Century Club: George Hernandez

Thursday, August 1, 2024 to Friday, August 2, 2024
Number of days:
2 days

A very warm Thursday as I set out ahead of the evening Willoughby Race. A light west breeze had faded as I got out of the marina so with the sail up I motored into the channel to let the outgoing tide carry me east. Passing Fort Wool into the bay ripples were visible on the water a half mile to the north. Again with the help of the Westerbeke to get me there, some sailing! I cruised north past Buckroe Beach before turning back.

The sun was brutal. With the temperature in the upper 90's, light winds and no bimini to hide under I was very uncomfortable. Entering Willoughby Bay I gave up and used the diesel again. As soon as the anchor was down, so was the swim ladder and into the water to cool off.

After photographing the evening race, dinner and a movie. It never cooled off and with a fan blowing on me, sleep was impossible until 3 am. On the plus side, I was awake to watch the upper stage of a Falcon 9 heading up the coast.

In the morning back to OPCM before the worst heat of the day arrived, 

Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Number of days:
1 day

After an wonderful night on Willoughby Bay I was up early and after a quick breakfast had the sail up and headed home.

Saturday, July 27, 2024
Number of days:
1 day

A light east wind along with an incoming tidal current and the best I could do was mostly go back and forth across the channel early on. This was fine with me and then I was rewarded with another Nonsuch returning to Hampton. Turning my attention to Art in his Nonsuch 26, I plotted an intercept course to say hello and take a few pictures.

The winds began to shift NE making it much easier to recover from my downwind distraction and make it into the north channel for Willoughby Bay. Dropping anchor at the east end, I did a little work on the boat and fished ahead of dinner catching 6 Croaker. It was their lucky day as I already had burgers for the grill.

Sunday, July 21, 2024
Number of days:
1 day

A nice Sunday afternoon. First time out since replacing fuel line that was dripping diesel. That seems to have fixed the problem. I sailed around Fort Monroe and up to the Buckroe Beach piers before turning back for a night on the boat. Showers were forecast for early the following day so I stayed in the marina overnight.

Friday, July 19, 2024
Number of days:
1 day

A couple days before I was at First Landing SP and met a guy with a sailboat in the parking lot. He had the mast up but doing that had taken longer than expected and the days heat was getting to him. Since getting late in the afternoon he decided to call it a day. I helped lower the mast and offered to come out later in the week to help launch and recover. 

On friday morning we got the mast up and launched into Braod Bay. After checking no water coming into the boat and with very light winds we just motored around as he calibrated instruments, happy to finally have his boat in the water.

Saturday, July 6, 2024
Number of days:
1 day

Up early after a sticky night on board. Coffee and oatmeal for breakfast, then right to business readying for departure. I was hoping to avoid the worst of the heat and be back at OPCM before noon. Mother nature had other plans for me. A ten knot breeze shifted from a more westerly to a right on my nose direction for the long leg home. Add to this the outgoing tide and i was firing up the diesel 1-1/2 miles from my marina.

Friday, July 5, 2024
Number of days:
1 day

One of my favorite places to go for an overnight. An easy sail of a little over 10 miles. A fairly peaceful spot with occasional activity from nearby Langley.

Looking at the extended forecast, in spite of the heat and scattered thunderstorms, I decided Friday to Saturday was the best. By early evening an area of convective activity was building just west of Suffolk about 25 miles to the SW. It was moving NE and continuing to develop. Then a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Hampton and surrounding areas. 

I let out more anchor line maybe 12:1 scope and had everything secure as I watched the storm approach. Fortunately the worst passed just to the south. The heavier rain and lightning passed just to the south and moved out over the bay. Only light rainshower on my but it did get windy with Langley reporting 45 knots. Anchor held fine and the showers cooled things off, a little. RH stayed at 85% most of the night and in spite of a nice breeze it was a little uncomfortable through the night. 

Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Number of days:
1 day

In part just to get in some practice, I motored out and anchored about a 1/4 mile north of the marina to do some work on the boat. When I bought the Nonsuch, every piece of wood on the exterior needed refinishing. Little by little I'm getting that done.

Friday, June 28, 2024
Number of days:
1 day

Even with one reef in, the east wind had me flying downwind out of Willoughby Bay past Swells Point at 7+ knots. Turning NE towards home the winds died significantly. Tacking upwind was a chore against an incoming tide. What otherwide would have been a few tacks, became many. I was determined not to start the diesel.

Thursday, June 27, 2024
Number of days:
1 day

By way of Swells Point. With the dredging in the north channel I decided to take the long way in and avoid having to squeeze past the barge possibly running aground again. Very light winds at the start picked up 20 minutes into the race. Great night on the water.

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