Neighbor friend Colt came along for a sail on a brisk 12 knot NW blue sky day. Sailed out past Hackett's Point G1. We tried heaving to and did a few man overboard drills with a cushion. Heaving to actually worked pretty well and I think that Colt could get me back onboard if I were to go over the side.
Century Club: John Zseleczky
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
With a light air day forecast and beautiful blue sky I decided to check my new magnetic compass deviation. Motored around in circles in Whitehall Bay, jotting down compass heading vs. GPS heading every ten degrees. Found the compass read high by about ten degrees all of the way around. Well, that's handy and got me out on the boat another day.
Monday, September 9, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
With contractors in and out of the house I went for a quick sail in the gorgeous fall weather, taking a few long tacks down to Annapolis "A" and back. Not much of an accomplishment but a nice break in the day.
Monday, September 2, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Labor Day! Took "Old Blue" out for a sail across the bay followed by anchoring in Whitehall near Meredith Creek for a scrub. It had been a while and the prop had about ten pea-size barnacles and there were a few barnacles on the strut and shaft. There was also a green beard of felt-like stuff below the waterline that I scrubbed off with a scruffy. I didn't bother scrubbing the whole boat, getting old and lazy I guess. I'll haul next spring for a bottom job.
Friday, August 16, 2024 to Saturday, August 24, 2024
Number of days:
9 days
Nantucket Trip
Two of my old school chums and I all turned 70 years old within a few months of each other. We decided to celebrate this milestone in life with a cruise up in New England. My college roomate Jerry owns a Nonsuch 30 which he moors in Old Saybrook CT. My bachelor-days, year long sailing buddy Tony lives in either Michigan or NY depending on the time of year.
We met on a Friday evening after 7 hours of driving for me and 4 for Tony. I hadn't appreciated that Jerry doesn't really cruise the boat, he uses it mostly for racing. In the midst of food shopping, filling tanks, stowing gear, strapping on the dinghy, etc we discovered that two of three nav lights weren't working. This sets the flavor of the cruise.
Anyway we got off the dock by 10 pm, wove through the tight mooring field and bashed into 15 knots up to Fisher's Island by 3am. Got some sleep and were underway by 9am.
This tale goes on and on but I'll cut it short and say that we made it to Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and Block Island, where we all had a history together. The chart shows our course. It was a manly sail with great old pals!
Saturday, August 10, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Another easy going daysail/lunch on Steve's boat around noon to 4pm.
Sunday, August 4, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
I get a kick out of this race, the chaos at the pursuit start, with the opportunity to go in either direction around the course. Rod M offered to come along with me on "Old Blue". We debated about the best way to tackle the course before the start and decided on the counter-clockwise route to suffer the least from the ebbing tide. Rod drove while I putzed with the spinnaker gear. We were looking great at times and terrible at times as the wind lightened and the heavy cruising sails drooped like auditorium curtains. It pains me to say that we were about the last boat to finish. Maybe next year.
Friday, July 26, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Took another easy solo sail down to "G1" off of West River and back for a loop around Annapolis harbor and back home.
Thursday, July 11, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Got an early start and took a pleasant solo sail down to West River and back to Whitehall Bay for a bottom scrub and new zinc. Back home by early afternoon.
Saturday, July 6, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Up at 5am to meet up with Jimbo on "Old Blue" by 6am. Had a nice sail out into the Bay toward Thomas Point and back to the dock before noon and the heat of the day.