Century Club: Tom Dean

Monday, September 1, 2025 to Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Number of days:

4 days

September 1 - went out in some nice winds out of the ENE with the first mate. Winds were blowing 9-14 and we were working on balance of the sails. First mate took the helm and was learning what it meant to be balanced and then would let me (working the sails) know what was going on. It was a great exercise for her. After playing a bit, we went up and anchored at Cacaway Island for a bit before heading in.

September 4 - Again, full crew sail but the winds were a bit stronger and a SCA was out. Found winds out of the South 12 - 22 knots. We had both sails reefed - I put a double reef in the main and rolled up the headsail quite a bit. First mate started at the helm and we continued working for the balance and comfort as we are going to need this on our trip south. Fought the winds and waves - which were very choppy for about 3 hours before heading off and anchoring at Cacaway to relax before heading back in.

September 5 - Full Crew Sail. This time, the first mate was in charge of the sails and I let her know how the helm was responding and talking her through her options. Her understanding grew as the day went on. We did sail sets for 60, 90, and 120 degrees taking back and forth across the Chester. Stayed out sailing for about 5 hours!

September 9 - one of the few "single handed" sails for me this year. SCA was out and winds were out of the NE 10-15 with gusts 20+. Had a reef in the headsail - and probably should have had a reef in the main. Stayed out about 3 hours dodging the crabbing boats and splashing through the very choppy waters. IT WAS A BLAST!

Sunday, August 31, 2025

Number of days:

1 day

8/31 - a day late

Got the mechanic on the boat on the 23rd and the engine was all set to go. Thought about going out on the 24th - really wanted to as the winds were a bit stronger than expected, but didn't make it. Even though winds were light - went out on the 25th for a few hours before heading over to the Jimmy Buffet tribute at the Main Stage in Rock Hall. It was an easy sail, getting the engine off fast and not starting it up until we were well back up the creek. Need to do this kind of thing more often! Should have gone out yesterday!

Friday, August 22, 2025 to Monday, August 25, 2025

Number of days:

4 days

Friday 8/22 - Monday 8/25 - Trip up north

8/22 - wanted to leave the marina early, but the tide over the docks didn't cooperate since we needed diesel! Finally got to the fuel dock at 11 and then proceeded down and out the Chester and up the bay into the elk and down the Bohemia outside of what used to be Chateau Bu De. Dropped anchor about 8 but had to do it three times as it really didn't dig in... slept lightly!

8/23 - First mates former colleagues came to visit. Picked them up in the dinghy outside Augie's on the Bo and brought them to the boat. We raised sails and weighed anchor and we sailed up the Bo into the Elk and then back down again. Actually had some nice sailing with a nice breeze out of the south. After dropping them back off we set sail for Still Pond. We arrived about 7 pm and had a lovely relaxing evening.

8/24 - Plans were to sail out of Still Pond and since we had a south wind still - but blowing at 10 knots, we figured we would head across the bay and back at least once and maybe twice. Problem was that when we went to start the engine - it wouldn't turn on. I spent a couple of hours trying to diagnose the issue before I just jump started the engine, raised the anchor and put the sails up. First mate took the helm and did well. Got into Worton in late afternoon after wandering a bit past the yellow buoys marking Aberdeen proving ground.

8/25 - Decided to keep heading south - the engine started right up. Put up the Assymetrical for a bit until the wind just totally died on us. Got back into LBM a little bit before 4pm

Friday, August 15, 2025 to Monday, August 18, 2025

Number of days:

4 days

August 15 - 18 Going up the Chester

August 15 - Left Lankford Bay Marina about noon and headed up to Chestertown. The first mate had plotted the course and I let her man the helm the entire way. Wind was in our face almost the entire time so not much sense putting up any sails. Arrived in Chestertown a little after 3, dropped the dinghy and headed into town. Went to Bad Arthurs for dinner and then stopped by Casa Carmen for some wine before heading back to Bubbles.

August 16 - Took the dinghy back into town and went to the Farmers Market. Got some nice cold coffee and the first mate picked up some jewelry. We then made preparations to head down to Rolph's Wharf to meet up with family. After we were done the reunion, we headed down for the evening anchorage at Conquest Beach.

August 17 - Emjoyed most of the day at conquest beach - paddling around and finding new back bays before we headed off on Bubbles to Cacaway Island where we met up with another boat from the marina and shared sundowners before the storm hit.

August 18 - Took advantage of the nice winds and did some sailing (reefed) before heading back into the marina.

Saturday, August 9, 2025 to Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Number of days:

3 days

August 9 - 11 - Langford Creek

August 9 - Left Cacaway Island in the morning and did a 4 hour sail in the Chester River - even proactive doing a heave to for the first mate. Winds out of the NNE at 6-12 knots. Fun time.

After the sail, we headed back up Langford Creek, but instead of stopping at Cacaway again, we went further up the east fork to a lovely little anchorage around Lovely Cove.

August 10 - Spent the day at Lovely Cove enjoying the water and getting out the kayak and paddleboard and exploring both Lovely Cove and further up the creek. Lovely area with very little traffic. Quiet and serene.

August 11 - After breakfast, we did some more exploring around the areas using the SUP and Kayak for a little over an hour then weighed anchor and set off for Langford Bay Marina

Wednesday, August 6, 2025 to Friday, August 8, 2025

Number of days:

3 days

August 6 - 8 Sailing in the Chester

Took the crew of Bliss - Sailboaters we had met through a mutual friend out on a sale around the Chester River on August 6. Headed out of the marina at 10:45 and spent 4 hours sailing out in the lower Chester. Tamra from Bliss took time at the helm. Had some decent wind - 5 to 10 out of the East.

8/7 - Winds 10-15 with 20 knot gusts - SCA. Went out and sailed down to Kent Narrows before turning back and then finally anchoring for the evening in Reed Creek. First mate took the helm for a while, but felt overpowered. Bubbles performed well in the wind - rolled in the genoa a few times. Fun Sail

8/8 - Winds 10 knots out of the NE, Sunny and 80. Sailed out of Reed Creek about 9:15 and headed out into the Chester to sail around a bit. Today's emphasis was talking the First mate into sailing at various angles to get to a spot that could not be reached by sailing straight to it. Gave her three different places to go and let her choose how she was going to get there - she hit each one - with some guidance along the way. My job was to handle the sheets and adjust the sails - which was fun.

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Number of days:

1 day

Paddling Davis and Langford Creeks

Helped out some people we just met - tensioning their rigging. I had noticed yesterday when we visited Nick and Tamra aboard Bliss - a Fuji 35 that their rigging was all over the place as far as tension, so I came back today with my Loos tension gauge and we get them pretty much squared away - at least it is now safe to use!

After we got back to Lankford Bay Marina, I decided to paddle around Davis & Langford Creeks. Saw the Sultana heading up Langford Creek as well as another camp boat from the Chestertown area anchored over by Cacaway. Lovely day for a paddle!

Friday, August 1, 2025 to Saturday, August 2, 2025

Number of days:

2 days

8/1 - 8/2 Sailing for fun and anchoring in Reed Creek

Beautiful boat heading up the Chester
Genniker flying
Old crabbing grounds

8/1 - The oppressive heat finally left us, so we got Bubbles ready and headed out the morning of August 1. Our hope was to sail up the Chester, maybe to Chestertown. The winds were out of the NNE blowing sustained in the teens with gusts above 20. There was a SCA out and it was overcast with temperatures only topping out at 75 degrees. We saw the Sultana sailing down Langford Creek so we got sails up quickly and the race was on! We beat her out of the creek with only sails (Sultana dropped sails and started motoring). Once out in the Chester we tested our limits - how close to the wind could we sail and if we were going to be able to sail through Spaniard neck and up the Chester. It was obvious after a few tacks that sailing up the river would be close to impossible, so we sailed around the basin, had some fun and then decided to head into Reed Creek to anchor for the evening.

8/2 - After breakfast and checking the forecast, we decided to head up the Chester and see how far we could get. Wind was still coming from the NE, but only at 5-10 knots with some gusts into the low teens. We put the main up while on anchor and then pulled the anchor and motored out of Reed Creek into the Chester, got the other sail up and then cut the engine and headed off. Had to tack back and forth quite a bit - and we found the wind to be a bit shifty - but the shifts were to our advantage. We made it through the Spaniard Neck cut with no issues but with a lot of tacking back and forth. That continued as we sailed up the Chester...which seemed to make all the powerboats a bit nervous! We dropped anchor at Quaker Neck a little after one, ate some lunch and then brought out the assymetrical for our sail back down (we realized there was no way with the current wind direction that we were going to be able to sail to Chestertown. We raised the genniker after our lunch and raced back down the Chester - seeing up to 6 knots! The winds died off about the time we reached Spaniard neck, so we limped back to Reed Creek and anchored. Fun to be sailing again just for the sake and fun of sailing!!

Monday, July 21, 2025 to Friday, July 25, 2025

Number of days:

5 days

July 21 - July 25 - Lankford Bay to St. Michaels (BD) and oxford

7/21 - Left the slip at 11:41 and sailed from LBM to Tilghman Creek just inside the Miles River, dropping anchor at 3:45. Went through Kent Narrows and saw good water all the way - made the bridge at 2:00pm opening with about 4 minutes to spare! Not much traffic at all - winds mostly from behind, so mostly used the Genoa. Thought about the Assymetircal!

7/22 - pulled anchor at 7:15 and sailed out into Eastern Bay and down the narrow alley in between the land and Poplar Island. Went through Knapps Narrows at pretty much low tide, but had plenty of water for us. Winds out of the NNE. Went up into San Domingo Creek - the Back Door to St. Michaels (so much more peaceful and secluded) and waited for our friends on Maverick to come in. While waiting, got the dinghy together and hopped into town for a few cold adult beverages!

7/23 - did a bit of paddling before heading into St. Michaels for the day. A nice little bit of exercise in the serene creeks back this way.

7/24 - pulled anchor at 9am (wanted to go earlier, but the crew of Maverick wanted to leave a bit later) and got the sails up fairly quickly as we had some nice wind. Beating a good amount of the time, but once we got out of Broad Creek and into the Choptank turning towards Oxford, we had a beam reach and really took off. Some fun sailing for the 2 hour and 15 minute run! Dropped anchor across from the Capsize restaurant at 11:15 amand waited for our friends to come in.

7/25 - Weighed anchor at 7am and headed north. Weren't sure we were headed all the way back, decided to play it by ear. Went through both Knapps and Kent Narrows at high tide and saw good water. Made it back to the marina by 2:15pm. Got to see the very end of the State Championships for the Junior Division that RHYC was sponsoring - also got held up by them heading back into port.

Monday, July 14, 2025 to Sunday, July 20, 2025

Number of days:

5 days

Trip up north - 7/14 - 7/20

Wanted to head up north to see an former colleague of mine back when I was teaching, so we loaded Bubbles up, provisioned and headed north for the better part of the week!

7/14 - LBM to Still Pond. Left the marina at 10:45. Our initial intention was just to get to Worton Creek, but we were making good time so we decided to push and we got to Still Pond, dropping anchor about 5:45. Wind was on our nose for most of the day. Got the Genoa up when we were able to. Cool, cloudy with some light rain at times.

7?15 - Still Pond to mooring at Sailing Associated. Pulled anchor at 7:45am and proceeded north. Mostly cloudy but it did get sunny and warmer as the day went on. Again, wind out of the north, so got the Genoa up for most of the journey - and did also get the Mainsail up for the sail down the Sassafras. Got on the mooring about 10:15am.

7?17 - Went out for a sail with my former colleague. Picked him up from his marina at 10 and we quickly pulled off the mooring and headed out.Great winds out of the south 10 knots with gusts up to the high teens. Very warm day - no, make that HOT, but with that much wind we didn't really feel it. Got back on the mooring at 4pm - first time my friend had picked up or dropped off from a mooring ball.

7/18 - Started the journey home. Dropped off the mooring at 9:30 heading south. We were thinking about dropping the anchor either in Worton Creek or Fairlee Creek, but then we heard about the Poker Run for both the 18th and 19th and decided to head well past that and into Swan Creek. We didn't miss the excitement though for a little after 11, I am guessing somewhere in the neighborhood of 60-70 go fast boats were flying up the bay right past us. Nice day for a sail as we had north winds blowing 7-12 knots helping to push us down the bay. Dropped anchor in Swan creek at 3pm. We decided to stay in Swan creek on Saturday - and enjoyed a leisurely day in the water. Lots of boats came out and anchored in the anchorage for the day.

7/20 Swan Creek to LBM. Waited until. 11 to head out as winds were forecast to pick up around that time. Winds were supposed to be out of the west - but it was more like SW. Started off nicely with winds in the 8-10 with some gusts - but by the time we got into the Chester, the winds died off and we had to turn the engine back on. Got a bit more sailing in after we rounded Eastern Neck island, but unfortunately, the winds died off yet again. Got back to the marina and in slip by 3:30.

Century Club: Tom Dean

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