After coffee and breakfast in the morning, I took advantage of a gentle breeze to sail back and forth on our little bay. While on the water I sailed alongside a Catalina 25, who also spent the night out, so I could chat and get a few pictures of him...
Century Club: George Hernandez
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Over to Hampton for work that is out of my reach. New mast light, replace bulb on steaming light, New topping lift and attaching a block to spreader. I met up with Gaston Saada on Sunset Creek at Tidewater. Afterwards I sailed back to Willoughby Bay and anchored for the night first to photograph the weekly race, then dinner and a movie.
Sunday, June 11, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
I've been wanting to complete this sail for a long time. I think this was my fifth attempt. Finally everything came together. A 15 knot south wind, an outbound tidal current in the morning that turned in the afternoon. Six and a half hours for the almost 38 mile sail!
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Cloudy and hazy with smoke from Canadian fires. I alternated between sailing and motoring as conditions changed. My goal is to sail everywhere I go, but more frequently than I like, firing up the diesel is necessary. For much of the day the visibility was around 5 miles. However approaching Norfolk it dropped to around 2 miles. Ships appeared and dissapeared into the smoke in just a short time!
Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
I spent the day at Kiptopeake doing a little fishing and then kayaked to the beach for a walk. Very nice day.
Monday, June 5, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Tidal current and wind right on my nose slowed my progress most of the day. Otherwise beautiful weather. Smoke from Canadian fires visible to the north blocked the sun as sunset approached. Found anchoring close to the beach was a mistake when the winds swung around to the south. At first it was just the bow rising up and down, with was not bad. But later after the tidal current reversed and the winds/waved started coming in from the SW mading for a rocky night with little sleep. At first light i moved close to the ships and got a few more hours of sleep in the more protected waters.
Thursday, May 25, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Dark and windy along the coast in VB had me cancelling plans for sailing ahead of the race. In fact, from the buffeting my little car experienced driving to the marina I didn't think I would even be leaving the dock. However the skies brightened and the winds seemed managable our little bay so I motored out to near the windward mark with my camera. Fast race in the 15+ kt breeze.
Monday, May 22, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
With 25 knot winds forecast for the following day, I decided against anchoring out somewhere overnight. Instead I decided to sail east to the CBBT and maybe beyond. Through the afternoon headwinds continued to increase and finally I decided to give up and head back home to Willoughby Harbor Marina.
Sailing out I was passed by the George Washington CVN-73. With the carrier still over a mile away I was approached by the Norfolk Police boat reminding me of the 500 meter security zone. At this point I realized my handheld radio I keep in the cockpit had malfunctioned. Time for a new one...
Thursday, May 18, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
After a little work on the boat, a short sail....
Friday, May 12, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Having to back track quite a few miles in order to clear sand bars and forecasted light afternoon winds, I wanted an early start. It was probably approaching 20 knots as I raised the anchor and sailed away. For the next hour or more the wind increased a bit and I was making hull speed with only the main. Finally my course turned southeast and the wind eased. On a close reach through the afternoon, the wind slowly turned more west keeping me from having to sail too far east. I was across the channel and sailing past Fort Wool as a submarine was headed out to sea