Century Club: Tom Dean

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!

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.

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.

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!!