Apparently we are into crabbing season. Willoughby Bay and the north channel to exit are full of crab pots. The wind was better than forecast. I was expecting to just get out onto the water, drop anchor and do a little work on the boat. Instead it was a relaxing hour and a half sail before heading back in
Century Club: George Hernandez
Saturday, March 14, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
Sailing lesson with my marina neighbor.
A nice 15 knot northwest wind gave Eris lots of practice tacking today as we worked our way over to Hampton. First in the channel as we dealt with an outgoing tide, then in the Hampton River where the importance of maintaining enough speed for sucessful turns was demonstrated. Some momentary excitement when trying to pinch things too tight resulted in insufficient forward momentum when starting the tacking maneuver. Shifting winds in the narrow channel made for more of a challenge...
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
Sunny and warm, but light winds. I barely made it out of Willoughby Bay and to the main channel at Fort Story before turning back. Back in the marina for a better use of time, varnishing.
Saturday, March 7, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
A short sail with one of my marina neighbors on a 33' Caribbean Sailing Yacht. New to sailing, having a second hand onboard is helpful.
Wednesday, March 4, 2026 to Thursday, March 5, 2026
Number of days:
2 days
After so much cold weather a couple of nice days arrived. Originally the thought was to sail down the Elizabeth River to Norfolk, however forecasted light winds mid-afternoon had me worried about being on a very busy channel barely moving. Winds were expected to be better north so I sailed to Back River for the night.
The following morning heading home tacking into a SSW wind I had to reef and un-reef twice as the breeze went from 10-15 then 15-20 several times.
Saturday, February 28, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
Just motoring today.
A first no wind so I motored out and dropped anchor to do some fishing...
Saturday, February 21, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
To Old Point Comfort. My marina neighbor Eris who ownes a Pacific Seacraft 34 joined me for the sail. A nice east breeze and almost no tidal current made for an easy sail there and back.
Tuesday, February 17, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
A few days ago I was expecting to an overnight somewhere. However, gusty winds forecast for Wednesday forced a change in plans. While still doing an overnight, it will be at the dock....
After a cool morning, it was quite comfortable in the sunshine. At first winds were SW up to 15 knots, but that faded for a while early afternoon before picking up again 45 minutes later.
Saturday, February 14, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
Forecast called for a nice, but fairly light, SW breeze. This breeze started fading as soon as we got out onto the water and then all but vanished just as I approached the narrow point exiting Willoughby Bay. With the outgoing tidal current winning out over my progress I turned back towards our little bay. Once back into the bay, of course the wind returned...
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
A suspected small exhaust leak had me doing some testing. I motored out onto Willoughby Bay for about 20 minutes.