Beautiful morning sail over to Willoughby Bay and back. It is starting to feel like the good weather is hare to stay. Excited to begin cruising!
Century Club: George Hernandez
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Southwest winds of 10-15 knots made for some great sailing. First out into the bay then west and around the Hampton Bar. At times the wind picked up and for a half hour or so to keep things relaxing, I put in the first reef.
Originally the plan was to sail somewhere for the night but the wind was forecast increase during the night to near 30. At one point I sailed up the Hampton River and dropped anchor. I only stayed there about 30 minutes before deciding to return to my marina for the night. I'm used to anchoring in quiet places with lots of room. With the limited space I didn't feel comfortable letting out a lot of anchor line and if I dragged during the winds at night shallow water was not far away.
Friday, April 25, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Slightly chilly overnight, but with an extra blanket I was comfortable and slept great. Light winds made for a very relaxing sail back across the channel.
Thursday, April 24, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Slow start to the year, but sailing weather is finally here.
Sailed north to Buckroe Beach before making a pass back through Mill Creek then over to Willoughby Bay. A pleasant warm day, but a layer of cirrus moved in late afternoon cutting sunlight and making the NE breeze feel quite cool. In spite of a forecasted low around 50 it was a pleasant night anchored out.
Monday, April 14, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
I'm getting anxious to begin my cruising season! Nights are finally staying warm enough. Now if the weather would cooperate giving me at least 2 days in a row with reasonable winds that fit into my schedule...
Wanting to have a goal, I thought it would be fun to head up to Back River for the afternoon. It was a perfect day with a nice SW breeze and warm temperatures. Easy sailing, that is until reaching my destination. As the channel turns WSW approaching Northend Point it put the wind almost on my nose. Tacking my Nonsuch is quick and easy making it easy to work my way upwind in a narrow channel. Only problem is that I arrived just as the tidal current was close to peak flow exiting Back River. Of course I could have started the diesel, but where's the fun in that? After about 8 tacks, and probably being the entertainment for a family picnicing on the beach, I made it through. I love a challenge!
Back to OPCM at 6:45. Burgers on the grill, a walk around Ft Monroe, TV, followed by a pleasant night in the marina.
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Although sometimes I just let the winds and current take me, frequently I set some sort of goal for the day. On this day it was just to sail across the channel into Willoughby Bay. On the way over I spotted Rick Natello and his Freedom 25 in the distance. New goal, catch him for an impromptu photo shoot.
While I was slowly gaining on him, it wasn't until he turned south and I could steer an intercept course. I got quite a few shots of him and he was able to photograph me. We sailed alongside as we entered Willoughby Bay on the Swells Point channel before I turned back towards Fort Monroe.
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
First time with the auto-helm powered up. Since I sail single handed, this is going to be a game changer for me. While my Nonsuch is generally a well behaved boat, it does like to do it's own thing if nobody is watching. Also while hauling up that big sail, wind forces on the boat make it want to turn away from the wind as the sail begins to come up forcing me to make corrections.
Relaxing afternoon sail. Happy to see warming temperatures....
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Just as it says. Motoring out so I could back the boat back in after being unable to accomplish this the day before...
I'll figure out a reliable system for backing in all Wx conditions eventually!
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
ENE wind 10-15 and an outgoing tide so I headed out into the bay and turned north. As I turned back at Buckroe Beach the breeze eased and at about 2.5 knots I slowly sailed back to Fort Monroe. Of course, just as I arrived back at the marina the wind picked back up to 15+. This of course makes backing into my slip difficult for my current skill level so bow in for the night...
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
False color infrared
infrared B/W
With the unusually cold and breezy weather I had to jump at the chance to get in a little on the water time. Light south winds were forecast to increase later in the afternoon ahead of an approaching cold front the following day. As I am still struggling with backing the boat into its slip I stayed close to avoid the complications a gusty breeze would bring. I have a cat rigged sailboat, and with its large mast positioned so far forward it acts like a wind vane pushing the bow. I'm slowly building my skills backing the boat and a plan for dealing with a variety of wind directions and intensity as well as tidal current within the marina.
My initial technique was drive forward into the marina, pass my fairway as the boat coasted almost to a stop. Then angle to offset the propwalk before shifting into reverse. This worked most of the time. However, particularly with an east wind, with the combination of propwalk and wind vane effect I was unable to control the boat in the narrow area available. The solution to this that has worked a few times is to get the boat backing outside ot the marina so I have sufficient water movement over the fin keel and rudder before entering the marina from the opposite direction.
I usually have enought fuel to do this until the sun comes up so as long as I never hit anything or anybody else...
Images are infrared 720nm