Nine days in the BVI on a 46' Cat from Moorings. It was all it should be; 80 degree days, warm water, constant 9sometiems too much) wind. Got to dock that 46x21 cat in a tight fairway slip in 15 knots of cross wind in Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda. All good.
Read more about the trip in the April issue of PropTalk.
With almost all the tasks of winterization done and finally some nice weather, I took Winsome Winn to Rock Hall for winter storage on land.
'tis the season. I have been on the boas every day at the dock and out maneuvering. Two boats came off the lifts and onto trailers. The big boat will be winterized later this week and off to Rock Hall for land storage. They will all stay there for the winter while the dock and bulkhead are replaced. It will be great in the spring but, for now, not so much fun.
nice weekend in Solomons with the yacht club
The Annapolis Yacht Club has long had an annual cruise in early September with an "Oktoberfest" theme. Over the years we have included a yacht club member and native of Germany in the planing making the event more authentic.
For the last eight years or so Haven Harbour Marina has been the destination. This year 70 of us enjoyed a spirited trip over from Annapolis and splendid early fall weather until the rain and thunderstorms set upon us about group dinner time on Saturday.
Boaters are 1) resilient and 2) used to adverse weather. And, so, the group gathered under the limited gazebo coverage we had and made it work.
The cruise leaders who made it all happen, were all smiles!
Our summer seemed full of long distance boating. We had a late return from south Florida in May. In June we cruised the Albemarle. In July we cruised Long Island Sound and Cape Cod Bay, getting as far north as Boston. In August we charter cruised in the San Juan Islands. Combined with local Chesapeake Bay cruises we have probably covered 3,000 miles on the water between May and August.
After returning from the Pacific NW we went two whole weeks NOT on the boat. Of course it included a family beach week so salt water was still a factor.
Finally back home and settled down for a near term future of purely local weekend cruising. Labor Daw weekend had no big boat crusie but we got our on the 20' runabout for some boating fun.
August is hot, let's face it. You either need AC for cool overnights on your boat or you need to escape the Chesapeake.
We did the latter, a week long charter on a Nordic Tug 42 out of Bellingham, Washington with some fellow Annapolis Yacht Club members. What we got was mornings in the 50s and afternoon highs in the 70s. We also got fog (they call August "Fogust") that recalled our radar navigation skills. But overall, the change of boating venue was outstanding.
Yacht Club cruise to another yacht club. In this case it was AYC invading CYC for the weekend. This cruise is especially kid friendly and so AYC folks with kids, or mostly grandkids, make a plan attend.
It was a Club cruise to cooler waters in the dog days of summer. Departing just after the Independence Day holiday, the fleet of 20 boats headed north. Gathering formally first in Oyster Bay we made ten stops over 20 days to include Shelter Island, Newport, Martha's Vineyard, Boston, P-Town and Essex.
Cruising in company is always fun. This trip, shared weather information (crowd sourced), shared boat parts and mechanical consultation reduced anxiety and increased fun. Think of it as 20 days of a progressive dinner party and you will get the picture.
Many of us have cruised the Chesapeake, some to the far reaches north and south. Fewer of us have gotten out of the Bay, perhaps tasting the waters of Long Island Sound and New England or traveling down the ICW to points south.
If you have made it to the bottom of the Bay there is an opportunity to cruise the North Carolina Sounds, the Albemarle and the Pamlico, that will put a smile on your face. The Albemarle is first up and a circumnavigation to some of the small towns on the Sound can be done in a week or so. The Pamlico is a bit further south. It includes the towns of Oriental, the sailing capital of North Carolina, Belhaven and New Bern, all charming stops.
The Albemarle Sound runs west to east about 50 miles. You inevitably cross the Sound on ICW treks but often without stopping in any of the small towns off the ICW routes. This is a shame because those towns offer some great cruising experiences, and quite often, free dockage. To see them all or pick and choose you may want to consider completing the Albemarle Loop https://albemarleloop.com/
Read more in the August isue of PropTalk