55 degrees oiut with only 5-7 knots from the West made it a beautiful time to kayak up to the headwwaters of Valentine Creek and then hug the shore around to Plum Creek and then return by coming to the narrow entrance of Valentine onto the Severn. Only other boat out was a kayaker who was fishing. Ducks and Heron were the ohly other things moving at sunset. Wonderful!
Century Club: Richard Turman
Thursday, January 5, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
59 degrees and less than 3 knots of wind made for a beautiful evening. Went out just after sunset and had a good 30 minutes out on Valentine Creek and onto the Severn River and back. Wonderful to have such unseasonably warm weather!
Sunday, January 1, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
60 degree day called for kayaking, since I couldn't go sailing because the boat was winterized. Fascinating to have the air temp in the low 60s fighting with the water temp, which was about 40, and had cold air rising off of it. No other boats out as I went near the headwaters of Valentine Creek and back to our home. And then completed work on winterizing my Tartan 245 by removing the outboard, which I'd not removed when I'd taken everything else off the boat in mid-December. Worth doing, but difficult to reach everything while sitting off the end of the boat.
Saturday, December 17, 2022
Number of days:
1 day
Today I kayaked overr to my powerboat, blessedly on a neighbor's lift about half a mile away by water, and took out the drain plug. That completes the last task I can do this year on that boat. Put the winter cover on it a week ago, but couldn't get to the drain plug. SO much water in there -- it ran for a good five minutes. Really glad I emptied it. I forgot to take the battery out before putting the cover on, but I'm not going to undo the whole thing just for that. Hopefully the battery charger can bring it back to life in the spring.
Last night, on December 16, I reluctantly decided to winterize "Lark" since I couldn't see any days when it would be above 50 degrees (or even 45) when the wind would be in the 5-10 range vs. the 15-20 mph range. And the nights are going to be below 30 for the forseeable future, and the owner's manual for my Torqueedo battery says it can not be charged when it is below 32 degrees. I shut off the power to the boat several days ago, when it was to be below 30 at night, but since we're going to have days below 20, it made sense to remove this 42 lb battery. Which Tartan had put into a nearly inaccesable box under one of the bunks, and placed a strip of wood across so it was screwed into place. One of the four screws holding that strip of wood nearly stripped, so it took about an hour to just get that strip off, after which the challenge was to get the battery itself out of this nearly inaccessible spot and hook the six connections.
One of the other driving reasons to winterize was that I needed to take the jib off, since we'd had wind gusting to 25 mph and the jib sock was causing the boat to move on the lift, as it (and the mainsail cover) was catching the wind. So I dropped the jib, and then took the main off for the first time. And then took the lead-acid house battery out, too. And then took the pad for the berth out, which I found had a snap all the way at the bow. Which was wet from rainwater coming in.
Trussed the boat up onto the lift, increased the angle by which the bow is higher than the stern so hopefully we'll get less water collecting in the cuddy, and then lifted her a last time for the winter.
I'll look forward to March when I can take her out again!
Sunday, December 4, 2022
Number of days:
1 day
45 degrees seemed about the right daytime temp to put the cover on for the winter, but we'd already had some sub-30 nights, and it was overdue. However, the mechanic had only just come by to winterize the engine, so now was the time. After carrying the canvas-support frame I've made from wood over to my neighbor's dock where the boat is on a lift, strung it up with line and then put the cover over top. Then the hard part started, which was getting the far side lines under the boat and attached to the dock side. This requifred me to take two kayak trips out and under the boat, using the boat hook and a paddle to push the line to the dock side where it could be retrieved, mercifully, by my buddy who volunteered to come out and help -- which saved me hours!
Saturday, December 3, 2022
Number of days:
1 day
As the temperature hit 59 degrees, I realized that the forecast 15-20 knots of wind had subsided, and it was only 8 with gusts to 12, so took our my sailboat, Lark, from 3:30-5:00, returning just after sunset. At which point the temp dropped dramatically. Had a great time out on a day when I'd not expected to be able to go sailing -- for my 101st voyage of the year! As wind hit 12 knots, got my boatspeed up over 5 knots, which was great.
Friday, December 2, 2022
Number of days:
1 day
Had hoped to make it out saiing but ran out of time, so enjoyed the opportunity to kayak through Valentine Creek for 45 minutes. Water was so much clearer than even a month ago, and no jellyfish left. No power or sailboats, either, just geese and heron. Lovely.
Saturday, November 26, 2022
Number of days:
1 day
It rose to 58 degrees at 3 pm, with 8 knots with gusts to 14, so I took Lark out with my neighbor. We used the jib not the genoa, and couldn't raise the main at the dock since the wind was from the NW. Motored out and had a beautiful time after we raised the main after passing the red mark at the top of Round Bay. Had the boat easily doing 4 knots, and went on a beam reach toward a Beneteau 36, pacing and then overtaking her as we sailed towards the bridge. We both jibed and we again overtook her on the return, which was quite satisfying. Beautiful sunny day with a bite to the wind, but not cold, by any means. Headed in before sunset, and got Lark docked as the sun went down. And the temp dropped five degrees. Great time out on the water!
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Number of days:
1 day
Weather finally warmed up -- to 59 degrees from the 40's our high temps have been stuck in lately -- so I mounted the genoa on Lark and ventured out at about 3:30 pm. Light and variable breeze from the West in the 4-7 knot range allowed me to move along nicely at 3-4 knots. Only one other sailboat out, but I sure enjoyed being out on the water after two weeks cooped up inside in the cold. Sadly, the sun goes down awfully early these days, which I recorded on the attached photo at about 4:45.
Saturday, November 12, 2022
Number of days:
1 day
The remnants of Hurricane Nicole came through on Friday, but by Saturday afternoon the rain was gone and the wind had died down but it was still in the low 70's, which was a welcome surprise. By the time I realized it and got the jib switched out for the Genoa it was 3:30, but had a good hour out enjoying the Genoa in light breeze (5-7 knots) before the wind died completely, and I came home. In 66 degree weather. Fabulous for November 12!