Unusually cold weather and commitments has got me off to a slow start this year.
Forecasted to be near 50, I saw my chance. Unfortunately we never made it out of the low 40's. However, with sunshine and light winds it was beautiful on the water! Only problem, it was peak ebb tide. With the light wind I could go this way or that but the end result was that I would be going with the flow...
I sailed about 7 miles down the Elizabeth River and back.
Very light winds allowed the cool day to feel quite comfortable. Not going anywhere it is perfectly fine with me to float along at just a couple knots....
Circled a freighter that had been anchored at F-1 for about a week now.
With a forecast of light winds, I almost didn't leave the dock. But, it was another nice day so off I went. Leaving Mill Creek I spotted another Nonsuch. Following him for a while to get some pictures until turning back to OPCM.
Docking was another thing. New dock which gives me the maneuvering room for backing in. Twice so far it had gone well. Not today. Five tries before finally giving up and going in bow first. That really bothered me so back out again and on the first try I did it. With 30 hours of fuel on board, this could have gone on all night...
Light breeze today. Beautiful sailing. However headed back to dock, it seemed I wasn't making much progress. That's okay, not in a hurry. I'm making 0.5 knots according to my chartplotter. Except it was 1/2 knot backwards! Fire up the Westerbeke...
First to move a friends' Hallberg-Rassy 31 from Tidewater Marine Service back to its slip at Old Point Comfort Marina. Second, and much shorter, relocate my Nonsuch 30 from "J" dock to "H" dock where the fairway is wider and the tidal current is not as strong flowing through the marina. Easily backed my boat into the slip on the first try.
...and back. Then over to Willoughby Bay for the night.
A beautiful afternoon with an unseasonably warm south breeze. Original thought was to sail out to the ocean, but by the time I was under sail it was obvious it couldn't be done before the sun set. Instead turned back just before reaching Little Creek arriving at my anchorage about 30 minutes before sunset. Perfect sleeping weather. The following morning light winds turned my 4.5 mile sail home into almost 2 hours. But with warm sunshine, I enjoyed every minute of the slow motion sail back home...
...on Willoughby Bay.
In spite of leaving the house fairly early, time was getting close when I arrived at the marina. So, rather than sail over I just fired up the diesel and motored there. No wanting to be in the way and wanting the sun at my back for photography I anchored east of the southbound leg. I was a little further off the course than I would prefer but still got a few good pictures. Actually my favorite shots were as I encountered boats on their final leg as I was motoring back to OPCM.
Needing to be home by mid-afternoon on Thursday, I scaled back my sailing plans and only went as far as the Back River. Entering the river I stopped just inside and got off of the channel to drop anchor. I wanted to paddle to shore to walk on the beach but with a 15 knot west wind the water was too rough trying to climb down into the kayak. I eventually moved further up the river and down to the south side hoping to get a little protection from wind and waves. Finally the breeze shifted more to the south and decreased making for a more pleasant evening. One of the next things for the boat is to make a Riding Sail to reduce the boat sailing while at anchor.
The sail home went well with a 15-20 knot wind right on my nose, as always! About 2/3 of the way home I realized I'd be late if I didn't fire up the diesel and aim straight for home...
Original plan over the weekend was for a 3 day sail to the Eastern Shore, however light winds changed that and I stayed close and spent the night in the marina. Spotted another catboat and changed course to intercept for photos.