Trimmed main for BOXCAR. Course: DLDL
We took 2nd, which was nice for their first race of the season. Those downwind finishes heading into the setting sun are rough on the eyes though. Fun night!
Century Club: Tim Ford
Sunday, May 7, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Strapped the 25 foot long mast onto my 15 foot long SUV and made it to the club with no issues, including getting passed by MD State Police and AA County cops. Apparently my set-up was legal or too minor an infraction to mess with.
Got a quick paddle in with one of the F1 progeny. I love the way the marsh (swamp) comes alive in early May.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 to Thursday, May 4, 2023
Number of days:
2 days
MId-week vacation:
Day 1 - RC boat with folks from Miles River Yacht Club. Impressive race management team considering it's WNR. Separate course for Stars and Handicap boats. Mark boat and pin boat? Wow. Docking was fun on the trip back to the club. Engine took a brief time out as puffs built to 20+ in a very tight spot. FEND!!!
Day 2 - paddle and sail. Took a brief paddle to flog the creek with a fly rod. Then a great sail on VOLITION, out to Kent Island and back, arrived in time for Board Meeting within seconds of meeting time. Thanks Mr. Palmer!
Type of watercraft should read: power/kayak/sail but who's counting?
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
sun out on an otherwise gray day
heavy air drama
new kite!
Light air eight and change nm race around a triangle course of gov't marks. I think we saw 7 kn of breeze. Maybe. There was a lot of jib jail, that means lying down on the leeward rail staring at a gray wall of genoa material. But we kept the boat moving and to me, that's the way to win drifters...just. Keep. It. Moving.
Later the sun came out and we retired to the PSA dock for post-race chitter chatter. Nice day!
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
finishing leg, puffs to 23
rain and heron
There was a muskrat
Got a quick paddle in with the tide way up high. Went to the backwaters of the creek very quietly and had a muskrat approach the boat to within 5-6 feet and I made a little noise and the critter did an abrupt U-turn and disappeared into the marsh.
MRSA race #2 was our first and there was rust. An OCS, and some flubs on the line-handling end. To be sure, we were shorthanded at six up and folks had to do jobs they haven't done in more than 6 or 7 months.
And yeah, there was rust. :-)
Friday, April 21, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
I'll take a "boat work" day! Got the bottom nicely prepared, 600 wet, 900 wet and 1200 wet in some forward areas. Perfect day for wet sanding. And cleaning the deck and house.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
lunch hook gone
PHRF start
Pre start
MH start
back to bed minus one anchor
Fun night! Five people on an 18 foot powerboat (thanks Patrick!) doing race committee. It went well. Well, sorta. We got three windshifts before the Warning so AP and Foxtrot were up quite while. Finally the WNW breeze settled nicely into the SSE and we set a course for 2 laps.
During the first manuever to up anchor and move the line, I pulled the rode and chain to the boat, remarking on how light the anchor was...well, of course it was, it was gone!
See photo and this is why I hate those anchor chains that have a plastic coating. The coating chafes away, water penetrates and then, with no ability to inspect due to the aforementioned plastic coating, your anchor says buh-bye.
We were able to borrow an anchor from one of the competitors and after that, things went swimmingly.
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Looks like summer!
Hoping for breeze like this next Weds...
Felt like summer. Tried to finish waxing the topsides but hey it was too hot. Went out for perch and wasn't bothered with any bites. Then a 40 minute drive to a spot I could have paddled to in 30 minutes (N. Ferry Pt to S. Ferry Pt)
Got some things done with Ed on Incommunicado.
Paddle sandwich.
Thursday, April 6, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Threw everything I own in the car in terms of boat cleaning, waxing etc. Except: forgot the bag of clean rags. So, I decided: just getting half the boat done was progress. Plus it served as an excellent reminder of why owning an 18 foot sailboat sure beats owning a 32 footer, at least when it comes to this particular chore.
I was sore enough as it was.
Waiting for the boat to dry after the initial scrub down, I took a rod and reel out and made a few desultory casts. Nothin' doing. Which was fine.
Finally, put boat work supplies away and went up to the club's deck to do some work and wait for the storms to roll in. Eventually they did, but there was no reason to have postponed the Oriole game, a full 24 hours in advance. There's nothing certain about a forecast four days out and I guess this year we can knock that down to 24 hours. All the panic about this front passing through...and it turned out to be pretty much of a non-event.
Monday, April 3, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
I guess the various high wind events over the past week or two must've scrubbed off people's piers and decks because I was only out for an hour and picked up a LOT of trash, including one dock fender, one boat fender, one short run of regular hose and 50 feet crinkle hose. PM me if any of it is yours. Otherwise, figure on a slightly cleaner creek, as if this would put a dent in the sheer tons of plastic crap lining the shore.
Had a nice lunch in the wind though! Man, there are so many ospreys on the river now, it's ridiculous.