Beautiful morning with a gentle west wind to slowly carry me out into the bay. The wind was fickle all day, calm then returning, before settling into an easterly direction mid afternoon bringing me back to Norfolk and the east end of Willoughby Bay to photo the weekly race. Just after the race started, a Navy helicopter began dropping frogmen into the water a few hundred feet from me near the windward mark. As the sailboats approached I had to devide my attention between the excitement on either side of me.
Century Club: George Hernandez
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
First anchoring out of the year. High today 80 and a comfortable 60 tonight. So happy cruising season is here!
Monday, April 10, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Short sail today ahead of warm weather and an overnight sail on Wednesday. I thought another Catalina 27 was anchored just outside the marina, but once close enough I could see it was an S2 (27'?)
Monday, April 3, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
April 3 which is just past 1/4 of the way into 2023 and the best sailing weather is ahead.
I sailed east today with just the main out as the wind was occasionally gusting. With no destination, a relaxing sail was preferable to more speed.
Thursday, March 30, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
The forecast was for fairly breezy conditions with winds diminishing as the day progressed. My plan for the day was a sail to 4th Island along the CBBT. One look at the angry bay as I drove to the boat ended that. Instead I stayed in Willoughby Bay in the early afternoon only venturing out to the channel later in the day when winds decreased. Too late to go anywhere. No other sailboats on the water today...
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Sunshine with a NNE breeze at the surface. Aloft, a different story. West winds and a trough moving through the area brought clouds and some light showers into the area by early afternoon. I sailed for a couple hours watching showers slowly grow into the area. Arriving back to my car just as drops began to fall. Unfortunately not enough precip to clean cars (or sailboats) of the heavy pollen that has been accumulating...
Saturday, March 25, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
FROPA. An old weather term for "frontal passage".
The morning started off sunny and warm with a light southwest breeze. Soaking up the sun in shorts and no shirt I slowly passed Fort Monroe against an incoming tidal flow. Passing the beaches with sails balanced my little Catalina 27 was holding a course on its own. With everything under control, I quickly went below to grab a lunchtime snack. As always, everything goes well until you look away for a second. Before I could get back into the cockpit the boat was turning. Clouds slowly approaching from the north had moved overhead and the light southwest breeze had reversed direction and was now coming from the north. Within a few minutes the air temp dropped from near 80 to mid-60's as the wind increased to 20 knots. Classic cold front passage! Partly cloudy skies and a nice breeze for the rest of the day.
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
With winds gusting over 25 knots but still wanting to spend this warm sunny day on the water. I motored out and found a little protection from the waves downwind of the heliport at Norfolk to anchor for the afternoon.
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
No pictures today as I originally planned to just install a new jib halyard. With the help of a neighbor at the marina, guiding the sail into the slot as I cranked it up, the job took no time at all! With calm winds the plan was to just motor out and relax. I didn't bother to uncover the mainsail. As soon as I got out though a 10 knot SE breeze appeared encouraging me to unfurl the genoa and sail around Willoughby Bay. It was interesting to see just how close to the wind the boat would sail. Nice to know...
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Upper 50's feels fine in calm air. Add a little wind and not so much. Stil, a perfect day since I wan't going anywhere. I made my way to the bay side of Willoughby Spit. There I relaxed ahead of diiner then watched for an Electron launch from Wallops. I didn't see it, except on my phone. Slow going against the current on the way in. Back to dock around 9 pm.