Reaching out into the Bay 2-3-2024
Picture taken from the J-120 Chaotic Flux
Friday afternoon I checked the weather for the weekend. Saturday looked like a good sailing day, sunny, a balmy 45 degrees and 5-10 knots of wind gusting to 15. A perfect winter sailing day.
I was totally bummed out because I was committed to representing the Chesapeake Shorthanded Sailing Society (CHESSS) on Saturday at the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association (CBYRA) coordination meeting.
Then late in the day Friday, I got an email saying that the Coordination Meeting had been canceled. Wooooo Hoooo!
Saturday morning, whiel doing the slow breakfast and hanging with my long suffering wife, we started talking about what we each would do that day, so I checked the weather. Thomas Point was showing 37 degrees with 15 knot winds gusting into the low 20’s. The usual suspect weather sources showed a high around 41, partially cloudy, and plenty of wind.
So I began going through the mental exercise of how many layers, and whether I expected to reef. In warmer weather I would not reef in that wind range, but with cold dense air, I might need to.
Then it sunk in....40 degrees and 20 knot gusts. I thought, "What the heck is wrong with me? Who in their proper mind would think that was an acceptable sailing weather. "
I decided that maybe I would bail out of going sailing. After all, I figured that Sunday I am scheduled to go frostbite racing. That should provide my sailing fix! So I checked Sunday's weather. 44 degrees and gusts to 2 knots. Nuts! Probably no race....
With that I started donning 4 layers on top, 3 layers on the bottom, warm socks and liners, making sure I had my winter sailing gloves, and liners and a wool watch cap in my bag, and trudged down to the dock to rig the boat. By then the wind had laid down a little, probably 10-12 knots with gusts to 15. Air temperatures were up around a scorching 40, and not a cloud in the sky...Not too bad for a winter sail.
As soon as I got under sail, I knew that going out was the right call. I was dressed comfortably for the conditions and it was a glorious sailing day.