After what seems like weeks of rain and wind a few gentle days for some relaxing sailing. With no destination other than on the water I'm prefectly happy to be floating around at 2-3 knots in a less than 10 knot wind. On Saturday I sailed over to Fort Monroe and after breakfast on Sunday just around Willoughby Bay.
Century Club: George Hernandez
Friday, October 24, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Light winds. So relaxing....
Yes the picture is correct, I was inverted at the time...
Saturday, October 18, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Sharon and I attened the "No Kings" rally in VB then rewarded ourselves with a visit to the Cheesecake Factory, so it wan't until late in the afternoon that I arrived at the boat. Staying in Willoughby bay it was a relazing late afternoon on the water. A building breeze from the SSW had me headed back to the dock in an attempt to avoid difficulties backing the boat in with winds from a bad direction. Even at 12 knots the weathervaning tendencies of this boat while backing had me giving up and docking bow first.
Friday, October 3, 2025 to Sunday, October 5, 2025
Number of days:
3 days
A direct headwind, but favorable tidal current, at first, carried me onto the bay where I turned north. Dying breeze arriving earlier than forecast slowed me to the point where even close destinations were out of reach before sunset. The now turning tide and light breeze gave me decent speed heading back to my starting point. A beautifull night anchored out on Willoughby Bay.
The following morning, Saturday, brought an east again which carried me to the Elizabeth River and down to a crowded Hospital Point in Portsmouth. I arrived in time to see the Carnival Sunshine departing Norfolk. It was interesting to see this cruise ship turning around in the relatively narrow channel.
Sunday morning with very light wind I motored back to Willoughby.
Tuesday, September 23, 2025 to Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Number of days:
2 days
I wanted to go somewhere but light winds were forecasted for most of the day. Arriving at the marina there was a nice west breeze which carried me out to the main channel. If this held maybe down to Chesapeake on the Elizabeth River.
It didn't and left me floating in the middle of the main channel over the HRBT. Fortunately, no ships approoaching as I slowly floated east on the outgoing tide. After about an hour I fired up the diesel and motored back toward Willoughby Bay. Just as i passed Fort Wool and forecasted east breeze arrived and I was sailing again.
Anchored in my favorite spot it was a pleasent evening and perfect sleeping weather...
Thursday, September 18, 2025 to Friday, September 19, 2025
Number of days:
2 days
Last race of the year for Willoughby Group. A nice breeze at the start faded about halfway through the race, leaving many of the slower boats to round the 'Birdnest' as darkness set in.
Friday, September 12, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
A relaxing couple hours just to get on the water. Back and forth on Willoughby Bay and out to the Elizabeth River using the Swells point channel.
Thursday, September 4, 2025 to Saturday, September 6, 2025
Number of days:
3 days
A building breeze in the afternoon moved me right along on a broad reach. Rounding the Poquosin Flats towards my destination I took advantage of a brief break between gusts to put in one reef. I'm glad I did because when the gusts returned they were stronger. I'd rather trade a knot or two for comfortable cruising. Making 6 knots on a close reach is fine by me.
I anchored on Claxton Creek on the south side of the channel and about 500 feet from the beach. Great spot. Quiet and just a short paddle to walk the beach.
Returning home the following evening the winds were gusting to over 20 knots and a bad direction for docking my boat, so I spent the night anchored 1,000 from the marina. In the morning while not calm, things were much more managable...
Thursday, August 28, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
...on Willoughby Bay.
A beautiful afternoon for sailing. Arriving late I stayed on our little bay enjoying the nice east breeze blowing me along at 7 knots. Anchored on the east end, dinner was a can of Wendy's chili waiting for the race to start.
After the race I motored back to my slip. Unfortunately with the 15-20 knot SE breeze after 3 tries, I gave up on backing the boat down the fairway. While a joy to sail, my Nonsuch 30 stubbornly resists backing unless the wind is light or in a favorable direction. This is because the mast in the front acts like a wind vane. This effect can be overpowered by keeping the boat moving fast in reverse. However I'm not that comfortable entering my slip in reverse at 3 knots. Driving in forwards worked better. Nobody injured and not paint scraped off. Haha...
Monday, August 25, 2025 to Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Number of days:
2 days
Starting off with very little wind I motored out, happy just to be on the water. After not too long a light breeze out of the ENE arrived providing a relaxing afternoon gently moving along at 2.5-3 knots.
I anchored for the night on the east end of Willoughby Bay. After burgers on the grill I watched the broadcast of Starship Flight 10 but was dissapointed as it was canceled at T-40 seconds due to weather issues.