Old Russian vacation house
Captain and First Mate
Finally got the first mate (wife) to agree to a sail. Small craft advisory out, but as it had seemed - like the past few sails that there was no reason for it... at least when we left the dock! Put the mainsail up after the turn at day mark 7 in Langford Creek and the engine was off soon thereafter as we tacked down the creek in a souther wind 8 - 12 knots. Wind was steady, so we put Bubbles on a close reach and headed just south of Grays Inn Creek and then turned and put her on a beam reach and were making good speeds as we headed over to the mouth of the Corsica. Decided not to go down the Corsica, and instead stayed out in the basin, so we began heading, on a beam reach, back over towards the western shore of the Chester when the winds began to die off a bit and shift. I knew the forecast was for the winds to shift about 1 - which happened, and they lightened up substantially - maybe 3 to 4 knots. When the winds finally finished their shift, they picked up substantially - going from 3 knots to 15 without any warning - gusts 25+. First mate jumped right in and depowered the main, then began to furl up the genoa. That helped quite a bit, allowing us to control the heeling and the boat. On a broad reach, we sailed back up Langford Creek to our marina - Lankford Bay Marina under some continually strong winds. At the turn to day mark 7 with the engine on, we were able to safely furl the remainder of the genoa, and then drop the main. A good first sail - even though difficult - because we handled it well - cool, calm and collective which made us both feel very good! Glad I wasn't out there singlehanded... would have been quite a bit more difficult! Pictures only of the easy stuff - we were a bit busy later!!
Temperature was in the mid 50's, overcast and very cloudy all day. Winds initially were from the south at 8-10 knots, but they stalled out, moved to the west, and then finally from the north where they picked up again to about 6 knots.
Got to the marina early because I had to drop the solar array and check the connections to the frame. One connection had failed, I replaced that one, shored up the others and added some reinforcements. Completed that by 10:30 so I had plenty of time to play! Cleaned up and was ready to head out by 11!
Got the main up before the day mark 7 in Langford Creek, but because of the light winds and direction, had to motor to the mouth before I was able to open the genoa and really start sailing. Had to beat for a while to get away from the shallows, but then was able to sail very comfortably in 8-10 knot winds on a close reach. She noticeable sails much better on a starboard tack than a port tack. After a couple of crossings of the big basin, wind started to stall a bit, so I took the opportunity to set up and then fly the gennaker. Got the gennaker up, but unfortunately when the wind did pick up again, it was coming from the wrong direction! Still sailed a bit before dropping it and heading back to the marina. All in all, a fun day - good 4 hours out on the water!
Temperature was mid - upper 40's, Winds were South 8-12 knots with gusts to 16. Left the dock about 10:45. Got the main up pretty quickly - before making the turn at Dabeacon 7 - and shut the engine down soon thereafter. Saw a rather odd ship - which I saw again after I had docked - and it was playing a kaliope! Spent a bit of time beating into the wind and only making about 3 - 4 knots, but once I got out into the Chester, went to a close reach and was buzzing along at 5 - 7 knots. About 2pm set my transom to the wind - put on a preventer and drifted slowly back down Langford Creek to Lankford Bay Marina, A chilly day, but a fun day! When I got back, I noticed that I need to pay some attention to the solar array, looks like things need some tightening!
WEather - Mostly Sunny to sunny, 63-68 degrees. Winds light and variable - starting from the south, then east and finally north. Waited at the dock (just doing some work) until 11 am when the wind began to pick up a bit. Got the main up quickly - before daybeacon 7 in Langford Creek, and slowly sailed down the creek to the mouth of the Chester due to light and variable winds. Tried to stay on a beam reach, but had to continue adjusting to the ever changing winds. At one point, the winds died almost entirely - but since Bubbles is a bit light right now (no water in the tanks) she was able to slowly move in the correct directions. I did take the time to do a bit of work on our teak cup holder - sanding it and then oiling it while waiting for the wind to come back. The light winds also game me a chance to experience with the jib sheet cars for placement in light winds - also played with the traveler, mainsheet and the outhaul to help catch a bit more air. Was actually able to move along at 2 knots with only 3 knots of wind! Still without much wind, it was a lovely day on the water!
Weather - Mostly Sunny - 55-58 degrees. Winds SW 8-12 with gusts to 15+. Departed the slip at 10:30 am and headed down Langford Creek towards the Chester. Got the sails up before the first turn at Day beacon 7 - engines off soon thereafter. Winds were fairly light at first - but they picked up considerably as I made my way down into the Chester. Made a few runs between the mouth of the Corsica and the western shore of the Chester. I stayed relatively close to the mouth of Langford Creek because there were storms in the forecast. About 1pm, I noticed some storm clouds on the horizon - and on my radar app and they seemed to be heading my way - so I started to head back up the creek - still under sail - in an effort to be tied up in the slip before the storm hit. About 1:30, the weather alert went up on the radio, but it did indicate that points north of me were more in the direct path - and the clouds indicated that also. Safely tied up at the slip when the storm came through... but wasn't much where I was, just a bit of wind and a few drops. North of me seemed to get hit pretty hard though!
I had added solar to Bubbles last July and have been very pleased (two Renogy 175 watt flexible panels) with those two panels providing all the energy I needed plus! In the big Christmas Eve blow that came through, evidently the engineering of the connection of the panels to the frame proved to be inadequate. I had attached the panels with nylon cable ties and one panel was completely gone and the other, while still attached, was barely attached with the connectors broken. The frame was undamaged, so I ordered a new panel and began exploring new ways to connect the panels a bit more securely. I found some stainless steel cable ties that had a strength rating that was more than double the nylon cable ties and of course won't suffer UV damage.
So today, I reattached the old solar panel and the new one and then lifted the frame up to what used to be the radar mast and reattached it. Hooked up the MPPT (again, renogy) and I once again have solar power which meets all of our needs! When I purchased the solar panel and the necessary connectors - also got a great deal on a 1000w inverter - which will be installed later.
Weather - Partly Sunny with temperature 58-60 degrees, winds out of the SW 12 knots with gusts to 20. Singlehanded day! Pulled out of the slip about 10:30 am after doing some last minute preps - setting up jack lines. Decided that I was going to reef just to be careful. Sailed down Lankford Creek towards the Chester River, having to do a series of tacks since the creek runs basically north/south. Once I got in to the Chester, the winds picked up significantly and some issues came up fairly quickly. The biggest problem was that I had not properly set the softshackle that I use on the Genoa - and the Jib Sheets pulled through and I lost control of the Genoa. Trying to think quickly, I made a turn back up the creek - and released the main sheet so that I was running with just the main - hoping to get up the creek and into the western fork so I could anchor and reattach the sheets to the genoa. I also furled the genoa to keep it from flapping around. At first the plan was working, but then the genoa began to unravel a bit - so I tethered to the jacklines, made my way up to the bow and tried to wrap the genoa up a bit and then used some line to tie it up. This worked and allowed me to get up the creek and into a little alcove where I anchored behind some trees so it was calm. I fixed the connection between the soft shackle and the jib sheets (and did it right this time). In the meantime, I discovered that a slider on the main had broken so I replaced that at the same time. Decided to stay in the back creek and sailed around for a while before heading back to Lankford Bay Marina. A fun and exciting day - certainly glad the first mate (wife) wasn't aboard - as she would not have found it as exciting!
Todays task - getting ready for the first sail - was getting the sails up! Wind was fairly light so I was able (by myself) to get the sails hanked on, raised and then furled and lowered on the boom. Took a while, but I had some time left afterwords to continue preparing the toe rail teak for oiling.