Century Club: Tim Ford

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Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
June 17 - dinghy repair and BCYA Series 2 Race 3

Tackled a small project requiring the multitool on the dink, that is, removing and replacing a bunch of rotten wood in the centerboard trunk. Most of the woodwork will be done here at home and then quickly plugged in at PSA.

Took Route 2 and the Fort Mac tunnel heading up to Canton for the BCYA race.  I took Cromwell over to I-95 North and discovered there's an entire new city there in Port Covington where we used to sail out of Tidewater. Even with their ridiculous stoplights (sat still for 3 ninutes as zero vehicles passed by) it only took me 35-40 minutes as opposed to 1 hour 20 minutes last time. Paying attention to directions matters.  

We did not have our best race but then it was slightly above our sweet spot, blowing a consistent 8-12 from the SE all night.  Thunderstorms did not roll in until after midnight so we dodged a bullet with that.

Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
June 10 - Triple Header

Crazy day:

11 am - 1:30 pm - RAINBOW and dinghy fishing

2 pm - 4 pm - Quantum sail check on INC

(mad rush to Canton at rush hour)

5:30 pm - 8 pm - BCYA Series 2 Race 2 - BOXCAR

I picked the worse way possible to go from Lake Shore to Clinton Street.  1 hr 15 minutes. Somehow I missed the fact that McComas Street is the way to get to 95 north off of Route 2.  E. Cromwell is probably an even better bet. Then a series of really bad decisions in downtown Baltimore rush-hour traffic.  

So geting to BOXCAR before the boat left the dock was a victory.  So was the race!
 

 

Saturday, June 7, 2025 to Sunday, June 8, 2025
Number of days:
2 days
June 7 - 8 PSA MoonLight Race
  • oops wrong color T
  • CMA start
  • tall ship scenary
  • There was moonlight!
  • sometime in the wee small hours on mooring
  • wondering where my hangover is...

As PRO for the club's June CBYRA-sanctioned race, my first chore was find my handheld VHF. Rowed out to RAINBOX and rowed back cursing b/c it was not on board.  Dammit!

Borrowed a radio and got all the boats off by 1615, with a few minor glitz's but no need for the AP.  I love those first few minutes when the last class flag is lowered and it's Oh Beer Thirty.

Of course the wind did an unexpected twirl, almost 180 degrees, prior to sundown and that meant our Green Course Board "T" should have been red. Oh well...

RC boat finally made it back to the club, I have no idea what time it was, but there was no FREAKIN' BACON LEFT!

Zonked out on RAINBOW and woke up wondering where my hangover was.  Somehow I spent the evening relatively sober. There's a lot to be said for Coors Light and Doghead Head Festina Pêche...both measuring in around 4.2 ABV.

A nice two days, despite of all the B.S. in the week prior to the race involving a certain cruising clsss.  But I'll leave that conversation alone.

 

 

Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
June 4 - Office Commute
  • a good way back & forth
  • The Office

As PRO for PSA MoonLight Race this coming Saturday, I have to spend a lot of quality time on my laptop.  So why not make it happen while in a waterfront (waterside, waterback) venue?  Of course, that means 5 - 6 rowing stints, back to get a cord, back to get a battery, back to get lunch, water, etc.

Also got a chance to install the last anti-chafe section on my mooring bridle. 

One great thing about being out on a mooring: the breeze is much better and it's most like 4-5 degrees cooler out there. Definnitely worth the row!

 

 

Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
June 3 - BCYA Series 2 Race 1

Great to be back out on BOXCAR!  And conditions were right in our sweet spot, even with the disappearance of breeze for the last half mile.  Luckily, an unusually strong flood tide walked us over the finish line.

Smokey wildfire haze made for a sort of dystopian sunset.

Sunday, June 1, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
June 1 - TACO

Tim Always Chickens Out? 

Well sort of.  It was more about being lazy than being cowardly.  In the river, it was blowing 8-18 gusting 24.  I didn't feel like putting in a reef and rigging the autopilot and hanking on the jib-top reacher so I just motored around the corner into the next cove and threw out the anchor. Did some tidying up in general, re-rigging the mooring bridle and running the O/B for 30-40 mins.  It was a beautiful day to just sit at anchor and watch the clouds scud by.

Battery was spot-on at 13.85, I love the solar panel charging set-up!

 

 

Saturday, May 24, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
May 24 - Miles River Race
  • Dragon and Blur at start

Great race on a breezy Saturday.  I think we sailed the 18 nm course in less than 2 hours 17 minutes, reaching the entire distance, including a short and cantankerous chute run in the Miles River.  Took the bullet in our seven boat CRCA class.

 

 

Friday, May 23, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
May 23 - No nothin for you
  • New name!
  • Pike like, rock don't
  • View that said: do not sail

It had been awhile!  The weather had been crappy and other things were piling up to keep me from heading to PSA.

So when I got to the boat, I was surprised to see 3-4 inches of water sloshing around in the cockppit.  Darned cockpit drains had gotten clogged and the thing had turned into a bathtub.  But good boat designs have a proper bridgedeck and there was nothin' more than a couple spoonfulls of water below. 

Yay!

Took an hour and half off to go fish from the dinghy.  I suspected there'd be some rockfish in "the spot," but instead I hooked a lengthy pickerell and after quite a fierce fight, I though, "ok, now I have to get the damn thing in the dinghy and unhook it."

A thing about pickerell: they fight to the point of exhaustion that can be fatal.  They use up so much ATP in their struggle against the hook that don't have enough, once unhooked, to continue pumping gills and remaining dorsal fin up^! 

Luckily, while lifting the thing out of the water, it got off somehow. Crisis averted.  Probably a 3-4 pound pike though. (reminder: I only fish C&R)

I also took a ninute to rename the dighy with a Sharpie...

Really beautiful day but too windy to singlehand. 6 to 24 is not my favorite.

 

Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
May 13 - boat check

Quick tour out to check the sort of goofy way I had rigged a mooring bridal before an out-of-town trip, 4-5 days away.  Owning a boat is like having a cat.  It can be okay for awhile but you have to make sure things are tidy and set up properly to keep the beast happy while away.

Put that boat out on a mooring and it's like a needy cat that has extreme separation anxiety.

A nasty strorm went thru while we were away (read: tornado in Canton, a mere 20 miles north) but the boat seemed fine. It's great to have a harbor camera 24/7 to see the status of a boat that's on a mooring!

 

Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
May 6 - Stupid is As

I left two bags of stuff I needed lying in the driveway and found out through a family member when I was halfway down to PSA, on Route 10.  I didn't turn around.  So I rowed out to RAINBOW without a lot of stuff I needed, including lunch.

And dinner.  Which made for an abbreviated day on the water. At least I had the boat key with me!

I looked through the fishing photos on my phone and saw that I caught a few nice rockfish on May 6th back in 2022.  I made a few fruitless casts but really didn't have the lures I needed with me. So that was a bust. I don't even know what the regulations are for rock in early May.  I assume the season is back open, but need to check.  (I fish "catch and release" anyway)

I got bitten up at sundown back on April 30th and now I know why. I was surprised by how many dead mosquitos I found below...I hope they died well-fed.

I also spiffed up the starboatd quarterberth/cockpit locker so that it's now a bright, happy place!

But my god, what a beautiful day.  I hope the breeze held up for the MRSA fleet. I was stuck immobile on 695 for their start times.

 

 

 

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