Century Club: George Hernandez

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Friday, July 19, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
#42 Helping launch Sunfox

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
#41 Sail back to OPCM

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
#40 Back River

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
#39 Work on the boat

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
#38 Sail back to OPCM

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
#37 Willoughby Bay Race

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.

Friday, June 21, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
#36 Back across the channel

After a cup of coffee, I fired up the diesel, raised the anchor and sail to head back to Old Point Comfort. Getting into my slip was a bit of a challenge with the outgoing tidal current. I took 3 tries before I was successful using the boat momentum againt the current to give me enough time to turn as I was backing in. I will have to experiment with different techniques. One that crossed my mind, rather than back all the way in, what if I came in forward then turned 90 degrees straight into the outgoing current then let it drift backwards into my spot? We'll see. There is enough fuel for days worth of docking attempts. haha

(I guess i didn't take any pictures)

Thursday, June 20, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
#35 Willoughby Race

Sailed back over to Willoughby Bay for the Thursday evening race. The north channel was being dredged but there was plenty of room on the red side which was also downwind of the barge for me to pass through. I started the diesel just in case there were any issues. There were issues. As I'm passing the barge a couple tugs were headed out. I moved as far as possible to the right and discovered a new sand bar. It brought me to a quick halt! Fortunately I was able to turn the rudder and with a shot of power slide back off.

Nice evening on the bay. Good temperature for sleeping...

Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
#34 North to Buckroe Beach

I could see there was a light breeze on the bay as I drove over the HRBT. However, almost nothing as I got out onto the water. Fortunately the outgoing tide carried me out Mill Creek and around Fort Monroe where the wind conditions improved greatly. With mild conditions it was a good time to try out reefing my 540 sq ft sail. It was quick and easy, except I don't think I let the sail down quite enough for the rear reefing line to pull the lower section tight enough and ended up with a wrinkle, more of a fold actually. Will experiment again...

Sunday, June 16, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
#33 Turn this ship around

In the interest of simplicity the day before I just pulled in bow first. Getting on and off requires climbing over railing and a pretty good step up and down. I motored out of the marina for a few minutes and with fairly light winds it went almost perfect backing in.

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