Surfing home with Susan at the helm
So, here was the plan. With the boat owner unable to race, I would skipper ‘Starbird’ in the AYC Frostbite Series with her usual crew. But then the Mainsail trimmer pulled out, and the pit person twisted his ankle and decided to bail as well. While just us three remaining crew probably could have gotten Starbird around the course, that did not seem prudent in the predicted gusty conditions.
So the new plan was to just go day sailing on Synergy. That plan turned out to work well. We had hoped to sail down into Annapolis Harbor and watch the races. We watched a few of the starts, but by that time we were seeing winds in the high teens and low-20 knot range. We quickly got out of the starting area and ducked further into the harbor to get a lee to lighten the load as I tied in a reef in the mainsail.
With the sail plan snugged down and the helm now neutral, we began a fast beat back out across the Bay. We threw in a tack as we approached the shipping channel, then cracked off slightly for a fast close reach into the increasingly heavier winds, now solidly in the low 20 knot range and still gusting. We were still easily slicing through the square waves that built up as we neared Thomas Point Light but it was time to head home.
Wearing around near Thomas Point, we headed back towards Whithall Bay on a scorching broad reach. It was great conditions for surfing. With Susan on the helm, we hit 10.5 knots (GPS with roughly ¾ knots of current) in one of the bigger waves and gusts.
Back at the dock, it was noted that we had returned with all of the fingers and toes that we had left with and that a good time was had by all.