Brought in as a consultant for a sunset sail on Neptune's Wager. We headed out towards the Bay in light winds, and enjoyed fantastic views, good company, and a lovely sunset. The breeze fell off as the evening wore on, but we sat out for a while enjoying the lovely weather and scenery.
Century Club: Jonathan Nepini
Monday, June 2, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Tonight's paddle group
After much ado I convinced the Monday night crew to take advantage of the light conditions and head out to the Solomons Bridge. We took a leisurely ride out and enjoyed great panoramic views. A bit of breeze kicked up for the ride home, but nothing to cause any real concern. A great day for a relaxing evening paddle with some folks I hadn't seen in quite a while.
Sunday, June 1, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Today's Red Baron crew
Out for a practice sail on Red Baron to get some details back together prior to the next Wednesday night race. Pleasant but gusty conditions made for great weather to test the newly repaired #3, and we set off upwind to the bridge to put the boat through her paces. It took me about 10 minutes to get my feel for the helm back as I hadn't driven the boat in nearly a month. We rounded the bridge and set off on a nice pleasant broad reach to have some lunch on the way back down the river. The boat became overpowered a couple times, and I had to interrupt my sandwich eating to keep her on a steady course. We continued sailing downwind out into the Bay, and then put in a couple upwind tacks to head home. A beautiful day on the water with some good opportunities to get tuned up and ready to skipper the boat again.
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Today's route
Michael and I decided to take a paddle off SMSA before some potential afternoon weather. We headed all the way up St. John's Creek and back in gusty conditions, and tucked up Back Creek to Spring Cove on the way back. It was a bit cool & blustery, but sunny and not otherwise unpleasant, and we got a great workout in.
Thursday, May 29, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Today's route
Michael came down for the weekend, and he, Dewey, and I took a lap off Clarke's Landing. Conditions were calm, so we decided to head for the bridge, and paddled out under the center span. We followed the shore back up, and ended up checking out Little Kingston Creek on the way back. A great, relaxing paddle for a start to our long weekend.
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Misty, choppy conditions on the course
I headed to Zanheiser's with the intention of helping the Neptune's Wager crew out with race committee, and ran into the Whirlaway crew debating whether they should sail given a very light crew. I hate seeing a boat skip a race, and I had always wondered how the old Frers sails, so I hopped onboard with the. We sailed nonspin with a crew of four, and started in moderately choppy conditions at the top end of the #1's range. We stayed in the breeze and managed to round the top mark first, and set off on a deep reach to the second. Misty rain made it difficult to find the mark, but ultimately we did and stayed in the mix. The breeze lightened as the race went on, and left us with a bit of a slow finish. The race went very well overall, and though our 5th place finish wasn't fantastic I enjoyed my time on the boat.
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Glass at the launch
A quick late evening/night paddle off Forest Landing after the rain to get out for a bit. Exceptionally glassy conditions after the storm moved through.
Saturday, May 24, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Most of the Little Wing crew today
Even on vacation I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a sail, so we took an invite to sail on Little Wing, a Pearson 365 ketch sailed by a friend of a friend out of Lewes, Delaware. The forecast was quite heavy & choppy, with gusts into the mid-20s. After an enthusiastic launch off the dock, we motored out of the inlet and to the Bay. Given the heavy conditions, we sailed with a reefed main and a partially furled headsail. The boat handled the chop well, and we reached a ways across and back. Unfortunately my brother and I both got a little seasick (big chop + a dodger that blocks forward view = not good), but still lovely to spend a couple hours on a totally different kind of boat from my usual lightweight racing fare and to enjoy a new sailing venue.
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
The fleet in the breeze & chop
Dion pulled the plug on today's racing on account of big conditions and potential for storms, so James and I hopped on Neptune's Wager instead. We got in the mix at the start better than prior races, but were still a little late. We sailed a reasonable upwind leg, and turned down to head on a long-ish downwind. I talked Jay into setting a spin, but we had used up most of the leg by the time it was up. Unfortunately I was the only person on the boat who understood the whole spin process, and trying to explain it to everyone live as it was happening went about as well as one might expect... As we reached the mark we got into a rights situation with Cheetah and executed a quick, if messy, douse, and headed up to the bridge. One more upwind home and we finished the race. Challenging conditions and subpar performance on our part, but it made for a fantastic learning experience for everyone involved and got us to have a great conversation about the spinnaker process afterwards. Always good to learn something out on the water, even if it is the hard way.
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Today's route
Breezy conditions today off Forest Landing for a quick after-work paddle. I headed out to the marinas and a couple of the shorter coves, and fought a bit of chop making my way out of the creek. I had a faster, more pleasant ride back.