Century Club: George Hernandez

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Thursday, August 27, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
#84 Floating on Willoughby with an almost exciting ending

I had been planning on getting out a little early ahead of the chance of thunderstorms. Wind was forecast to be light which is fine with me. However arriving at the marina it was almost dead calm. Change of plan, visit the pump out station.

Once that was done I motored out onto Willoughby Bay to float there and enjoy the very light breeze. Using this time to make a couple phone calls I went below to escape the helicopter noise. While below I hadn't noticed the wind had gradually picked up and I was moving. At the conclusion of my calls I came out to find I was rapidly headed towards the rocks along the Naval Station. If I had been below another 5 minutes I'd have been on the rocks. I will not do that again!

Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
#83 Local Sail

A beautiful day. Not too hot and a nice NE breeze of 10-15 knots. Since I had a show scheduled with my wife later I kept it short ~45 minutes. At first I planed on coming in just to do some varnish but decided to head home for some lawn work instead...

Tuesday, August 18, 2026 to Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Number of days:
2 days
#81 & #82 Back River

An opportunity for a short overnight ahead of a trip to visit my mother in NC. My favorite destination only a short sail away is Back River near Langley. As usual, both the wind and current were against me passing Fort Wool and into the bay. I sailed east almost all the way to the CBBT before tacking north. This worked out great putting my on a close reach all the way into the mouth of the Back River. Wind increased through the afternoon and I was making 6.5 knots. Anchored just west of Messick point had me in calm water through the night with a breeze to keep things comfortable. The sail back home was slower but with an early start I was back at the dock just after noon.

Sunday, August 16, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
#80 Local sail

With both my oil pressure issue (bad connection) and plumbing issue resolved I went out for a short sail on Willoughby Bay. A nice SE 10-15 knot breeze was kind enough to take a break as I arrived back at the dock for stress free arrival... 

Thursday, August 13, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
#79 Willoughby Bay

Originally planned on photographing the Thursday evening race, however with the Cape Charles Cup this weekend there was no race. I sailed a bit then dropped anchor for dinner on the water...

Sunday, August 9, 2026 to Monday, August 10, 2026
Number of days:
2 days
#77 and #78 Kiptopeake

Before leaving I was already concerned about the warm weather and wind direction. However with rain showers as well as other commitments later in the week the decision was made to just do it. I'm glad I did, but by the time I was back at the dock the following day I'd had enough hot weather sailing. Until the next time...

Sailing to Kiptopeake was on a broad reach, almost a run so there was very little air movement in the over 90° humid air. Under my umbrella at the helm or in the shade of the sail on the bow was the only relief. That night it was stifling in the cabin so I moved a salon cushion and sheets to the cockpit and settled in to sleep staring up at the Milky Way. Beautiful...

Sailing home the wind was, as expected, aligned almost exactly against me along the course line. After a while making slow progress in an increasingly diminishing wind I fired up the diesel. I'd like to be a "purists" and do everything under sail, but sometimes it's a better choice to give the diesel a bit of a workout while saving myself from another uncomfortably hot day in the sun.

Friday, August 7, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
#76 Local Sail

...over to Old Point Comfort with my neighbor Eris.

WSW breeze and almost slack tide made for easy cruising across the channel. Coming back required a few tacks to make it trhough the narrow north entrance to Willoughby. Great day for a short sail.

Saturday, August 1, 2026 to Sunday, August 2, 2026
Number of days:
2 days
#'s 74 & 75 Back River

The forecast of gusty winds and the timing of showers ahead of an approaching front had me teetering on whether or not to make the sail or just going out for the day. Nothing extreme, just don't want to be out in 20+ knot winds and rainshowers. I finally decided an early start returning home should work out.

It did and I'm glad I went. In spite of it being warm and humid, a nice breeze kept the night comfortable. Got underway shortly after breakfast and tacked my way upwind back to Norfolk and was getting into my car just as the first showers arrived. Leaving Back River I passed a boat that ended up on the rocks during the night. Sad sight...

 

 

Thursday, July 30, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
#73 Out and back

A nice west breeze made for pleasant sailing today. Headed out to Fort Wool where for a while the wind died for about 10 minutes before returning and carrying me back home.

Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
#72 Mast work

Across the channel to Tidewater Marine on Sunset Creek in Hampton. My neighbor Eris joined me for the ride.

On the return the winds had increased to 17 knots with one gust of 23. Normally I would have put in one reef but the boat was handling this quite well. Eris quickly got the feel for dealing with the gusty conditions and tacking upwind through the narrow channel entering Willoughby Bay.

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