Century Club: Rebekah B

Left Norfolk (Portsmouth really) and got to Coinjock. Weather was good, temp in the mid 50s mostly sunny. about 10kts wind that facilitated getting the jib out for a bit. We went through 13 bridges (some fixed, some lifted or pivoted open) and 1 lock. 

Holey moley today was amazing. Had to cancel my OTW practical last time it was scheduled for lack of wind, and today was very nearly the opposite. I was pretty anxious based on the projected wind but when I got there and started the pre-sail check stuff it was very low, almost glassy. I marked "5kts" in the log somewhat optimistically lol. It was starting to pick up by the time my crew got there and I had to undock, still not a ton of wind but it was gusting enough from the south that it made departure stressful. I made it but I really hate when gusts take the bow so hard. I had Laura act as an impromptu 3rd crew just for an extra pair of hands to deal with some of the wind conditions so when I was barely able to compensate for the bow being push away from the dock I decided to get that line back on the cleat and had her hold it doubled back, then had the usual aft spring and stern lines. I walked the stern well over, almost as far as possible, and then backed out with considerable throttle. I cleared the bow thank goodness but it was pushed hard over in spite of the way I started out and I was forced back toward the dolphins/fireboat, but then pretty smoothly switched to forward and pulled out. Then we did a pivot turn which was just ok but not absolutely perfectly tight so took another try with the advise to only engage the motor in exactly the necessary places to counter the gusts that were pushing me towards dominoes. That one was pretty perfect and a great lesson in apppying only as much effort as necessary. Then I demonstrated reversing in a straight line for 3 boat lengths, and then went over to the marina just past fells point and motored around a bit inside, did a pivot turn to get out, answered stand on/collision avoidance scenario questions. Then I anchored and the wind started to REALLY kick up. Anchoring went well, held even with less scope than ideal in that wind, and then we pulled it up successfully. Then I headed to the turning basin to raise the main and decided to start out with the second reef in thinking that we might swap to the first after a bit if it calmed down. 
IT DID NOT. lol

I turned towards the outer harbor from there and we got the jib out but only as far as the shroud. Then we got to do some EXCITING sailing out past ft mchenry and I had our impromptu extra hand ease the main quite a lot, only infrequently bringing it back in. Even with both reeds in and the main almost fully eased we were heeled hard over at any point higher than a broad reach. We jibed a couple of times, and then headed up to tack back to the basin to do a POB, which was DIFFICULT. The wind direction meant nearly horizontal tacking back and forth, but since it was so incredibly strong I was able to pinch quite a lot and pint much higher than normal on Akimbo. The trick was that I had to stop pinching long enough to get good momentum before a tack which required falling off and heeling more. But we managed and it was actually hella fun. We got back to the basin and Laura suggested calling it and just practicing because she wouldn't have taken anyone out for a check in those conditions, but I said I didn't have time for that and wanted to go for it anyway, and so I did. I pinched my way into the basin further in and when Laura tossed the buoy over I went into automatic. I was pretty sure I would be going to fast but it went perfectly, just very very fast lol. The James's performed excellently, and in spite of our speed were able to do all their jobs, and when I turned up and blew the main the wind really did stop me right as I got to our "friend"!!! I was sure it wouldn't, but it worked! The. Then I started to do a heave to but the wind was picking up even more intensity so we decided to head back towards home. It did calm a little around dominoes and I described the rest of the maneuvers for heave to and how to spring off the t-head from any direction, and decided to drop the sail rather than demonstrate. Dropping the sail was a challenge just because of the intensity, but we successfully shook out the reef and did a rough flake and dealt with tidying it up back at the dock. Then, the dreaded docking. The wind was quite strong, with gusts periodically, but thankfully had switched to come from the east much more than the south so I could compensate by keeping the throttle significantly up pretty much all the way in. Somehow was able to bring us in absolutely perfectly inches from the dock totally gracefully while all 3 crew stepped off and got lines on to secure us. I definitely feel lots more confident now. I can't believe I did all that! 

Day 5-6 Ct-Miami

My first overnight passage! We went further offshore this time as well (about 5 miles) because there are several zones along the coast that require special attention. (fish traps, debris, etc) So, we left Ocean city MD just before midnight and the wind had thankfully died down to about 4kts so getting lines off pilings and zipping out of the slip was easy. The inlet at Ocean city is pretty easy to navigate and didn’t have any iffy shallow spots that were a problem, but it was still incredibly dark without any moon and all the glare of the boardwalk lights made it a little stressful. But once we got out past the buoys and everything my eyes adjusted and it was magnificent. Also, the STARS are as amazing as I hoped. And when the sliver of red moon finally rose a little before 4 am it was also stunning. AND, when it was just barely approaching dawn and was still pitch dark above and to the west, there was an amazing subtle pink glow that crept through at the eastern horizon and really lifted me after several FREEZING hours in the dark. Being able to see the stars and the moon and the glow of the impending dawn is pretty crazy.

HOWEVER. I deeply, DEEPLY regret not getting the warmer foulies at the boat show. I feel like such an idiot replying to the saleswoman that I didn’t want anything too hot. I cannot explain it but even if the temperature is something totally reasonable like 44-60ish range, off the coast the moment the sun is not fully blasting you, and there is any hint of wind. !@#$%^&*() !@#$%^ (insert all of the expletives you like) I cannot stress this enough. SO, I guess now I know. (And so do you!)

Some awesome things about going a few miles off shore at night are:

I got to learn to use the radar, gain confidence in my light pattern recognition and understanding of other vessel’s trajectory/movement, experience extreme peacefulness (sort of, I am desperate to do this without the engine running now!), learn that I prefer some kind of shift system for periodic rest/refreshes instead of staying up the whole time (even if it is manageable, I would be more "with it" if I got several brief pauses for rest), the STARS (I saw a couple of shooting stars and they are SO much more sudden bright flashes than when stargazing in my previous experience), and, idk, I love pretty much every single thing about it except getting in and out of populated areas and the !@#$%^&&()! cold, but that was also a learning experience which is a positive because I won’t make that mistake again.

During the day we passed through a right whale management area (I think that must be sort of like a preserve because large vessels are supposed to slow down) and I saw 2 whales! I also saw a couple dark colored dolphins which were different than the light ones I saw previously. (There were also Dolphins in the Norfolk channel/bay/open area after the bridge-tunnel!) I was able to catch a couple of glimpses of the whales on video but never could with the dolphins. 

Norfolk inlet/channel/harbor is MASSIVE. It reminds me a lot of the Annapolis-Baltimore corridor, but on steroids. I think my experience with the giant carriers and barges has really influenced how I plan all my movement because I kept wanting to adjust our bearing or speed to deal with potential intercepts which was annoying the skipper. “But the CPA is 0.23, no now its 0.18, now it’s 0.11 and less than 2 minutes!!!! Shouldn’t we radio them to tell our intentions?!?” (maybe it’s worse having the AIS on because not only can I see that we are on an intercept trajectory but the computer confirms it and tells you exactly what the countdown is lol) I’m sure I was a very irritating nerd about it but I kept expecting to get 5 blasts and a huge wake. It took us 4 hours full throttle motoring to get from the bridge to the marina we stayed at. The marina is pretty awesome (Tidewater), there is even a mooring ball area where you can stay and then just pay $12/day to use their dinghy dock and all the facilities. And the restaurant (Fish & Slips lol) has great specials. ;-) Also, when we were coming in to the slip I was getting ready to hop off to tie up and the NICEST power boating grandpa in the WORLD came over to grab the line and help. And then he brought us beers and said he wanted to make up for all the times we got tossed around by thoughtless jerk speeders. Actually it seems like boaters just love chatting and even this morning when I was rushing to get to the airport some just kept trying to talk! They are full of neat info about where they just came from and weather info and all kinds of neat jobs they have done.

Barnegat to Cape May today. We left Barnagat inlet at sunrise (7ish). There were significant breaking waves as we left so that was a bit exciting, but it calmed down right away as we got out and into deeper water away from the seawall. The wind was around 20kt from the north so we were able to sail a bit with the jib. We got to Cape may around 4. There was a huge fleet of i think fishing boats that looked super cool as we came in the inlet, I wish I had time to draw them. I did get some pics and video as we left though. The current coming into South Jersey marina was "light" according to them, but was still a challenge to dock in. We had to fend off a very nice 50ish foot classic wooden ketch (I think? cutter rigged with 2 fore sails but also 2 masts.) but we got in ok. Got diesel and did a pumpout on the way in. Engine didn't start at the fuel dock after that, and Mal tried the remote starter switch again and it failed after a little cough. He got it going with the screw driver though. Really nice marina. Had an excellent shower upstairs in the building over the shop. They had nice laundry machines too but I don't have enough dirty laundry to bother yet. We walked about a mile into town on Washington St. There were tons of really neat victorian houses that reminded me of toronto in murdoch mysteries. A couple offer tours. (Physik house and Southern Mansion?) Definately would go back for a longer visit. The center has a neat open mall kind of area with lots of cute shops. There was a horse drawn carriage in front of a big church with very nice stained glass right at the start of that area too, and lots of fairy lights. We ended up eating at George's (BYOB Greek restaurant) and tried to find a liquor store to buy something to celebrate Mal's successful docking but no luck. Still dinner was excellent. I had shrimp saganaki and Mal had a whole branzino which was huge and looked awesome.