Sail with a friend out to Thimble Shoal Lighthouse and back.
Century Club: George Hernandez
A Hallberg-rassy owner on my dock was curious about my unusual looking catboat. With a 12 east breeze it was the perfect day to let her see how nice my Nonsuch 30 handles. It was also a treat for me to have some company on the water with me. 99.99% of the time I sail single handed
A former nieghbor a Willoughby Harbor Marina is now anchored across from Old Point Comfort Marina and needed a ride from the boat to shore and then get supplies. Happy to help....
Probably due to a little late start, tide being against me and the NE wind right on my nose. I was making terrible time even before the wind let up mid afternoon. Chart plotter predicted arrival after sunset so Kiptopeake would have to wait for another time. I turned towards Back River for the overnight. Clouds thickened and the forecast continued to go downhill with rain forecast in the morning. Fortunately only light rain for the sail home. I needed to wear a raincoat for a little while but overall it was a pleasant and fairly fast sail back home.
A nice afternoon on the water. Sailed downwind on the north side of the Hampton Bar and around to Fort Wool before turning back to OPCM at Fort Monroe.
I was asked to be one of the safety boats for this race. It was a very breezy day with a northeast wind gusting over 20. Normally I wouldn't even untie my boat on a day like this! The course was shortened to eliminate crossing the main channel to Middle Ground Light and the expected rougher conditions out there. I anchored just east of R22 which would be the turnpoint. Six boats made it around the course. Four Sunfish, a trimaran and one sloop. It was impressive to see these little sailboats out on a day that I was not happy in my 6 ton Nonsuch!
Finally, I was able to get some much needed work done. The removal of a jammed up Blooper line and cheek block, installation of a wind indicator, and new topping lifts. Plural, because Nonsuch have three. One from the mast top to the end of the 'whichbone' boom and two from the sides of the mast to support the front of the whichbone boom. Thank you Gaston Saada and Tidewater Marine Service.
After that I motored over to photograph the Willoughby race. Nice NE breeze blowing and fast racing. With the sun already setting, I again simply motored back to Old Point Comfort. With an outgoing tide and incoming wind it was quite rough crossing the channel. Arriving in the dark with a flashlight in my hand I was happy for an uneventful docking...
A sail over to Willoughby Bay for the night. Some fishing, burgers on the grill and then movie time. Pleasant night with the cooler weather...
A sail north. Light winds early picked up as forecast and gave me 7 knots as I turned NW towards the York River. Comfortable night. Nice sail back to Fort Monroe. Light winds for a good part of the day...
Departing Willoughby Bay about 9:30 with a 5-7 knot north wind I was concerned about sailing the narrow north channel. Fortunately, as I approached the winds shifted about 20 degrees to the east and I was able to sail out with only a couple tacks in spite of the incoming tide.
That went well, but the incoming flow was carrying me towards the Hampton Bar rather than OPCM. No problem, I'll just tack and make more progress east before turning back on course. After tacking, I'm looking at the chart plotter in disbelief. It says I'm not even going to make it back to where I entered the main channel. That's it! Fire up the diesel...