Lovely day, except there was very little wind - and what little three was, was variable in direction - so I decided to forgo sailing and head off with the kayak after tending to some chores. I headed off to the headwaters of Davis Creek.... made it down there in about 45 minutes and then turned back around. Had to fight the current on the way back - not too bad and I also had to dodge the Maryland School for Sailing boats who were practicing docking both on the way out and the way back in. A nice little 2 hour workout - and if I can't be sailing... at least I am still on the water!
Century Club: Tom Dean
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Beautiful little sailboat near the headwaters
Monday, May 29, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Temperature was 69 degrees at 9:45 as we left the dock. Barometer was 30.0 and falling. Winds were out of the East 5 - 10 and it was mostly cloudy - becoming cloudy later in the day... with a few drops.
Got underway early as we had slept over on the boat and wanted to get a sail in before the rains came. Got the sails up quickly in Langford Creek and shut off the engine. Decided to stay in the upper basin, so we were sailing back and forth between the Corsica River, Reed Creek, and then over towards Grays Inn Creek. Had some nice wind most of the day - and when the skies started to look threatening (about 1:30, decided to reef the headsail a bit - preemptively as to not get over powered. Had good control and nice speed even though partially reefed. A lot of "collision alerts" from the AIS - and only one closer call - evidently there was no one on watch!
Started heading back about 2pm... when the really dark clouds started moving towards us from the east - very odd... usually checking out the sky to the west for storm clouds! Got back in and tied up before the little bit of rain came. Got to catch up with some dock neighbors - so.a plus of coming in early. A little blustery, but as always , a fun day on Bubbles!
Sunday, May 28, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Moving!
Lots of sailboats
Lovely day
Lots of sailboats
First mate
First mate and captain… upside down.
First mate with captain boomies bling
Pulled out of the slip about 11 am with my regular crew (wife). At that time, mostly sunny 67 degrees... eventually got up to 72 and became mostly cloudy. Barometer was 30.13. Winds were out of the East at 5-10 knots with a few higher gusts. Got the sails up right away - even before the first day mark in Langford Creek. Headed down Langford Creek into the Chester on a Beam/Close Reach all the way down to the markers outside of Queenstown/Eastern Neck Island before turning and heading back on a Beam/Close reach sail. Much better winds than forecast! Had a few drops of rain, but nothing much. Ended up back at the marina about 3 - a four hour sail... then headed to waterman's in Rock Hall for oysters and beer!.
Saturday, May 27, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Had to pack for the weekend - so I got to the marina a bit later than I wanted. Started out Mostly Sunny then moved to mostly cloudy, 73 degrees - pretty constant. Barometer 30.24 and falling slightly. The NWS was predicting 10 - 15 knots with gusts to 20 out of the East for today.... I found winds from the ENE 5 -10... no real gusts to speak of... at least in the Chester! Started with a reefed headsail, but let that out pretty quickly. Saw a lot of sailboats - and powerboats heading up towards Chestertown for the tea party. All in All a nice sail with fairly light winds that would from time to time kick up a bit. Was looking forward to the heavier winds, but some wind is better than nothing - and a.day on the water always beats a day on land. Crew should be joining me this evening - and tomorrow I should hit the halfway point - day number 50!!!
Friday, May 26, 2023 to Saturday, May 27, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Mostly Sunny 70 - 73 degrees with the barometer 30.23 and steady. Got to the marina before lunch, but had some work to do - had to check the water in the batteries and do a bit of cleaning before I could have some fun! Got out of the slip about 1:30. Winds were out of the north 5-10 and slowly building throughout the day. Had to keep the engine on a bit longer than I wanted - some other boats in the way, but once I got to the mouth of the Creek and the Chester - was off an running with full sails! Cruised around the basin for a couple hours before heading back. Lovely day, and a lovely sail!!
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Oldest on watch
Crew washing dishes
Youngest at the helm
Well, the youngest daughters flight out kept on getting delayed, and then finally cancelled... so a bit after midnight we crashed at home and headed back to the marina about 7am for a sail to Annapolis for the Blue Angels!. Winds were very light - 5 knots.. starting out of the north and then later in the day turning from the southwest. Barometer was at 29.9 and fairly steady - and temperatures were upper 60's into the mid 70's. Got the gennaker up as we were leaving Langford Creek, but we were only making 2 knots.... and knowing we had to be in place by 2 pm... we dropped her after a half an hour or so and turned on the engine. Motored down and got a great place to watch the show! It was the first time that the girls had gone under a bridge - and of course, going under the Bay Bridge is an awesome experience! Had a great spot for the show.... with the only problem being the shit show that happened after the show with all of the powerboaters plowing through the anchorage with absolutely no courtesy at all. We stayed anchored until 4 and then began our trek back to the marina. After going under the bay bridge, enough of the wake had subsided (as all of the idiots had gotten past us) and we were able to get the gennaker up and sail along Kent island and across Love point, before we had to drop it because of wind direction. Our youngest took the helm with the gennaker and really did a nice job handling Bubbles! Another great - and last sail... as both girls had flights out the next morning. Got back to the marina a bit after 9pm. Long day - but a wonderful day. 1st mate really liked having additional crew on board!!!
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
After a Ferko family day up in PA, we hit the boat again on Tuesday the 23rd for what we thought would be the final family sail for the week (younger daughter set to leave that evening), Sunny again, 68 - mid 70's. Barometer 29.91 and holding steady. Winds were forecast to be out of the East 5-10... but they were NOT, instead, the winds were coming out of the South West and were kicking up a bit. We initially started with just a reefed headsail... just rolled her up to the size of Jib, but later in the day we dropped the mainsail down a bit to put a reef in her - just to make it a more comfortable ride - and it was. Saw wind speeds in the upper teens! Sailed around the basin... as we had to be back in to the dock by about 3pm or so. We were hoping to at least catch a glimpse of the Blue Angels doing their practice - and lo and behold... a little after 1 we did see four of them fly by in formation... but that is all that we saw. Had a lovely day out.... oldest daughter helped putting up and down sails/rolling them up. Both girls took turns pulling and setting sheets too. Again, with so many on board didn't get any pictures of the sail - only the crew at the end!
Sunday, May 21, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Beautiful Sunny day - temperatures mid 60's through lower 70's, Barometer 30.01. Got to the Marina mid-morning and prepped for a full family sail! While the kids have been on Bubbles before, this was to be the first family only sail ever- and sail we did. Winds were out of the North West 5 - 10 knots.. with a few gusts as we headed down Langford Creek to the Chester. We sailed around in the Chester basin for a while - heading down towards the Queenstown area off of Eastern Neck island for a while. On the way back up, we hugged the souther coast of the Chester - past Devils Den and around the mouth of the Corsica before heading up to Cacaway island where we grilled up some Rockfish that we purchased from Chester River Seafood earlier in the day. Finally made our way back to the marina about 7 - a lovely 8 hours on the boat - 6 of those hours sailing/motoring! A lovely day! Didn't take any pictures for this sail - too busy - but the kids got a few!
Friday, May 19, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Nice heel - almost 15 degrees
Choppy
Got to the marina and immediately got Bubbles ready to head out. Partly sunny skies/partly cloudy, temperatures in the upper 60's low 70's. Barometer was unchanged from yesterday - 30.15, but started falling. Headed out about 10:30 am and got the sails up fairly quickly as I was heading down Langford creek - cut the engine off soon after the sails were up. Had to avoid a crab boat that was out fishing.... and anchored right in the channel (who does stupid things like that?? And WHY??).
Stayed on close haul, beating in to the wind down the Chester towards Kent Island - and was making good speed considering all the hobbyhorsing that Bubbles was doing through the 1 foot + chop. Winds were out of the Southwest - South (every once in a while a wind shift) right around 10 knots... with a few gusts. Had the headsail reefed, but had out the full main. Wind started to fall away a bit the closer I got to Kent Island, so I rolled out the rest of the Genoa/headsail - and wouldn't you know it... the wind picked up right about then. About 2pm the wind fell away a bit and was down to about 7 knots and it was time for me to head back - so I threw up the Gennaker and flew back up the Chester... passing other sailboats who were going in the same direction, but were on broad reaches or running... with their headsails hanging limp.
Once I got to Langford Creek - the winds picked up a bit, as they always do (it seems) but then I had some other obstacles in my way. There was a small sailboat just going back and forth - I think out of the Rock Hall Yacht Club and while friendly enough, he seemed to want to get close and see up close. At that point, the wind shifted a bit, so I had to jibe and put the Gennaker on the other side... that seemed to scare him off quickly. After I rounded the last day mark in the creek, I spied yet another small sailboat just having fun, but also very interested in me, getting dangerously close as I was trying to head towards the marina while trying to avoid the little sailboat and not point any higher than a beam reach! Finally, he did clear out, I turned to running and dropped the gennaker and headed in. A lovely day and a lovely 5 hour sail. I really like it when I can use all of the sails!
Thursday, May 18, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Heading down the creek
Well, the forecast was for winds out of the E and then moving to the SE for 5 to 10 knots - and what actually happened was winds out of the SW at about 5 knots! It was Sunny - temperatures 63-68 degrees, Barometer around 30.24. Left the marina and got the sails up pretty quickly - but was really surprised by the direction as that was not the forecast. Still, enough wind to do some sailing, so shut off the engine as I was coming out of Langford Creek and into the Chester. Stayed on a close reach most of the time... until I turned to go back in. Just stayed in the big basin where Langford Creek, Reed Creek, Corsica River and Grays Inn Creek all empty into... just having some fun. Autopilot had some trouble with the real light winds, so did a lot of hand steering. Wasn't going screaming fast... but was doing ok until I started heading back up towards the marina and the wind really died off. Had to turn on the engine a bit early - which I was not happy about, but still a nice 3 hour sail! Tomorrow is supposed to be bigger winds - looking forward to that!