Century Club: Tom Dean

The forecast was for some nice winds.... right around 10 knots or so for most of the day so I headed off to the marina for a fun day. Got to the marina about 10 and was out of the slip by 10:30. Temperature was 67, winds were 10 knots with some gusts and the barometer was 30.00 and steady. Sunny to partly cloudy skies. There was a small craft advisory until 11 - which was extended to 1 pm.

Headed out, got the sails up before daymark 7 and headed down Langford creek to the Chester.  Decided to go for a longer sail - so I headed right down the Chester and kept going around Eastern Neck Island. After 2 hours of sailing I was right at the entrance to Kent Narrows which is when I decided to turn around and head back.  I was averaging about 5 knots most of the way down with a close reach/beam reach.  Had to go to close haul once around eastern neck though.

Heading back - all was good.  Was first on a broad reach until I made the turn at the Chester river buoy 11 and then I was between a close reach and a beam reach most of the way up.  When I got parallel to Eastern Neck Narrows, the winds started to pick up significantly - was seeing 16, 17, even 20 knots.... so it got a bit exciting.  I reefed the headsail which made everything a bit more comfortable and I was able to keep the sail up all the way to daymark 7 in Langford creek before turning, dropping the sails and heading into the marina.

A lovely 4 hour sail!

There was a Small Craft Advisory with projected winds out of the North 10-15 with gusts up to 25... but I noticed it was projected that things would ease off a bit in the afternoon, so did some other projects before taking off from the dock at 1 pm and I found that it wan't nearly as bad as it had been called for - but I still reefed the Genoa and put 1 reef in the main and was very comfortable the entire time! Sailed in 70 degree weather heading up the Chester so that I had some land blocking the wind. Very comfortable and fun sail! Got the sails up quick (as usual) and sailed all the way back up the creek to end up a great sailing day!. Got back to the marina about 4:30 - just in time to run into town for some groceries and then cook dinner for the first mate.

I was planning on this being a work day on the boat, but when I checked the forecast in the morning and then was monitoring the real time wind, it seemed like a wonderful day to head on out - and it was.  Wind was out of the NNW at 5-10 knots - dropped off a bit in the afternoon.  Barometer was 29.93 with sunny skies and a temperature range of 73-81. Left the marina at 11 and got the sails up right away in Langford Creek and headed down to the Chester.  Saw the two Maryland School for Sailing boats - Scholarship and Acadame heading up the Chester and back to the marina.  Scholarship was under full sail (as was I) and heeling nicely (as was I) with Acadame with the main up and under power. Had a grand time - staying mainly on a beam reach out in the Chester going back and forth in the basin.  Wind started to die off a bit about 2:30 and I started to head back to the marina.  Managed to keep sailing all the way up to the #7 day beacon in Langford creek. An unexpected sailing day - but a nice enjoyable one. The next coupl of days look really exciting!!

September 2 - full crew sail

Headed out at 10 am after getting everything set for the weekend. Temps ranged from 70 to 81, and the Barometer was 30.22.  Sunny skies, with a few clouds and winds out of the SW 5-10. First mate took her out nicely, and we had sails up quickly after rounding the first day mark in Langford Creek. First mate took the helm, and I managed the sails for the majority of the sail. Had a few wind shifts, and coached the first mate with her control of the helm. Pretty much on a close haul down the Chester with the thought of flying the kite back-which we did. In fact, flew the asymmetrical up the Chester, up Langford Creek, up into the east fork of Langford creek until it finally collapsed and we brought it down.  Anchored for the night back in Lovely Cove on the East fork - which was indeed lovely!!

September 3, 2023

Put up the mainsail before raising the anchor a little after 10:30 am very warm day starting out and was getting warmer. Sunny with a SW wind between 5 and 10 knots… not sure it ever got up to 10 knots. Sailed around in the basin again with the first mate at the helm again practicing with me taking care of the sail trim. She continued to have good success with 45 and 60 to the wind, so then we tried 90 - beam reach and it seemed to confuse her - as she kept turning the helm the wrong way when she would get off 90 degrees - either way. After about 5 hours of sailing we headed up Grays Inn Creek to anchor for the evening,  we went up to sycamore point and dropped the hook.  Lovely place, had a nice evening… albeit a bit warm.

September 4, 2023 - full crew again.

Well, awoke to gunshots and saw that a homeowner had shot several geese over the water - off his pier.  He took a SUP out to pick them up! After a nice breakfast decided to go for a kayak paddle and check out the creek.  Didn’t get too far as I noticed that my inflatable kayak was deflating! Didn’t sink, but there wasn’t much air in it when I got back to the boat.  Again, put the mainsail up prior to pulling anchor which happened about 10am. Made our way down the creek motor sailing and found a nice little breeze - out of the WNW not much more than 5 knots but it was enough to move along. First mate was back on the helm and she wanted to really try the beam reach again… and this time she did a superb job.  We meandered around the Chester for 4 hours and then headed back up Langford creek to our marina. A wonderful end to a wonderful weekend!