We jumped aboard the RC boat because the Skipper Steve was short on help. Breezy 15 knot NW winds and temps in the low 40s. It was chilly especially after sunset. Steve's electric outboard got us out and back with wattage to spare but it was slow going against the wind.
A first, USN drone was escorted by a power boat through our race course. Also we had a tug pushing a large barge southbound along with the usual water taxis and dinner boats.
Steady 12 to 15 knots southerly breeze with opposing current, a 1.5' chop when Paul, Colin, Dave, Sara, me made an afternoon sail. Beating back to the slip, our 1st reef outhaul broke so it was difficult to point and no one aboard had ever taken in the second reef before. So we nurse the malformed mainsail to the marina channel and dropped it with no apparent damage.
Less commercial traffic compared to yesterday.
Brendan, Dave, Josh, myself went out for some spin practice. Main multiple jibes upriver to check out new buoyage resulting from the 28 January plane/helo crash. A new buoy was placed about 30 feet west of government green 9. Harbor Patrol place d some smaller buoys north and west of #9 to create a "restricted area" (no water craft allowed). Lots of commercial traffic stuffed with sightseers on this warm weather day.
Brendan and I went out for few hours. Breeze mostly from the NE. Georgetown and Fordham were racing in the lagoon, SCOW Flying Scots set up a race course in outside the river channel between marker 4 and 5. Commercial traffic increased almost to the point of annoyance! A couple of commercial boats, "dead rises" were ignoring the new "no wake" that was established following the February crash.
Dave, Paul, Brandon, Josh, and me went out today to practise spin hoists/douses. Cloudy, southerly breeze blowing 5 to 10 knots. First two efforts were failures however, and more importantly, the foredeck fellas improve with repetition.
Dave, Paul, and me took Arcas out for a sporting sail on the Potomac. Wind blowing 8 to 10 from the WNW and sometimes from the SW depending on our location. Saw a couple of water taxis but no other boats. New buoy by government mark 7, probably installed as part of the plane/helo collision a few weeks ago. Beautiful day, sunny and warm (high 50s).
Having an issue with the raw water intake---it isn't! Think there is blockage on the sail drive.
First time on the water since our 1 January fiasco! Dave, Josh, Jake and me onboard for a lazy sail south of the Wilson bridge. Sunny and warm (mid-50s) and a light breeze but enough to go against the current. No commercial traffic and only one or two boats fishing.
The WNW wind was gusting over 30 knots when Arcas and Sabrina set out for the race course for the DISC annual New Years Day Regatta. Sabrina got to the start line but Arcas grounded in the channel even though water levels were higher than normal. According to my crew, we didn't simply ground on the muddy bottom but hit something and we're stuck hard.
Sabrina graciously responded to Arcas’ radio transmission for assistance. She returned to their slip where Howell, Doug, and Carey jumped into a powerboat. and returned to Arcas. Tossed us a tow line as the tide was falling,
Arcas refused to budge when attempting to pull her directly to deeper water so Howell and crew got creative. They spun the boat in the direction of the wind toward the public docks and momentarily freed her “L-bulb keel”for about 15 seconds. Then we grounded again. Howell then spun Arcas in the opposite direction and successfully towed/dragged Arcas (with her diesel running), pass #13 and into deeper water toward the slips.
A disappointing News Years Day.
Herewith a listing of my boat projects for the year. As usual, these tasks take me longer than I expect them to, e.g., removing old NEMA 0183 wires goes quickly but pulling NEMA 2000 cables thru the came conduit with their much larger connectors required a greater level of effort and ingenuity. Other projects like priming and painting a saildrive takes days because of the time required for curing before addtional coats are applied. Weather isn't always cooperative either. "Boatyard" time much like "Island Time" but less relaxing.
Maintenance:
Engine and Transmission oil change plus fuell filters
Prime and paint Volvo Penta sail drive
Install removable sail drive anode kit; change anodes
Rigging:
Upgraded to a "single line" reefing system
Installed new backstay cascade and made soft shackles for attachment
Electronics
Install new Garmin log transducer
Installed Triton II Display
Jake and I rendezvous will Bill at 0530 this morning and he drove us to Severn Yacht Center, Mobjack Bay, to resume our delivery of Volantis, Jake's 50' Dickerson Ketch, to Horn Harbor Marina. We failed to get into HH three days before Thanksgiving during the evening high tide but the water levels were lower than normal due to strong NW winds the previous day.
After two hours of motoring we got to HH's outer channel at the morning high tide and 45 minutes later tied up at the marina. Volantis' 6.5' draft rubbed the bottom a couple of times and, as we neared the marina, started to plow the bottom. The tide had fallen some over the past half hour but thankfully we had ample horsepower to maintain speed. We were happy not have grounded!