Carey and I went out: sun shinning and about five to seven knots of southwesterly breeze. Little debris in the water compared to last week. Sailed up the marker 9, where the Anacostia splits off from the Potomac. We passed one of the SCOW boats going up and going back. Saw a hawk perched on a log that barely protruded above the surface of the water!
Century Club: Hank Messick
Sunday, February 4, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Good times!
Dave, Paul, Josh, Carey and me took one of the SCOW Catalina 250s out for a day sail. Sunny, cold with a light breeze. Beautiful day. We amble down to the WW Bridge and back. First time nearly all of Arcas's race crew has gotten on the water in months and there was plenty of commraderie and catching up. Arcas is has a clogged sail drive so not available for today.
Friday, February 2, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Carey and I ventured out for a few hours today. Wind from the North blowing a steady 15 knot and lots of debris in the water. Eight foot timbers bobbing along with smaller flotsam and jetsam. Four other sailboat (three from SCOW) ventured out on the River---usually were the only one on the water.
Returning to the slip the impeller shredded setting off an engine alarm and smoke leaked out of the engine compartment. Got to the public docks and WSM's yard fellas, Howe and Stan, towed us around to my slip. Back to the marina tomorrow to replace the impeller. Fingers crossed there is no other damage from over heating.
Thursday, January 11, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Carey and I headed south to Mt Vernon on the ebb and planned to return on the flood tide. Sunny with a six to eight knot southerly breeze and lots of debris in the river from torrential rains earlier the week.
A few minutes after hoisting sails south of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge I heard a "pop" and the main sail went limp. The halyard, made of Vectran, severed about a foot above the shackle! Our adventure ended and we motored back to WSM.
Sunday, January 7, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Having fun on a cold day on the Bay
Bob, Carey and I sailed with Moe on his 1963, 37 foot Chris Craft Apache, from Hartge Marina (West River) beyond Thomas Point Light and back. Wind was blowing a steady 18 to 20 knots from the Northwest, waves were two feet. Mostly sunny which helped with the wind chill. Clocked over 8 knots with a reefed main and a #2 headsail. We were a little over canvassed but we zoomed along easily despite strong gusts. We were the only ones on the Bay except for a 20' RIB skippered by a photographer. He took maneuvered his boat around snapping photos often from almost water level. We'llhave to check out on his Instagram account.
Friday, January 5, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Providence heads to her Old Town berth
Occasional gust of 6-7 knots but even lighter most of the time.
Monday, January 1, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Lots of movable ballast!
Out in front
Annual DISC race. Cloudy, cold (43F), with an occasional drizzle but fun for the three boats which participated (two were DNS). We took line honors by almost two minutes but the two other boat had high PHRF ratings and corrected ahead of us. Some consolation, I raced with my old (20+ years) dacron sails!
Thursday, December 21, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Bob, Carey, Jason and I sailed north to the New Frederick Douglas Bridge, then around Hains Point to the 14th St Bridge and then a long spinacker run to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge before returning to WSM.
Cloudy and cool (45F) with a breeze ranging between two to eight knots. Waved at the water taxis but no pleasure boats but us were on the water.
Friday, December 15, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
DC waterfront
Beautiful day, high 50s, wind from the W to NW, three to ten knots as we headed up river to DC. Managed to sail along the DC waterfront before the wind shifted to dead ahead and then we slowly ran southward along the Washington Channel. Saw Alacrity slowly heading outbound in the WSM channel when we returned.
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Carey at the helm
Sunny and chilly (45F) today but we, Carey and I, timed the tide perfectly. Headed south on and ebbing tide and turned north at Mt Vernon on a flooding tide. Wind was southwesterly from three to eight knots; easy sailing for about 20 miles total.