The second time around for RERUN. I missed the first time but it was cool to be on what's sort-of the same boat (as BOXCAR) but very different. It's a bit stiffer and the main has very different tendancies compared to the main on BOXCAR. We were a little bit short-handed and it's still a big learning curve with the new boat, but we eeked out a 3rd which is not too shabby for the 2nd time the boat has been on the course since it was prrchased!
SIx days of boats, boards and beaches in Glynn County GA.
A place where seven feet of tidal range exposes hundreds of acres of sandy tidal flats and pools. Walking out to the surf zone gives a chance to see a lot of rays and even a 5-6 foot black-tipped shark a few yards off in the shallow surf. I didn't know what their behavioral responses were, so when I shuffled my feet in 18 inches of water the darn thing immediately turned inshore and swam straight at me. The second half of their response is to then do a roll-turn and swim back out into deeper water. Nonethelss, I high-tailed it into inches deep water.
This place is a mecca for folks who love shallow water expeditions in small boats or just a board and fins. There are sharks though...and gators.
Great night on the Magothy with a solid southerly that built all evening. We went with the #3 and a full (Dacron) main. MRSA's conversion to EZ instead of PHRF has, at least intially, resulted in closer racing. I think we may have gotten the bullet last night but it'll be close.
A day on the water with a lot of rowing, no fish biting and a lovely T-storm that went through around 4:15 and took all the wind away when it departed the region.
So, wisely, MRSA canceled early.
About an hour before the squall line got to the Magothy, I was checking the radar returns on AccuWeather pretty frequently and began thinking, well, maybe I was cutting it a bit too closely. I'd left the boat, to go fishing, in full ventilation mode with the pop-top up and quite a few things to get done before rowing back in.
So I wouldn't say it was panic-time, but it was time to efficiently go down the checklist for closing up. The older I get, the less likely I will be completely successful when vacating the boat. That having been said, I realized before driving home I'd left my laptop on RAINBOW. Meaning: another row out and back. But a quiet, calm, row out and back after a storm and around dusk is pure pleasure.
Ran the 6HP for about 10 minutes just to get some new fuel in the carb and lines. Still starting first or second pull. I swear it has been running better after the full immersion last summer....go fig.
I went down to PSA to clean up in Aisle 5 after the MoonLight Race, just making sure everything was in the right place, which it wasn't, but after 10-11 hours doing RC dutry and getting in around midnight one can be excused for quickly just stowing stuff, going to "breakfast" and hitting the sack.
Also took some measurements to see if we can stow a Sunfish rig in some sort of PVC tube down on the dinghy docks so that members can get a boat ready in 10 minutes rather than 45. Might be do-able.
Lastly, I rowed around the corner to a "good spot" and made some desultory casts into likely areas where a feeding rockfish might have hung around after the hgh water end of slack water. But the ebb had already started and there was nothing doing. Still it was fun to see the lure I had made during the COVID days deep dive and swim like a proper baitfish. I think I've caught a few fish, pickerel most likely, judging from the chew marks along the flanks.
Checked out a cool Windward 15 a fellow club member owns...I do miss small woosden boats.
A nice Friday in tolerable temps!
PRO for the race, Friday was equipt check and paperwork day. Meant I spent a lot of time at the office. Meaning PSA's harbor wifi and my laptop on RAINBOW. Nice office with 360 degree waterfron view.
Of course, that meant numerous rowing trips out to the boat and back.
Saturday was race day and the breeze was significant. Peak gust at relatively protected GIYS was 33 mph. So be it. We motored out to Baltimore Light and weren't thrilled about the 3-4 foot, 3 second period, waves rolling thru with an occasional 5 footer tossed in just for grins. Masterful ground tackle work had us set in place with clear LOP over to the light and Love Pt as the distant range. We didn't drag a foot.
The unfortunate thing about a full moon is how late it rises compared to two or three days prior. So most boats only had a glimpse of moonlight as they went back to their home ports or up the river to PSA. We are thinking maybe a little later start in the future, but with the breeze mostly in the 18-22 range, most boats sailed the 28 miles in less than 4 hours. With a couple of nasty beats into waves and wind. So no moon for them.
Waking up on RAINBOW Sunday a.m., it was really nice to see blue skies and flat water. I think the six of us on the RC boat took a bit of a beating, bobbing around out there for eight hours as the bow arched through 10 to 15 feet in some of the bigger sets. Excellent RC crew though, with no one seasick, no complaints and plenty of laughs.
Trolling on a wet Friday afternoon and snagged a nice CAL 25 in Blackhole Creek. Put up a struggle, but I got it to the T-pier and let it go. Then the weather got worse....had to sit in the car with the heat on in order to defrost for the PSA meeting later that evening.
Gotta love May in Merlin!
Great race and party! Nature served up a solid S-SEE 15-20 all afternoon. I love these kinds of events because the competition is real but may be a smidge less aggressive and fraught. Protests are discouraged. RC sent us on a nice course and that included a close encouter with an acnhored bulk ore carrier. It was also nice to hear more about the Foundation at the party, and the folks at Oliver offered a tasty keg. Blasted home with just the main up, reaching mostly above 7.5 kn boatspeed wise. Perfect day!
Very strong southerly building all day ahead of a front going through that evening around 9 pm.
Did a little work on RAINBOW and also experienced a row-boat treadmill. Photos don't do it justice, but I found the limit of being able to row the dinghy into a hefty headwind. Behind the trees and undergrowth at the far end of the point, it was blowing 6-8 kn.. Ten yards east of there, it was blowing 20-25. I figured I'd push off and row out into the fray. I got out into the max velocity lane and hey, forgeddaboutit. Gave it a good two minutes at level 9 of the ten point effort scale and could make no headway. Zilch.
After that, headed across the street to race on Inc. Forecast was 15-20 gusting 30. It was reasonable motoring out to the RC boat, in the predicted range, sort of. Then it just built and kept building. By the time we started (late due to some CFs) it had settled in to 25-30 gusting 35+. That's a lot and without a second reef point in the Main and no #4 jib, we bailed about 2/3rds of the way to the first mark, after the Ano recorded a gust of 38 kn. By that point, a good number of the fleet had also bailed.
Fun night! Got drenched because I took my sailing gear bag out of the car and left it home. Stupid!!! Note to self: wearing cotton on heavy air nights is not smart....
I wanted to do some work in the V-berth but just as I had the multimeter in hand I looked forward and noticed this web across the main bulkheads and paused. This spider worked its butt off to make this work of art. There are still a lot of flying insects below deak. So is it really necessary to destroy it just to take a few voltage readings far forward? I opted to save it for later.
Inc had just splashed in the morning and there was a ton of running rigging to install. Got it all done by 4:30 or so and went out for our first race in 2026. Lovely night and I think we did OK (results not up yet). Considering this was the first time out and just within an hour or two of installing an array of systems, we made few mistakes and everything seemed to work OK.