Last race of this series at RCRA. Next week back over on the rock creek side. We didn't do too well due to a lot of small mess ups, but it was a beautiful night with good wind from the south. I think we came in 3rd. There was some excitement getting the spinnaker down. Too much pressure to open the jaws on the pole, I think from the tack line? Could it have been the guy though? I kept pulling the line to unclip it and couldn't. Then we jibed and the pole was still slightly suspended and caught the bottom of the jib, and I had to shove it down and keep pulling the pole lift down. Idk why it didn't just go. By that point, the spinnaker had started to come down, but been pushed over or around the jib to the leeward side, Jeremiah was grabbing it over into the hatch on the high side, and I was on the leeward, he got the hatch open but it was pretty tough to get in. Idk how much was in the water at that point because there was a good amount falling on top of me and I was trying to grab it and stuff into the hatch without tearing it. We got it eventually. I think the spinnaker was supposed to drop fast mid jibe, but the halyard got hung up in the new clutch and by the time it started to go, the wind was pushing it over and complicating things with the jib. Wish I could see a video replay or something to figure it out. I think that effectively debriefing after errors is so helpful, and then doing some extra practice to resolve it solidifies skills and techniques. Or at least nails down where the maneuver is going wrong, like maybe an issue with the clutch. There was an almost full moon on the way back in. Stopped by MYC very quickly to say hi and eat.
Century Club: Rebekah Bromwell
Got to catch up with Randy for a day out on Huzzah. Absolutely beautiful day, but the wind forecast was ridiculously off. We slooowly drifted over to the eastern shore and caught up with Josh sailing OrgaZmatron home. Finally got a couple of gusts in the mid teens in the way back in.
Came in 2nd behind Cloudsplitter! What a great race. They do an amazing job and set up a fantastic party with incredibly welcoming kind volunteers. I met so many fun people. Weather was kind of bleh, pouring rain almost the entire race, bad visibility, wind was kind of in our face, but we did ok! And it was fun. Oooh! AND, it's my hundredth day on the water this year!!! Couldn't have scheduled it better if I tried.
Wind started out ok but died down. Still a lovely day out on the bay, and we adjusted the wind angle offset and confirmed the new main furling set up is working well.
Bottom cleaned and in spite of light air, tonight we were fast! There was loooots of big commercial traffic though, at least 4 different instances of 5 horns. Eeek. We did really well and finished first, 3 and 4.5 minutes before the next boats. We may be disqualified because of crossing the line starting and mot rounding the pin though. Don't care, we know we won lol.
Made our 3rd annual pilgrimage and did not skipper, but was crew for Richard's first overnight skippering trip on Akimbo. Anchoring and rafting up happened, and we set up close to Cantler's which made the 3 trips back and forth to ferry everyone via dinghy much more manageable than if we'd headed all the way back to our usual spot. Also there was a giant raft up of power boats over there being INCREDIBLY loud and obnoxious with karaoke or something all afternoon. Thankfully they eventually stopped. It was pretty horrible and low wind and super hot and humid on the way down, but it cooled off overnight and was overcast with good wind and just a few periods of rain but no T-storms on the way back. We did have about a 45 minute pause approaching fr mchenry as Sweet Dreams couldn't start their engine, so we hovered and prepped to tow, but as we were about to catch lines, it started. Phew.
Spent today sailing with Jason and Ulrich on Huzzah. Overcast w/light sprinkles, low wind to start but picked up decently in the early afternoon. Saw a whole pod of 10+ dolphins jumping and playing about 50yds from us for a bit as well!
We were so sloooooow... Super light wind was not good for us. Anyway, it was a beautiful night, and was fully dark by the time we came in. Excellent dinner at MYC after.
Took Jeff, Josh & James out for skipper checkout skills coaching and had a great afternoon on the water. First had them go through their own rigging coaching, reefing, departures, and the sailed up the anchorage to do POBs and heave-to's. Everyone had their quick stop down well, so we sailed back to do docking on the T-head. Did that for a bit, and the. Got a couple figure 8 POB's in, a couple more upwind dockings at the end, and Josh nailed our downwind docking into our actual slip.
Took Sandy out after the squall passed over us to give him some time to just motor around and do whatever he wanted as a refresher before his checkout on Monday. He did an awesome pivot turn inside the abandoned finger piers next door, plus a few perfect dockings on the T-head and back in the slip. He's beyond ready to check out and will be a fantastic skipper and coach for other new cruisers.