Had a great solo sail on Lark for the first time in a week, and enjoyed 10 knots true windspeed from the South. On the way back, stopped by friends on their dock to chat, and then shoved off towards home at around 4 pm. But didn't watch where I was going, nor my own depth gauge. Felt me hit and looked at gauge, and it said 3.5, and Lark draws 4.5 feet. Tried to sail off. Nope. Tried to use engine to get out. Nothing. Called a friend, who came out in his 18 foot 115 horse Bayliner. Seemed to come close several times, but couldn't pull it off. Low tide was approaching, so they helped me set my anchor with 100' of rode out. Figured to come back at midnight and retrieve her at high tide. Another neighbor then came by with 24' center cockpit with a 300 horse yamaha on the back, and asked where to put the boat once he got it off. I then joined him and his son on his boat, and once we retrieved the anchor, used the rode to pull Lark off the sand bar. Took two tries, and the strain was evident, and she then slid forward, free. He towed Lark home with his son and I onboard; I showed his son how to steer a sailboat all the way into the slip. No harm done to the keel, though some paint has been scraped away by the mud/sand on the bottom. SO relieved to have Lark back in her slip!
Century Club: Richard Turman
Rain was forecast, and came, but lightning was not, so we went out to race. Rain started before our pre-start, and by the time we got to the windward mark, we were soaked. Through. Our shoes squished. But we were having a great race, beating boats in our start to the mark by having a great start and heading down the eastern side of Round Bay. Still ahead of a good number of competitors and about 1/3 of the way back to the finish when RC called off the race -- said the winds were too high.
Joined a friend on his 46' cruising boat in this annual event, which started near Baltimore Light, heaed toward the Bay Bridge, headed 8 miles north, and then into Baltimore Harbor. Quite eerie to sail past the remains of the Key Bridge. Under spin, sailing as fast we we could. Came in 2nd out of 6 or so, and partied in the rain. Great race!
Took a friend sailing who had never been on a sailboat before. Wind was blowing 18 knots true, so we reefed the main and went out with just it and stayed around in little round bay, with her steering and me handling the lines. Wind dropped to 12, so we rolled out the genoa and our speed doubled, and she then understood what this was all about. She marveled that we could go so fast downwind but without the air rushing past, as well as how she could 'see' the wind by steering to the telltales, which she got really good at. Such a fun time!
Took Lark out for the first time since we'd been gone for 18 days. Fantastic to sail my own boat!
Got home from Bergen on a Wednesday evening, and took the powerboat out that Thursday night. Even though it was 90 degrees out instead of the 50 degrees it was when we left Bergen the morning before.
Boarded Viking Saturn on a Wednesday, and sailed to Edinburgh, the Orkney Islands, and the Shetland Islands, with visits to very cool Neolithic sites on both sets of islands. Then across the North Sea to the Norwegian Sea to Honigsvag, from which we took a bus to North Cape. Within the Arctic, where the sun did not set for 4 days, sailing through the fjiords was amazing. As was cod fishing in Tromso, and kayaking in Geiranger fjiord. Exploring Bergen was fantastic. But then we had to come home on a Wednesday, after 2 weeks on board.
We have participated in Maryland Grows Oysters (MGO) program through the Severn River Association (SRA) for years, and got the notice last week that we needed to take our oysters out of their six cages in the water under our dock and go plant them in the oyster colony, which on the Severn is between the two bridges. Got my oysters into 3 buckets and had a nice ride down the Severn about 8:30 this morning -- trying to beat the heat.
In the early pm, went out with my daughter for her to practice getting SkyLark off and on the lift, and setting and retrieving an anchor. Was fine when we were out in the wind on the river, but was pretty hot once we returned to the dock. Headed to 100 today...
Good breeze from the south; started out in the 10 range and dropped to 4, as is typical on a Wednesday night. Course was ACA, which felt short at 6 pm, but made sense, since the wind died, as predicted. Didn't do great, but had a great night. Our spin sets are getting better; made progress on the genoa furling and unfurling, and may have finally fixed it. We'll see.
Entered the Maryland Cures Cancer regatta, and prepared the boat as best I could, including putting water into the tank in the porta-pottie and figuring out how it works. Found out the night before the race tht I only had 64% power in my engine's battery, instead of 100%, so it was clear we would not be able to use the engine both ways, which had been the plan.
With 10-15 winds from the North all morning, we were able to leave my dock at 8:10 am and arrive at Tolly Point, where the RC was stationed by 10:20 -- pretty good time for about 9.5 miles. Made about 4.3 knots across Round Bay with the main and Genoa up, and then 3.5 knots through the narrows, but 5 knots once the river opened up in Annapolis, and 6 knots once we cleared Greenbury point. Only used tiny bit of battery whilst getting the main up, so arrived with 62%.
First race went ok, though it was marred by a repeated problem with our furling line -- it kept putting extra wraps below the drum once we furled the genoa. Had problems both furling and unfurling. Did ok figuring out where the marks were, and jibing once down the course to get to the finish -- though could have jibed sooner and stlll made the finish. Wind 10 knots.
RC started the 1st class of boats on their second race while we were still finishing our first. We spent most of the 8 minutes until we were in sequence again fighting to get the genoa untangled and furled again. Then in sequence.
Second race we did better, though still had furling problems. Spin hoist and jibes were cleaner. More wind gave us a faster time around the course, but then, it did so for everyone. Ended both races 4th out of 5.
Then sailed back into 10 knots of breeze from the North. Doing fine at 5 knots until we were between the Academy and the 1st bridge, at which point the wind died and we had to motor sail. Got down to 54% battery once we'd gone past the 2nd bridge, at which point we had enough wind -- 6 to 10 knots -- to tack our way up the river. Had a nice ride once we hit Round Bay.
Home by 5:30. Tuckered out, but we all felt it was great to be racing on the Bay -- exhilirating to be bouncing amongst the waves, beautiful other boats and great weather.