Century Club: Hank Messick
A breezy day, 8 to 16 knots from the SSW. Carey, David, Paul, Brendan, myself onboard.
Bob, Carey, and I shoved off at 1130. NW breeze between 2-8 knots. We flew the chute on the return leg.
Bob, Carey, Tom, myself shoved off at 1100. Light southerly breeze so we sailed to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, turned around for a long run upriver. Weather alerts kept occurring on the UHF, a fast moving storm heading east with hail and high winds. We made it back to slip before a small segment of the system covered the marina. Yep, it hailed for about three minutes and rained for about ten, then the sun reappeared. John, next slip over, was on the water when the hail it. He was thankful for his broad brimmed hat!
First race of the season. Flooding tide, 4-9 knot southeasterly. Large concentrations of flotsam. Just before the leeward was a 200 foot long floating barrier about 30 feet wide containing logs you wouldn't want to hit. Despite new sails, we need to do a lot better.
Bob, Carey, Linda and me shoved off at noon sailed south to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, the launched the chute for a long run up the river to Haines Point. Sunny and warm weather with a 5-8 knot breeze from the south. Donned eclipse glasses intermittently starting at 1430. Maximum coverage for our area was at 1520 so we put on glasses and blasted the boat horn to celebrate.
Paul, Dave, Carey, and me installed new Ocean 3Di main and 150% Genoa for a test run in a southerly 5-6 knot breeze. The sails were "text book" in shape and it was so easy to reshape them depending on point of sail. One downside, North added an extra digit to the Genoa's sail number!
Just Carey, Josh and me this weekend. Wind blowing from the north at 14 knots making for a strong current and low water levels on the ebb. Upon returning we had to power thru the mud for about 50 yards. Crew was hanging on the shrouds to heel the boat while I did s-turns to break the suction on the keel. Good thing we didn't stay out any longer!
Dave, Paul, Carey, Josh, Brendan and I shoved off at noon to do spin hoists/douses. Warm sunny day, but the expected breeze was slow to arrive and weaker than expected but we made the best of it. We were successful attempting a "Mexican takedown" (jibe douse) as we rounded a mark. With six people aboard, it get a little crowded!