Coming home

Paperwork done – she’s mine now. Time to get her to home port at Bodkin Yacht Club. Dean, the buyer of my previous boat Valinor II, volunteered to help with the delivery. We picked a favorable south wind day with lots of sunshine.

I previously completed all the setup of dock lines in the new slip and arranged them to ease the arrival. The slip is outside facing the creek making for a simple entry.

The sail up the Bay from below the Bay bridge at Annapolis met with varied wind conditions. The course was mostly straight north.

The Departure from the West River all the way up to the Bay bridge met with steady south wind around 5kts, so a motor sail trip. With engine and some wind assist, we made about 6kts over ground even with a slight outgoing tide. (Note: the plan was for a motor sail regardless of wind to test out the engine)

North of the bridge the wind picked to 10-18kts. That provided a good chance to take her off the downwind course and try out a fun beam reach … and fun it was. She sailed well and solid with moderate heel.

At the entrance to Bodkin Creek, we dropped sails and headed in through a narrow entry channel seeing a bit less than 6ft depth for our 4.5ft draft. Once through the entrance, it was an easy run up the creek to the Club and her home slip.  A few members on hand helped with lines and she was secured quickly — time for a beverage – or two – to celebrate!