Figured the first mate needed to know how to both raise and lower the main - just in case - so we took off out of the slip and headed into Langford creek to practice. With the boat on autopilot (and trying to avoid some of the crabbers) I demonstrated both the raise and lower the main - with proper flaking.... and then gave her a chance. She got it up pretty quickly and did well to avoid the lazy jacks, but coming down was an issue, so we turned around and I demonstrated again - with the boat on autopilot. She did fine the second time - flaking it pretty well!. It was a short outing, there was no wind to speak of, but a necessary one...just in case I am ever knocked off the boat and she has to rescue me!
Century Club: Tom Dean
Sunday, September 15, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Been a while since I have been out two days in a row. Started out in the morning helping the same dock neighbor with his Dodger project. My first mate had a friend come down for a sail - so we headed out about 10:45. The winds were whipping into the marina, so being cautious and having a first time sailor on board, I double reefed the main and we only had out 85% of the front sail. After a rather slow sail down Langford creek, and seeing nothing higher than 6 knots of wind, I decided to shake out the reef and open the front sail to a 100% jib. We sailed down the Chester towards Eastern Neck island - led a parade of sailboats coming out of Langford creek. Wind picked up a bit, but not enough to worry about - the SCA wasn't until 3pm. We sailed all the way back up and decided to drop the anchor on the leeward side of Cacaway Island for a bit. Got back into the slip at 3pm. Lovely day of sailing with winds out of the East from 6 - 15+ knots. Barometer was 30.34 and the temperature range was 72-82 degrees.
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Had spent the past few days working on making sunscreens for the cockpit and changing over the batteries from lead acid to lifepo4 batteries - and I needed to get out and sail. Wind was out of the E-NE at 10 knots with sunny skies. When we pulled out of the slip at 2:45 it was 82 degrees and the barometer was at 30.22. Got the sails up after entering Langford Creek and sailed all the way down the Chester towards Eastern Neck Island. Saw lots of other sailboats coming our way - some were staying at our home marina - Lankford Bay marina. Turned around about 3:45 and headed back on a beam reach (as we had sailed down) and we were back in the slip by 4:45. Then I popped over to help a friend who was installing new stantions on his Hunter Legend 40.5!
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Was looking forward to a rather adventurous sail as two friends - Brian and Anton (both sailors themselves) - were coming down to the marina for a sail. Forecast was for a SCA winds 10-15 with gusts to 20... in actuality, we had NW winds that were flaky at best 5 - 10 if that once we got out.
Put the sail up about 45 seconds out of the slip and the engine was off 2 minutes later (Anton timed - he was jealous as his boat is on the Sassafras - and he has to motor a ways to get to a place with good air). Headed down Langford creek into the Chester - and at first, the winds were kicking. Brian was at the helm, Once out into the Chester the winds continued to die down until we finally gave up a bit down by Eastern Neck Island. We turned back, pulled in the Genoa, but kept the main up and turned on the iron genny. We did pick up some more wind about the "LC" red/green mark in the Chester, so we unfurled the genoa and started sailing again. Made it almost all the way up the creek before we had to turn the engine on again. Dropped the sails in Davis creek - and even though they had never helped dock the boat before, we had a perfect in! A great day out on the water!
Thursday, September 5, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Headed out at 10 am under mostly sunny skies, winds 5 - 10 knots out of the NE. Temperature at departure was 68, but it got a bit warmer. Barometer was at 30.38 and steady. Sailed around the top part of the Chester river basin for a while and then headed down the Chester River to the green buoy outside of Eastern Neck Island/Queenstown on a broad reach. We turned and then started beating into the wind for the return journey. Wind started to shift a bit more to the east, so we were able to fly the sails all the way up the Chester and Langford Creek before it died out and we had to turn on the engine just outside the marina. A lovely sail!
Monday, September 2, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Our Ba De Ya Sail! Winds were kicking. Out of the North at 10-15 with gusts in the 20's or better. Sunny day - beautiful skies with a temperature of 73 - so a bit cooler. Pushed the first mate to go out - she doesn't always like the heavier winds, but we discussed how important it is to practice with these kinds of winds in a somewhat "controlled" environment. We sailed out at 11 am - down into the Chester River from Davis Creek. We took some time at every point of sail - even running with a preventer set up. Had the full main up - probably should have reefed that, but did have the Genoa furled up to a Jib which made Bubbles really very manageable. After 4 hours of sailing in the Chester, we headed back up Langford creek and anchored at Cacaway Island for a bit before heading in.
Sunday, September 1, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Pulled out of the slip at 10:45 with the ful crew. Winds were light, swirly, but mostly out of the west 5-10 knots. Temperature was 76 under partly cloudy skies. Wanted to get some crew time in - letting the first mate take the helm for a while with me handling sails, and then reversing roles. Almost put up the gennaker, but wind wasn't all that reliable, so decided not to. A nice day of practice under light winds.
Saturday, August 31, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Well, very little wind on Saturday, so I had to settle for a paddle Board trip out Davis Creek and up Langford creek and around Cacaway Island and back. Lovely day - nice and warm - just no wind. Had to dodge the wake of many a powerboat - but didn't fall!
Friday, August 23, 2024 to Sunday, August 25, 2024
Number of days:
3 days
Sailed on over to the Magothy - up by the horse farm from Lankford Bay Marina for the weekend. We met up with some sailors we had met through the upper Chesapeake bay sailing Facebook group - Yvonne and Charlie. Had to motor most of the way over as we had west ward winds for the most part - but did get the Genoa up for a while. Had a couple great paddle on the SUP on Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. Pulled anchor Sunday about noon and sailed the entire way back to Lankford Bay with nice SW and then S winds. Too many idiot powerboaters out though…. Got back to Lankford bay about 6. All in all a great weekend!
Thursday, August 22, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Got to 100 hours earlier than usual this year so spent the day changing the oil, putting in a new impeller (one fin broken - so smart to check) and changing fuel filters. Found out after starting the engine up that the oil filter wa missing. Gasket - luckily, caught it quick and not too much mess. One hour job took 3 all told with the cleanup. Went out for a paddle afterwards.