Century Club: Richard Turman

Finally got my powerboat winterized, allowing me to then put the winter cover on.  Always a pain, but with a variation this year of the new lift I was putting it on, which seemed a little better than on the old lift (and dock).  Had to kayak out and under the boat two separate times to get the tie-downs under one side of the boat, below the keel, and over to the other side where it could be attached to the tie down on the other side.  Doing that and taking the drain plug out were all important jobs that needed doing, as did removing the starting battery for the season, but at least I did this on a day when it was mid-40's as opposed to earlier in the month, when the high was in the 30's for two weeks.  Looking forward to riding the boat in the spring!

Since it was a balmy 45 degrees out, had planned to just take the Genoa off, in prep for winter storage, but found it wasn’t too bad out, so went out in 5-10 knots of breeze from the SW.  Went around Saint Helena island, and as I did so, wind started gusting into the high teens.

Made my way back up towards home on Valentine Creek and stupidly kept both sails up as I came through the narrow entrance.  Hit w gusts in 20’s that came with a wind shift that  threw me from port to starboard tack and fouled the Genoa as I was heading for the two story boat dock/swim platform to port by a pool barge.

Managed to get the Genoa unfouled just in time to avoid the mast and main coming into contact w the upper deck, and the hull to avoid a piling at the base of the platform. A front was now coming through with rain and steady winds high teens and gusts low 20’s. Managed to furl Genoa, but wind kept laying me over, so went back out into the Severn (at nearly 6 knots w just the main) and found a place in the lee of the wind so I could finally drop it.

Easy enough to then motor home, and the front had blown through by the time I went to dock, but it certainly was an exciting way to end the season. Glad the boat is all in one piece. All I lost overboard was the stocking cap I was wearing; wild to have it blown off my head. 

Had a great time out late afternoon with pretty fall colors and no boats to be seen, just Heron and ducks. 

A day with temps in the high 60's and North winds from 8-14 proved a great day to introduce someone to sailing. One of my racing crew brought a buddy from Uganda who had just graduated with a Masters from Maryland and his prof over so we could go sailing. 
Had a rewarding time showing them how wind power could produce forward motion on a boat, and taught them both how to steer something w a tiller and no brakes. 
One problem, though, came when I went out to get the boat ready to sail. The tide was lower than we'd seen in a year, and it was so low the keel would not extend all the way down and allow the boat to float off the lift. Asked two neighbors if they had a block and tackle, and one of them had two 'come alongs instead. Since it was 10:30 in the am and low tide wasn't until 12:30, we used the come along tied to a 4x4 across the coachroof, help up by about eight inches of 2x4's on each side. Was able to raise the keel a half inch, off the bottom of the lift, get out of the boat to reduce weight, and float it out of the slip. The concealing wouldn't release the tension to drop the keel the needed 4 inches, but I was able to slowly lower it by slowly letting out on the dock line I had used to attach the come along to the 4x4.  That worked, and the keel slid down and we then piled into the boat to go sailing. Took 6 guys an hour to make it work, but it was a great example of ingenuity and helpful and creative neighbors. Whew!