Century Club: Tim Ford

Went to the club to make sure we have all the boards and flags for our (and MYC's) PSA to MYC Race on Oct 4th.  Turns out we don't have any Patapsco River CBYRA Marks, so a race to the Big Box store for spray paint and plywood.  Rowed out to RAINBOW for brunch. One of those kinds of days you only see in Camden or Boulder, but here I was in Anne Arundel County.  Go fig.

We did the Magothy Mayhem and put in a strong effort to validate the name of the race.  It's a pursuit race and we were doing very, very well by the 2nd mark. 

Only, we rounded it to port and the SI said it must be left to starboard. 

Another competitor was nice enough to hail us and let us know we'd screwed up...at that point we were not sure until we pulled up the SI on a cell phone and, sure 'nuff, it said round the mark to starboard! 

At that point we were many hundreds of yards downwind, with the kite up and so we did a quick douse, sorted out the spaghetti on the bow, put the genoa back up and sailed back to round the mark correctly. 

So, we didn't win and you know what?  That was fine. In my opinion, it was even better.  It made for a lot of laughs at the party (graciously hosted by PSA) and let other deserving folks take home some prizes and really, REALLY enjoy the day.  

A fun race and with the kind of vibes that should be a much larger part of racing! 

Spent the night in Hotel RAINBOW and stayed remarkably dry despite periods of intense rain.  Those repairs earlier this season paid off!  Gorgeous morning, too. 

I don't think I've ever seen the inner harbor as busy as this particular Tuesday evening. And I have spent an enormous amount of time on the water upstream from Fort Howard/Rock Creek (since I was a 6 year oild kid, including keeping a keelboat in two different locations upstream from Lazaretto Point). 

Car carriers, tugs and barges, fueling up a SeaLift ship ready to depart. Helicopters in and out. Bulk ore carriers geting unloaded. I guess it's a great indicator of a vibrant Baltimore Harbor economy and we should be glad to see all this activity.

But it sure as hell puts a different kind of slant on sailboat racing.  But, less we all forget, we are just out there for sh*ts and giggles...these folks are trying to earn a living.

Sucessfully got the 3.5 HP off the boat, into a dink, and on to a floating dock without anyone going swimming. Next step is to get the 6 HP back on board. Should be fun.

Got to take a few casts from a kayak.  It had been a while since I last paddled and I appreciated the effortless way a kayak moves through the water as opposed to my decrepit dinghy.  Unfortunately, the tide was ebbing and fish in the creek don't bite on an out-going tide. 

Got started on re-wiring the steaming light wires, as I had stupidly hit them with the multitool when I was replacing some soft wood up forward. There's always something.