Century Club: Tom Dean

After having waited out the overly hot weather and a bunch of 'SCA and storms we were really ready to get out today.  Winds were light, barometer 29.78 and temps in the 80's. Got the gennaker up pretty fast - in Langford creek and headed down into the Chester.  Did a couple of gyres, had some fun and then dropped it and put up the Genoa and main for a bit of fun.  Winds died out and we decided to head up grays inn creek for the night. Anchored just north of Brown's point. Nice to be back on the water instead of in the marina!

6/13

Barometer was 30.04 and falling.  Wind out of the South 5-10 with gusts to 15 and even more. Temperature range 76-82.  Planned to go across the bay over to the Magothy. Was thinking of heading to the glass house, but with some strong southerlies expected, decided to go somewhere new - Eagles Cove/horse farm. Turned the engine off after getting most of the way down Langford creek. First mate took quite a bit of the time at the helm - which was good for her, while I managed the sails. We had the main sail rolled in a bit for most of the sail - and there were times when crossing the bay from the Chester to the Magothy that I thought - hmmm maybe we should have reefed, but it wasn’t too bad.  Had some gusts get up to the 20’s while getting into the Magothy and up towards Eagle’s Cove, but all in all a delightful sail with the engine only used to get out of the marina and into the anchorage! Left the marina at 10:30 and anchorage was down at 5:20.

6/14 

Took a bit of time in the morning to do boat work - had to fix a few things - first mate had some cleaning, then got out the paddle board and explored Eagle Cove.  Wonderful place - had a few other boats stay the night - some left in the morning and a few others stuck around for a couple of days like us.  Thunderstorm over night - little bit of lightening - but our anchor held firm!

6/15 - off to Annapolis

Barometer was at 30.21 and rising.  Winds out of the north at 10 - 15 with gusts to 23. Sunny with a high of 84.  Did a quick paddle of Eagles Cove first and then prepped the boat for the voyage to Annapolis - wanted to try and get a mooring in Spa Creek!. Decided just to use the head sail with the predicted winds…. At times, could have put up the Gennaker, but we stayed safe and just used the Genoa. Picked up anchor at 9:30 am and arrived in Annapolis about 2:30. A little bit of traffic waiting for the spa creek bridge, but got under at the 2:30 opening and picked up mooring ball 51 (getting pretty good at this) in Spa Creek in St. Mary’s Cove.  Got the dinghy put together - first mate dropped the seat into Spa Creek - and we took a dinghy ride over to the harbormaster to get tokens for the showers and walk around a bit.  Found some nice HH gloves!

6/16 - Annapolis day 2.

Did an early morning paddle of Spa Creek.  Went all the way back to the last set of moorings which are right at a park. If they weren’t $10 more - I would go there! Spa Creek was lovely.  When the first mate awoke and after she was ready, we took the dingy over to the dock and decided, after Starbucks, to explore the USNA.  After all of that, did another paddle of Spa Creek and also went out into the main harbor on the Eastport side for a bit.

6/17 - Annapolis back to the Chester.  Barometer was 30.21 and rising.  Winds were out of the south 15 (for the most part) with gusts well over 20. Small Craft Advisory in effect. Got the sails - double reefed - up in the basin outside of Annapolis and began making our way towards the bay bridge.  We were taking some rather large swells on our beam - not overly comfortable, but were also moving fast.  Very glad I decided 2 reefs!  Right before the bridge, the waves almost doubled in size to about 4 feet for a bit making things rather than exciting.  Things calmed down a bit after the bridge and the first mate took over for the leg to Love Point. Managed to keep the sails up the entire way - had to do some tacking and jibing around eastern neck island to make that half circle that the Chester has there, but made the turn and decided to go into the Corsica - which again - we sailed into and down to Rocky Point where we anchored for the evening.  A bit buggy - lots of flies, but thank goodness they weren’t the biting kind!

6/18 Corsica River to Conquest Beach and Cacaway Island

Pulled anchor about 10:15 with main sail up - was planning to sail out of the Corsica and down to conquest beach. Sunny, Barometer 30.43 Temp upper 70’s and winds out of the SW 10-15 - no real gusts to speak of. First mate at the helm and we began sailing and tacking up the river. We got stuck for a brief time - good learning/teaching moment for the first mate, but we set sails to help us heel and we got off ourselves! The rest of the sail was uneventful and we dropped anchor under sail about .2nm off of conquest beach ate lunch, picked up the anchor and motor sailed off to Cacaway Island for a nice peaceful anchorage for the evening.

6/19 - Cacaway Island to Lankford Bay Marina.

Motor Sailed from Cacaway into our home marina - Lankford Bay Marina.  Ended up helping a dock neighbor hank on their sails… learned a few things about the way other boats are rigged!  Went paddling afterwards!!

Tuesday May 28

First mate is retiring at the end of the month, so we decided to bring Bubbles up to Chesapeake city so she could have a little shindig with her friends on June 1st. Left the marina about 11. Barometer was at 29.83, Temp range from 74-77 under sunny skies. Winds were out of the NW 10-15. Had to motor a bit, but got to sail for the majority of the 6 1/2 hour jaunt up to Fairlee Creek.  Had hoped to go farther north, but the winds around Pooles island were really starting to pick up - and the forecast was for stronger winds the further north I went.  Didn’t want to be heading into Worton or Still Pond in the dark with heavy winds - and no protection from the winds, so decided to head into Fairlee.  Went in at low tide - water was really running out the cut… but managed to make it in and the anchorage was fairly calm even with the strong winds through the night.

Wednesday  May 29 - the journey continues

Pulled anchor at 8am and headed north.  Got the sails up for a wee bit until the winds just totally wimped out - we are talking 1.2 knots!! Barometer was 29.91, temp range from 65-73 and what winds there were came out of the NorthWest - not a bad direction… just not enough wind. Got into the Bohemia about 1pm and found a nice spot in Veazey Cove - at least I thought it would be nice as the forecast was for light winds out of the NW for the next 24 hours.  Then the storms came - only rained a little, but the winds started howling and never stopped.  Overnight had winds out of the N - NW 10-15 with gusts easily to 20 or more. One neat thing - got to watch the Wednesday night Sailboat races on the Bohemia!.

Thursday, May 30 - Last leg - Chesapeke City

Barometer was 30.01, Temperature started at 61 and the winds continued… more out of the North at 10-15 with gusts 20 or better. Sunny skies.  Tide/ Current was changing at the entrance to the C & D canal at about 10, so decided to pull anchor and head out about 9 so I would be hitting the entrance to the canal right when the current started running the way I would need it to run. 

Pulling the anchor would have been near impossible with the wind blowing 20 knots if I hadn’t had the auto pilot! The wind continued blowing with some gusts well over 20 knots - which made the autopilot work harder than usual. Did something stupid - went below for a few as there were no boats in sight, but forgot about the big buoys marking the channel.  With the wind gusting and the autopilot working hard… well, nicked one of them and now have an 8 inch by 5 inch gash in the bow.  Didn’t go all the way through, and it is well above the water line, but still - not good.  Another couple of boat dollars down the drain! Got to Chesapeake city - no room at the dock, so I anchored in the basin without any further problems.

Friday May 31st - Solo

Took a dinghy ride over into Chesapeake City dock and explored the city a bit - gave me a chance to stretch my legs a bit also.  Took the time to cover the gash in the front of the hull to keep any water from coming in.  Also went off on the SUP for a paddle around the canal and then under the bridge in the anchorage and down the creek a bit. Got quite a ways down before turning back… getting worried that I might not be able to make it back under the bridge with the rising tide.  Had to fight the current all the way back - and it was running! Got back to Bubbles and then pulled anchor and headed over to Schaefer’s Canal House Marina for our slip. Got a nice slip on the inside floating dock - little tricky getting in, but no biggie.

Saturday, June 1st - Party day

After a nice little paddle around the marina and in the C & D canal (stayed close to land and didn’t venture too far) got ready for the retirement party. Lots of women on the boat!

Sunday, June 2nd - Heading back down south.  Winds were out of the SW at 5 - 10 with some gusts.  Barometer was at 30.16 and the temperature ranged from 68 - 78. Took off out of the marina at 8:30 am and had a lot of help from the notorious C&D canal current.  Since I was going south and the winds were out of the SW, we had to motor most of it, but were able to get the sails up down around Kent Narrows and had some NICE winds all the way back to the home marina getting in about 7:30pm

Got to the marina right about 10 and immediately prepared the boat to head out. Barometer was 29.98, Temperature was 71 - got up to 80 and winds were out of the south and blowing about 10. Winds eventually were up in the teens - but that started about 1pm. Sunny skies - some clouds came in later in the afternoon.

Took off tacking down Langford Creek into the Chester.  Decided to keep going south and see how far I could get - maybe catch a few glances of the Blue Angels.  Making good time beating into the wind - with the autopilot doing well  - because the skipper had the sails set well. Made it all the way down past Kent Narrows - to the eastern side of Kent narrows by 1:30... so I sailed back and forth there for a bit since the show wasn't supposed to start until 2pm. Saw the Blue Angels fly by heading north a little after 2, so turned the boat around and started to head back - letting the autopilot steer while I watched some of the show through binoculars.  Checked the distance at the end - had gone 34 nautical miles for an average speed of 5.5 knots. Lots of fun - great day for a sail - probably the best one so far this year!!