Century Club: Eva Hill

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Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Dear Neighbor....

I am by nature a rule-follower.  Whether it's my guilt-ridden Catholic Midwestern upbringing, or the fact that I'm the oldest child, or just a glitch in the matrix.  Watching people get away with stuff, even if it doesn't effect me, makes my stress hormones surge.  And life rarely ever provides a comeuppance that I witness.

So this morning, when I saw someone effectively park me in with their big red kayak (mine is the white one directly above), my cortisol starting pumping.  Even when I pulled the kayak away, it was tied to the rack with long cables that were in my way.  Their chosen spot is NOT a parking spot.  I don't know whether it's there due to thoughtlessness, cluelessness or just plain Me-First-Ness, but I'm annoyed.  Karma seldom works this way, but I hope they find a snake in there.

Today was one of those tide against wind mornings, with sloppy water.  And of course it meant that whichever direction I chose, I was always against something.  Made it to Little Aberdeen Creek, but I'm cranky this morning.

Monday, June 17, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Blue Monday

Mondays are so hard, especially after a beautiful sailing weekend.  I force myself to get out to paddle, promising myself that I will be gentle.  It never ends up that way, but there is a great feeling of having done it.

Saturday, June 15, 2024 to Sunday, June 16, 2024
Number of days:
2 days
Splish Splash

I had a simple goat for this weekend.  Swimming!  And I managed 2 solid hours of it.

We'd make the 12:30 bridge and enjoyed a nice beam reach/run from Spa Creek to the Rhode River.  We rafted up with Whisper, who had the same weekend goal.

Drank too much, stayed up too late, ate tuna tartare.  This is summer at its best.

Motored home today in sparse wind, and made it back for the 11:30 bridge.  Home for lunch.

Friday, June 14, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Why Wind?

I was having a nice little paddle, and in the homestretch, the wind came up.  Against me, of course.  I'm not good at estimating the speed, but it was enough that when I stopped padding, it pushed me backward.  I prefer to do the hard stuff first -- that's one of the cardinal rules of beach-walking: go against the wind first.  Oh well.

Thursday, June 13, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Landscaping Day

Seems like all of the neighbors in the area conspired to have their landscapers come on Thursdays.  The noise of lawn mowers and leaf blowers, in symphony, is enough to make me crazy.  I can get away from some of it on the water, but those waterfront properties seem to have the same landscaping teams.  Ugh.

Crab Creek out to the South River an Shadow Point this morning.  Humidity returns.

Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Crisp

It's approaching the middle of June, and yet the nights and mornings are still cool and crisp.  I know it won't last, so I'll enjoy every minute of it, with open-window sleeping and early mornings on the water.

Monday, June 10, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Trigger Finger

I have a very tempermental index finger on my right hand.  Most of the time it's fine.  But sometimes, flaking the mainsail or looking at it funny will cause it to go out of joint.  Which is what it did this morning after I'd gotten ready for my morning paddle.  Since I'd already dragged myself out of bed and gotten dressed, I decided to chance it anyway, dislocated finger notwithstanding.

Turns out holding a paddle doesn't stress the joint, and in fact, it settled right back into position as I made my Crab Creek Crawl.  Spied one of the friendly creek turtles, but he didn't stick around for a photo shoot.  Don't know why I refer to the turtle as "him," but I suppose he gives off masculine energy.

Saturday, June 8, 2024 to Sunday, June 9, 2024
Number of days:
2 days
Wild and Windy Weekend

Whenever our schedule allows, we try to spend the weekend cruising the Bay.

This weekend, we planned to meet our friends Patrick and Emily and raft together for dinner in Eagle Cove (Gibson Island, Magothy River).  Anytime there is a W in the wind direction, docking and undocking are an adventure, and today was no exception.  Thanks to the magic of a spring line, we made it out unscathed.  We had plenty of breeze sailing from Spa Creek to Eagle Cove, clocking 7+ knots until the current slowed us.  

Once anchored in Eagle Cove, the anchoring Olympics were on.  One boat dragged halfway across the anchorage, but denied it ever happened.  Later, a fellow AYC member anchored almost right on top of us.  We went about our afternoon -- swimming, drinking, and dining -- but when sunset was close, we moved away from them.  Far away.  And it was wise to do so, because their raft dragged in the morning and would have taken us out.

The sail back was even more boisterous, with speed readings over 9 kts (current aided).  Our docking system helped us look semi-competent returning back to the marina, but a little help is always welcome.

Friday, June 7, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
The Difference A Day Can Make

Yesterday's gunk in our little cul de sac of Crab Creek made the bottom of my 'yak as dirty as I've ever seen it.  That's why I always bring a towel -- to clean her up as well as I can (except for the grafitti from last year which lingers).  Today, I barely needed to wipe her down, except to get off the gunk that I missed yesterday.

The stroms yesterday cleared the air and the water, but brought a bit of breeze.  Went to Church Creek today.

Friday, June 7, 2024
Number of days:
0 days
Happy Hour

Summer nights with a nice breeze and not too much humidity are rare, so we took advantage and took Heron out for happyt hour cruise.  Out the South River, in and around Hillsmere, and then anchored in Harness Creek. Still working out docking, especially when it's windy.

 

[Edited to reflect that this was the second "day" counted on the second calendar day]

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