Beautiful day out there! Winds were out of the south a good 10+ knots - fairly consistent... not a lot of gusts. Temps ranged from 60 - 68, Barometer was 30.11 and falling. Skies were completely sunny when I left the dock at 10:30 and only a few clouds showed up later.. Still got the sails up quickly - did wait until I made the turn at the first daymark in Langford creek. Cut off the engine and sailed out into the Chester. Started out beating into the wind, then did some close reaches, beam reaches and then finally some broad reaches as I headed back to the marina. Lots of sailboats out there today - took a bunch of pictures. Winds were nice - really very consistent - only a few gusts. Got the centerboard down and Bubbles was just flying!!
Century Club: Tom Dean
Got to the marina pretty early and before I could go out, had to connect the ground RF wires to the newly installed seacocks. That took a little bit of time - not hard... just a small space and since I didn't install the seacocks... wasn't quite sure if the nut I saw was the nut I was supposed to use! Since it didn't leak when undone, I assume it was. Got that all done and then after a chat with a student who was taking classes at the Maryland School for Sailing, I headed out.
It was partly sunny at the start, but the clouds rolled in and it was mostly cloudy to cloudy by the end. Temps were in the low 60's. Baromometer was at 29.94. Winds were out of the NNW at 5-12 knots with gust up to 15. Headed down the creek - got sails up before the first daymark and proceeded down towards eastern neck island on a nice beam reach. There were a few boats out - including a few sailboats. Turned and headed back towards the marina about 2 pm and made it back in at 3:45. Had some really nice speed on the boat - evidently had everything well balanced because the helm was easy... very easy. A lovely day out on the water - as usual!
She is back in!
First mate at the helm
Had Bubbles hauled on Monday the 9th to have some work done to the hull and to have new through hulls put in (the boat had the originals!!) Wasn't expected to get it back until the the 25th or so - so finding it in the water on the 16th was fantastic so we had to celebrate by taking her out!.
There was a SCA out - Winds were out of the NW at 10 it with gusts to 15+ kts. Mostly cloudy - temps in the high 50s/low 60s. Barometer was at 29.98. Headed out - got sails up early and headed down Langford Creek. Let the first mate take the helm while I managed the sails. Headed out into the Chester and made our way towards Narrows Pt on Eastern Neck Island before turning around and heading back. Lovely sail - had the genoa reefed the entire time which made it a pleasant ride - should have reefed the main also, but no harm no foul. A lovely few hours out on the water to celebrate Bubbles being back int he water!
There was not much wind this week, so I took the opportunity to work on that leaking fuel issue and so some other general maintenance like adding more stuffing to the rudder stuffing box and tightening that! I did get out Thursday - wasn’t supposed to be any wind, but I found some. Wind was out of the SSW at 5-10, Barometer set at 30.10 and it was mostly cloudy. Finished the engine work at 1:30 and headed out. Got the sails up quick as I normally do and got the engine off - sailing down Langford creek. Went out into the Chester and just had some fun sailing before turning and heading back up the creek to the marina. Made it most of the way up the creek before the winds went to 2 knots and there was just no sailing…. Got the engine on, dropped sails and was back in the slip by 4:00. An unexpected sailing day - but a fun one after doing the work!
Temperatures were 67-75, Barometer was sitting at 30.15, Partly Sunny skies with the wind 5-10 knots out of the north. Today, the first mate again took the helm and instead of heading anywhere in particular, she just worked on her skills at different points of sail. She is still having problems pointing, but all other points of sail seem to go well for her - she just isn’t quite getting what the helm is doing - weather or lee helm - and how to steer the boat so that she takes advantage of that knowledge. Mind you, it’s better, but still have a ways to go. I manned the sails and tried to help tutor her through it. All in all - a great day of sailing!
Temperatures were between 63-71 during our sail. Barometer was at 30.15 with the wind at 10 knots + with some gusts. There was a small craft advisory out. it was mostly cloudy with some sun sneaking through at times. First mate took the helm from the beginning , got the sails up quickly and I took care of managing the sails. We headed down Langford Creek and into the Chester and to make it more comfortable for the first mate, we decided to head up the Chester - allowing the land to block some of the wind. Headed up towards Cliff's Point - first mate did a nice job getting her through that narrow area and then we continued on. Decided to drop the anchor at Conquest Beach (no one else was around) for lunch and then we set sail to return. Left the marina about 10 am and didn't get back until 5! Lovely day and the first mate continued to work on her skills at the helm!
Well, an almost identical sail to Wednesdays sail. Wind out of the NE 10+ knots, Cloudy, cool 63-68, Barometer 30.17. Got out a bit earlier, sails up, and headed down the creek to the Chester and headed up towards Conquest Beach... trying to get the best angle, speed and time up through the narrows at Cliff's Point. Did it a bit faster today - shorter tacks. Had to dodge a lot of crab boats though! Like Wednesday, was able to sail back up the creek and almost into the marina before dropping sails and turning on the engine. Another fun sailing day!!
Temperature was 63-79, Barometer was 30.19 and it was mostly cloudy with winds out of the NE at 10 knots. Got out of the slip at 10:30 and got the sails up quickly as usual. Headed down into the Chester and decided to head down towards Kent Island. Stayed on a broad reach on the way down - made pretty good time, then turned around to head back. Stayed between a close haul and a close reach on the way back with the centerboard all the way down. Got back into the slip about 3:30 and got her tucked away and headed home for the evening. Friday, I was going to tackle the leaking fuel issue, hopefully resolve that since little to no wind predicted. Was going to play with it today - as the predictions were for less than 5 knots - but with it blowing 10 knots - wasn't about to give up a day of sailing! No pictures today!
Small Craft Advsory - Winds 10-15 knots out of the North East. Barmeter was 30.28 and falling. Temp was 62-68 and it started out cloudy but became mostly sunny. Left the dock at 11 and got back in at 4.
Had sails up quick as I usually do - putting them up before reaching daymark 7 in the creek. Headed down under sail and out into the Chester. Decided to head up the Chester and really practice working my angles and tacking to get the best speed and distance while trying to go through a narrow area - Cliff's point. Got up the river a considerable bit - beating for the most part - before turning and heading home. Had the Genoa reefed to a jib and on the way back, put out the Whisker Pole as I was heading downwind. Worked great. Had a lovely sail and the boat handled great - had her well balanced.
Had to do a bit of engine work - found that I had a diesel leak. Got that squared away and then afterwards went out for a bit to "test" the fix. Had some fun and also took the time to calibrate the wind instruments a bit. Didn't get out of Langford creek - but had some fun before heading back in!.