Posts from the ‘Mischief Managed’ Category

Hobbit land 2012

Two boats sailed from Back Creek in Annapolis (Eastport) for a small adventure on the Chesapeake Bay. Strider, skippered by Roger Long of Maine was joined by Valinor, skippered by Jim Mosher of Maryland. Those who are J.R.R.Tolein fans will recognize the connections.  Strider was king of humankind who inherited he world after the last great middle earth battle. The elves, Gandolf the wizard and the Hobbit heros (Bilbo and Frodo) sailed off to Valinor, the undying land having vanquish evil.

Strider

Hardly an epic sailing adventure we’re about, but good company and great time on the water. The first leg took the duo to Baby Owl Cove off Broad Creek near Tilghman Island and St Michaels. It was an ideal sail down Bay with 8-15kts of favorable wind that provide some great sailing before dying just short of Tilghman.

We ducked through Knapp’s Narrows under the lift bridge and motored the final leg up to the first anchorage at Baby Owl. The cove is a well-protected, and often used spot to meet-up with sailing friends or protection from bad weather.  It is mostly undeveloped shore line surrounded by forest. We found calm waters and only one other boat, a power yacht, at anchor. Tidied up the boats and enjoyed a sunny and pleasant afternoon and evening. Dinner from the grill (tasty flank steak) and a good wine topped off the first day. Were even treated by Bald Eagles in search of dinner – looked like mom and this year’s kid.

A lovely evening at anchor

The Tolkien characters would have approved J

The start of day 2 brought the arrival of the predicted winds. About 0130 the first gust hit, and for the next several hours periods of relative calm were broken by 20-30kt gusts. This is being written at 0300 as I maintain my ‘anchor watch’ having let out additional scope an hour ago.

The night sky is clear. With almost no ground lights to interfere, all the Fall constellations are bright against that background!  Orion is just outside my port side window. As long as I can see him framed in that opening, I’m reassured the anchor isn’t dragging. Forecasts call for strong and gusting winds the next day as well which will slow our southerly progress.

Sunday morning arrived with a clear blue sky, ‘V’s of honking geese moving out to feeding grounds. Heard them moving around overnight, likely because of the winds that kept me checking the anchor. After breakfast – steak, eggs and OJ – cleaned up, put on Nora Jones and had a cup of tea

SW winds were still strong and we decided to take full advantage and relocate to Cambridge where it’s more protected, and Roger wanted to see the museum.

Had a great sail on a reach most all the way, and anchored just off the yacht club.   ….   Check back for more of the adventure……

Boat Show fun!

The annual Annapolis sailboat show is always a treat. It’s great to visit all the vendors to see the latest gear, and bump into folks you know from the water, but don’t often see ashore. It’s a great chance to ask your boat manufacturer tech folks questions about issues – easier to do in person than on-line or phone. And, the food is always a treat!

I had the chance this year to work for Passport Yachts – my personal favorite boat for when the lottery check arrives…… you can browse their website for great info and pix at www.wagnerstevens.com .

Passport 470 center cockpit

A side benefit was no time to shop, so spent a lot less this year!

Chasing the wind

It was a fun weekend with 22 SOS boats rafted in Whitehall Creek – just a short run from home port in Annapolis.

Circle raft coming together

The original destination was expected to be crowded with several dozen boats from other clubs, so we chose to go closer to home. Winds were forecast to be light, and it looked like we would motor the few miles there and back.  The pleasant surprize was 8-14kts WSW providing an opportunity to enjoy the sunny day and sail much of the way. 

On the down side, shifting winds from being near shore made for frequent adjustments as the track in the picture (below) suggests 🙂  Coming home on Sunday, we simply sailed to the wind and worked our way westward to Back Creek. The crew got lots of tacking experience – and exercise!

SPOT track of the weekend sail

It was a really pretty day, and no one minded waiting in line (sort of) to come in and join the raft…….

Waiting to join the raft

ICW fishing

A timely reminder from the folks at ‘Take me Fishing” as boaters prepare for going south down the ICW. There’s some fine fishing to be had along the way —

The Intracoastal Waterways – An angler’s paradise

“Whether you’re a newcomer to saltwater fishing or a seasoned pro, the ICW offers some of the most accessible and enjoyable light tackle action in the country.

The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is comprised of various bays, inlets, saltwater rivers and other manmade water canals that offer boat passage and protection from the open sea. There are three separate ICW regions: the Gulf of Mexico ICW stretches from south Texas to the panhandle of Florida, the Florida Gulf Coast ICW connects Tarpon Springs to Ft. Myers, and the Atlantic ICW reaches from the Florida Keys all the way to Virginia.

ICW waters are typically calmer, and readily accessible to smaller recreational fishing boats. They’re also home to prolific schools of baitfish, as well as larger sport fish that migrate, feed, and breed there. Indeed, the ICW is the ultimate “inshore” fishery in America.”

…………… for the full story go here http://www.takemefishing.org/community/anglers-legacy/anglers-legacy-enews-quarterly/2010_archive/september-2010/intracoastal-waterways

Good news for crab lovers!

Fed figures show Md. led nation in 2011 crab catch

Posted: 5:41 pm Wed, September 19, 2012
By Associated Press

Maryland’s crab harvest last year led the nation. That’s according to figures released Wednesday by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Nearly 200 million pounds of blue crabs were landed nationwide last year, with Maryland accounting for more than 25 percent of the harvest. Louisiana was second with 22 percent and Virginia third at 19 percent

I’ll take the average!

Wildly divergent forecasts for Saturday weather led to an extended email exchange and finally a decision to relocate the destination for the weekend SOS raft and a shorter sail. What we got was north winds 15-20kts with gusts into the upper 20s and 2-3ft waves on Saturday. That made for a great, sometimes exciting, sail down past Thomas Point and up Eastern Bay into the Wye River. The normal 4-6kt boat speed became 6-8kts motor-sailing with only the head sail flying, and bucking frequent steep chop. A good indicator of conditions was encountered as we passed Thomas Point. An ongoing race to Oxford was in progress with lots of colorful spinnakers flying. We witnessed one boat broach, put the rail under water as well as the spinnaker  – not once, but twice before they got control and sail down. I’m sure that story will get re-told many times!

On Sunday, the return trip was motoring all the way in less than 5kts of breeze – thus the title. An average of the two days would have been about perfect!

Saturday evening was the typical SOS circle raft with 15 boats, and a good time visiting around the circle with each boat crew. Good company and a chance to hear about that day’s and other adventures.

Just part of the 15 boat circle raft

Once again, we got a beautiful sunrise with mild temps and a light breeze….

Sunday sunrise

We created a parade of boats as we sailed/motored back down the Wye River…

 …. and around the light house point.

We also got an up close look at a freighter at anchor that happened to be on our course home. The fishing boat that was taking advantage of the temporary ‘reef’ provides a sense of scale.

I think they’ll have a tough time landing this one!

Labor Day cruise – part II

After a great cruise south of the Bay bridge (see ‘Less Labor – more fun!’) and a re-supply stop at my home slip in Back Creek, it was off to catch up with the ‘Northern’ group.  In brief, I anchored Wednesday night at Bodkin Creek, then sailed across the Bay to Fairlee Creek to meet up with the other CCYC boats – Mugwhump II and Resolve  – Thursday night, then back to Bodkin on Friday to be joined by Scarlett and Riannon; weathered a storm Saturday evening then sailed home on Sunday.

Wednesday brought a steady 8-11kt south wind making for a nice downwind sail of about 13nm to Bodkin Creek. It was a short run to the north side of the Bay Bridge ..

Bay Bridge looking south

.. a close look at Sandy Point light

Sandy Point Light

..and not quite so close to the Baltimore Light

Baltimore Light

Navigation markers offer benefits other than their intended purpose. Birds (Cormorants in this case) welcome the resting perches and provide wildlife interest …..

After a pleasant night in Bodkin Creek and a great sail across to Fairlee Creek, I arrived ahead of the other boats and waited at anchor to raft up later.

My early arrival provided the fun of watching as the others navigated the VERY narrow and shallow entrance.

Resolve slipping in behind the trees..

This was my first trip into Fairlee.  Mike (Resolve) had offered his best advice on entering the creek – ‘just don’t go aground.  I’m sure it was offered in jest. In any event, justice was served as I watched him put Resolve on the ground coming around the point.   After a bit of maneuvering he managed to motor free.

Snick the boat cat surveys the world from her perch on the bimini.

Boat cat…

We enjoyed a quiet evening, a great dinner and good company aboard Resolve.  Friday morning arrived clear and with a brisk SW wind – unfortunately just the direction we were headed. That made for a motor trip, against wind and tide, across the Susquehanna flats sprinkled with crab pots. Now, I do love crabs!  However, sailing through the aray of pots in 2-4 ft waves with limited visibility is NOT a fun trip. The crossing back to Bodkin Creek was a challenge. Up to 4ft waves and 8-14kt head winds made for a long trip, and a very welcome arrival back in Bodkin at Jubb Cove where the others were already anchored. Their longer and heavier 42’ boats managed the conditions more easily than my 30ft. 

The Saturday morning forecast promised the arrival of severe weather later in the day and overnight. We watched the radar carefully, and the marine weather alerts suggested prudence. We chose to stay in the protected anchorage and break up the raft to anchor separately. The storm arrived on schedule and lived up to all the warnings.  Winds blew at 20-35kts, and torrential rains fell for the better part of two hours.

It eventually passed and left behind a very pleasant condititions.

I made an early departure Sunday morning after struggling to retrieve the anchor that the storm helped set firmly.  With 10-15kt winds from the north, it was another great downwind sail home.

I watched with interest the wise choice another sailboat made to change course and allow the tanker first passage under the bridge.

A simple right of way matter

From the bridge to home slip is less than an hour, and my slip neighbor Ron was at hand to help with lines as I pulled in. Two hours of clean up, reorganizing and arranging for pumping out the holding tanks  brought to an end a great 10 days on the water that provided a lot of great sailing as well as new experiences with storms and anchorage entrances!

Less labor – more fun….

Part I …

Labor Day always seems miss-named.  After all, it’s an occasion to take a break and spend some time doing things we enjoy – away from the routines of work. Such was the promise of my yacht club’s ‘No Labor Day’ cruise.  This weekend is a traditional time for many sailing clubs to take 3-day or longer cruises.  Both of my clubs, Singles on Sailboats and Chesapeake Catalina Yacht Club planned such cruises. I chose to take the longer of the two and headed off with CCYC and 8 to 14 other boats depending on the day.

The float plan began at an anchorage in the Rhode River near Camp Letts – a spot I visited just two weeks ago. From there we sail to San Domingo Creek (back door to St Michaels), then Baby Owl Cove and Knapp’s Narrows Marina on Monday the 3^rd.  Other CCYC boats are cruising the northern part of the Bay, and I plan to connect with them mid-cruise and head home Sunday the 8^th.

Friday noon – arrived at Rhode River anchorage after a great sail down. Made record time under sail to Thomas Point. Had 6-10kts of wind just astern on starboard side, and a favorable tide flowing. The tide added up to 1kt of speed over the ground giving a steady 5.5 – 6.5kts all the way.  Turning into the Rhode put tide and wind on the nose, so motored up the river and set an anchor to wait for the other CCYC boats.

Always admire this duck blind as you turn up the creek.

By late afternoon 5 other boats had arrived for good company.

Went bed with the full (Blue) moon  …

….woke up with the geese

Once again the weather forecasters missed the mark. They got the wind direction (north) right, but the predicted 5-6kts turned out to be 10-15kts. A pleasant surprise and a fast sail down Bay and up the Choptank River!  It was close to a beam reach all the way. That and an outgoing tide made for 5 to 7kts boat speed – pretty good for this boat dragging a dingy J Played tag with a tug and tow crossing the main channel, but not a close call.

The anchorage at San Domingo is nicely sheltered and was not crowded despite the holiday weekend. Our now 9 boats rafted in small pods, enjoyed a swim and gathered together on one of the rafts for an excellent meal prepared by one of the couples.

..called to dinner to the sound of the conch shell..

Learned a lesson about verifying destination before setting out.  With overcast and storm threatening it was especially dark. Having left anchor light on and a small stern light, I thought finding Valinor in the dark would be no problem – wrong. After circling a bit and approaching the wrong boat, I headed back to the raft to get a flood light and re-start. With a bit of re-orienting – a wind shift had changed all the boat positions – got back on board. Radar was showing an approaching storm, and it arrived about 11pm with prolific lightening and intermittent heavy rain. Fortunately the worst went south of us and there were no strong winds to challenge anchors. By 1am all was quiet and time to go back to sleep.

Waking up on the Bay does not require an alarm clock. Every morning begins with ‘goose music’.  About 6:30 you can count on multiple, large flocks of geese honking their way to feeding grounds – a friendly, if noisy way to start the day J

Two nights in San Domingo Creek was a pleasant stay. It was group consensus to pass on Knapp’s Narrows’s marina. Weather was threatening and we were down to only three boats, so headed out early about 8:30. It was a fast broad reach down the Choptank River then downwind coming up the Bay until first the wind died, and then the squall blew through.

What looks calm in this picture quickly became  turbulent – sorry no pix, too busy!

Winds steady at 18-20 gusting to 25kts made for an exciting ride. As the waves built to three feet from behind, it was clear a full main sail was too much. At first lull in the wind I made a quick 180 turn into the wind and dropped the sail. Clearly the better option would have been to fly the headsail which can be easily furled – next time.

Made it back to home slip without major incidents, though I did have to wind through an ongoing race making every attempt to not interfere with any of the racers.  A pretty sight to see all the colorful spinnakers flying.

Now to decide if/where to sail for the rest of the week…………see Part II later

Lobster and meteors

A long weekend cruise found both!  

The weekend began with conflicting weather forecasts (big surprise J )with T’storms promised by NOAA. After some consideration of cancelling, I chose an early morning departure to catch a clear weather window for the 5hr sail from Annapolis to St Michaels and the Miles River Yacht Club. MRYC was the site of the annual Lobster Fest which included whole Maine lobster, clams, mussels, fresh corn on the cob, mashed potato and assorted deserts – read “stuffed”!  About 36 Catalina Club members sailed or drove in.  I counted at least 10 club boats making for a fun happy hour and dinner.

Saturday evening brought a moderate squall that blew up white caps and gave a bit of concern to those of us at anchor, but no boats dragged and the squall blew though quickly leave a very nice evening in its wake.  The creek at MRYC makes a lovely anchorage, and it wasn’t crowded. However one late arrival managed to drop his hook in the space between Valinor and my nearest neighbor. As the wind shifted and we swung around, the distance between boats was on the short side for my taste.

Sunday morning brought mixed sun and clouds,  and very light north wind. Rather than motoring home, I motored around the corner to see the Chesapeake Maritime Museum at St Michaels. The annual Waterman Appreciation Days were in progress.

Chesapeake Maritime Museum

Anchorages were crowded so I chose to sail (some) across the Bay to the Rhode River near the YMCA Camp Lett. Camp Lett is a favorite anchorage and the location for an annual cruising club GAM (gathering of sailors).

On arrival early afternoon, I found the usual busy anchorage filled with recreational power boats with skis and assorted floats in tow, and the more noisy jet skis. A few sailboats were at anchor on the far north side.  I dropped the hook in a somewhat busy but open spot, got a quick swim and waited ……. As expected by about 4pm anchors started coming up and boats began to leave. With some luck, all the sailboats left and provided an ideal, empty spot in a quiet bay. So, I pulled my anchor, move to the nicer spot and re-set for the night. 

Sunday Afternoon boaters at play

Good timing for a pleasant ‘happy hour’ and subsequent fine dinner of grilled salmon and pasta in tomato sauce – and a fine chilled white wine !

A fine dinner in a great spot!

Just after sunset I was treated to something of a ritual at the Camp. A craft of some sort with black sails carrying young men with torches was towed just off shore of the Camp and finally into shore where they dis-embarked and waded ashore to cheers around a campfire – all reminiscent of my early days at summer camp in the Adirondacks.

Fortunately the sky was mostly clear now and my hopes to see something of the Persied meteor showers brightened. Enjoyed the settng and a pleasant evening.

Then settled down for the night in the cockpit, but drifted off too soon. Awoke at 4am and managed to see a couple meteors, but the peak of the showers was now past.

Given that the tide was on the way out and I came in through some very shallow water, I decided to head out and deferred breakfast till I got back to the slip – worth the wait for eggs, sausage and juice!  Then 2 hours of cleaning out the anchor locker, washing down the top side and putting the cabin back in order. Headed home about noon with a great three day sail to remember……..

Weather roulette

Always a roll of the dice when predicting weather on the Chesapeake Bay.  Yesterday’s forecast called for 5kts out of the North in the morning falling off to 2-3 in the afternoon. Well, they got the direction mostly right. It turned out to be one of the best sailing days of the season. What we got was a pretty steady 8-12kts all day. The Bay was filled with sails by the afternoon making for a beautiful day on the water! (click on the Spot link to see the rather convoluted path sailed).