Century Club: George Hernandez

Sunny and warm days, prefect for an overnight. Only missing ingreedient, wind. Light east wind as I left OPCM and for a while tried to make progress eastbound against the incoming tide. As I realized the net result was west, I fired up the Westerbeke and headed over to Willoughby Bay. Once in that channel it was easy to sail the remaining distance to the east end where I dropped anchor for the night. Before dinner I prepared all the wood on the boat for a coat of varnish the next day when back. I was comfortable through the evening in calm winds. The low reached upper 50's. A few more degrees and an additional blank would have been needed.

In the morning I woke to ships sounding their fog horns. To the west, over the main channel I could see the fog. It was slow going into the 5 knot west wind, but that was okay. Even though I have passive AIS, sailing on the shipping channel in the fog was something to avoid when possible. Passing Willoughby Harbor Marina I was in the thick of it. Nothing was visible around me as I slowly progressed up the north channel sailing on instruments. (and sounding my horn) Fortunately, just as I was approaching the main channel, everything cleared and I was able to continue across back to Fort Monroe.

A friend and new sailor ran aground on Poquoson Flats. She asked for my help bringing her boat back home.

A ferry ride from Sea Tow as high tide approached found the boat floating free at at anchor around 5 pm. Various problems including an overheating engine slowed our progress but we finally arrived back to Fort Monroe around 1 am.

A Hallberg-rassy owner on my dock was curious about my unusual looking catboat. With a 12 east breeze it was the perfect day to let her see how nice my Nonsuch 30 handles. It was also a treat for me to have some company on the water with me. 99.99% of the time I sail single handed

Probably due to a little late start, tide being against me and the NE wind right on my nose. I was making terrible time even before the wind let up mid afternoon. Chart plotter predicted arrival after sunset so Kiptopeake would have to wait for another time. I turned towards Back River for the overnight. Clouds thickened and the forecast continued to go downhill with rain forecast in the morning. Fortunately only light rain for the sail home. I needed to wear a raincoat for a little while but overall it was a pleasant and fairly fast sail back home.