Century Club: Tom Dean

Arrived after the previous two days of gale force winds to find Bubbles none the worse for wear - except for a bent solar frame and a partially detached solar panel. Took that down to repair (on March 17th) and went for a sail.  Highs were in the low to Mid 50's - beautiful sunny skies with winds from the South - South West at 8 - 10 knots. Left Lankford Bay Marina about noon and headed out towards Langford Creek.  Got the sails up prior to daymark 7 and easily sailed down the creek in 4 tacks. Stayed close hauled on a port tack down the Chester towards Eastern Neck Island. Saw a commercial boat setting/checking their fish pound nets - but other than that didn't see anyone else. When I decided to turn around and head back, the wind had lightened up a little, so I decided to bring out the Gennaker. Got her up with no problems at all and had a nice sail back - all the way in to the marina area in Davis Creek before I doused her. Need to repair the solar, so a St. Patricks day sail may not be in the offing!

Finally got the first mate (wife) to agree to a sail. Small craft advisory out, but as it had seemed - like the past few sails that there was no reason for it... at least when we left the dock! Put the mainsail up after the turn at day mark 7 in Langford Creek and the engine was off soon thereafter as we tacked down the creek in a souther wind 8 - 12 knots.  Wind was steady, so we put Bubbles on a close reach and headed just south of Grays Inn Creek and then turned and put her on a beam reach and were making good speeds as we headed over to the mouth of the Corsica. Decided not to go down the Corsica, and instead stayed out in the basin, so we began heading, on a beam reach, back over towards the western shore of the Chester when the winds began to die off a bit and shift.  I knew the forecast was for the winds to shift about 1 - which happened, and they lightened up substantially - maybe 3 to 4 knots.  When the winds finally finished their shift, they picked up substantially - going from 3 knots to 15 without any warning - gusts 25+. First mate jumped right in and depowered the main, then began to furl up the genoa. That helped quite a bit, allowing us to control the heeling and the boat.  On a broad reach, we sailed back up Langford Creek to our marina - Lankford Bay Marina under some continually strong winds.  At the turn to day mark 7 with the engine on, we were able to safely furl the remainder of the genoa, and then drop the main. A good first sail - even though difficult - because we handled it well - cool, calm and collective which made us both feel very good! Glad I wasn't out there singlehanded... would have been quite a bit more difficult! Pictures only of the easy stuff - we were a bit busy later!!

Temperature was mid - upper 40's, Winds were South 8-12 knots with gusts to 16. Left the dock about 10:45. Got the main up pretty quickly - before making the turn at Dabeacon 7 - and shut the engine down soon thereafter. Saw a rather odd ship - which I saw again after I had docked - and it was playing a kaliope! Spent a bit of time beating into the wind and only making about 3 - 4 knots, but once I got out into the Chester, went to a close reach and was buzzing along at 5 - 7 knots. About 2pm set my transom to the wind - put on a preventer and drifted slowly back down Langford Creek to Lankford Bay Marina, A chilly day, but a fun day! When I got back, I noticed that I need to pay some attention to the solar array, looks like things need some tightening!

Weather - Mostly Sunny - 55-58 degrees.  Winds SW 8-12 with gusts to 15+. Departed the slip at 10:30 am and headed down Langford Creek towards the Chester. Got the sails up before the first turn at Day beacon 7 - engines off soon thereafter. Winds were fairly light at first - but they picked up considerably as I made my way down into the Chester. Made a few runs between the mouth of the Corsica and the western shore of the Chester. I stayed relatively close to the mouth of Langford Creek because there were storms in the forecast.  About 1pm, I noticed some storm clouds on the horizon - and on my radar app and they seemed to be heading my way - so I started to head back up the creek - still under sail - in an effort to be tied up in the slip before the storm hit. About 1:30, the weather alert went up on the radio, but it did indicate that points north of me were more in the direct path - and the clouds indicated that also. Safely tied up at the slip when the storm came through... but wasn't much where I was, just a bit of wind and a few drops.  North of me seemed to get hit pretty hard though!