Orignial plan, Sail north. New plan, give up and go over to Willoughby Bay for the night.
Though I knew the winds were forecast to be fairly light, the combination of wildly variable winds and tidal current slowed my progress to a crawl. After 2-1/2 hours and only a few miles which is just out of shouting range of my start point I gave up and elected for a relaxing afternoon and evening anchored in Willoughby Bay.
I wasn't going anywhere so by the time I finished a little work on the boat there was a 10 knot south wind to tack against leaving Mill Creek for the channel. I was headed over to Willoughby Bay but just as I entered the north channel going in, the breeze died. Fortunately I was off the channel as I slowly drifted on the incomming tide. Finally I dropped the sail and motored in.
Light south winds and pleasant weather made for a relaxing sail on the channel near Fort Monroe.
As I was identifying an unusual looking boat named "Windea Courageous" I found there were no pictures of it on the 'Boat Beacon' app. So the following morning I uploaded my photo to the app. Since I take pictures of everything that passes me, contributing to the database might be something fun to do....
Little wind, then a nice breeze. Starting off the outgoing tidal current carried me to the channel. Just enough air movement that I had rudder authority to maintain dricetional control. Once out a 15 knot NE breeze moved me along nicely. Knowing this likely wouldn't last I turned back to position myself for an easy sail back in when it did finally die.
Back to Fort Monroe. A fairly strong breeze had me start off with a reef in the sail. With the wind about 30 degrees off my track through the narrow channel and an incoming tidal current I was making slow progress. I had to run the diesel to get through the tighest point which also turned more into the wind. Once out and as the channel turned more SE, out comes the reef and an easy though rolling sail towards home.
One of my favorite places. Back River. Only 11.7 nm from Frot Monroe it is an easy sail even on a light wind day. This day had a wide range of winds. From 23 knot gusts that moved me along at 7 knots to dead calm. Obviously some thermal activity to make the day interesting. By mid afternoon the breeze became more reliable and the occasional throught of giving up left me.
With a north wind forecast overnight I anchored on the north side near north creek in ~8' of water. This didn't give me the protection I had hoped for as the breeze overnight was more NE and swells from the bay curved around the land and followed the river to hit me broadside rocking the boat until the early morning hours.
Local sail enjoying the 91° SW breeze. Stayed close waiting for a friend to head out from Fort Monroe heading to Oriental, NC. I wanted to get some pictures of them under sail. Unfortunately, it took longer than expected for them to depart and I ran out of time. Then with developing thunderstorms they decided to cancel for the day.
The previous day with gusty winds entering the marina, I could see it would be a struggle backing in. Just reounding the corner past the seawall the winds grabbed the bow and we were headed towards it. This day was to get the boat turned around. Of course, just like with the airplane where moving the plane necessitated once around the pattern, I have to go out and motor around for a bit.
Njord, the Norse god of wind was having some fun with me. At first a north breeze got me out and tacking up the shoreline. It was a little rough and gusty so I changed plans and decided to head back to the James River. Just as I turned west to fight the outgoing tide the wind changed to west and lightened. Every thermal that passed changed the wind direction. Loosing ground I finally had to run the diesel to get out of the suddenly busy channel.
First of a 2 day event. Out in the Hampton Yacht Club skiff as the Mark Boat. Quite breezy with SW winds approaching 20 knots making for a bumpy time at anchor. Thunderstorms delayed then cancelled the second day of racing.