Dreams Do Come True

Thursday night (2-17) we finished getting the boat ready for sailing.  I got home from work at 1900 and when I stepped through the companionway I found that Cheri had already done 90% of the work.  All that was left to do was install the footman loops and 1" webbing straps for the two flatscreens (home theater and computer) and 2" straps and loops for the ottoman.  Job done.

Friday morning we got off to a late start due to sleeping in late, goofing off, drinking coffee and waiting for the morning air to warm up a bit.  Unfortunately we were on a timeline here because of a commitment to be at our dancing lesson at 1900.  The plan was to be back in our slip by 1600 so we'd have plenty of time to get dressed, go out to dinner and still have time for an hour drive to our destination.  Good plan.

We headed out at 1100, following one other boat out past the breakwater.  We motored down to R2 in Herring Bay because the wind was right on our nose, coming out of the SSW at about 15 knots.  We raised the sails as we rounded the marker, shut off the engine and enjoyed the silence.  Cheri was at the wheel while I played with the sails, very pleasant start to our day.  The outside temperature was 60 degrees (F) but with our brand new cool-man cockpit enclosure we were toasty enough that I was wearing just jeans and a T-shirt and seriously considering taking off my shoes.  I'm talking about total success here with the enclosure.  Throughout the day it kept us comfortable, even in the afternoon when things got a little nasty.

Here's a link to a chart of where we went (Earth NC).  It might help to see where some of the markers are.

After passing G1 we entered the Chesapeake Bay on course 120 degrees magnetic and headed for the mouth of the Choptank River.  Visibility was restricted because of a heavy haze and we couldn't see the Eastern shore at all and had difficulty picking up distant markers.  We held to our compass heading, adding about 5 degrees to compensate for current, and came up dead on at each marker.  The wind picked up a bit once we were out in the Bay, increasing to 20 knots steady and gusting to 25.  As we approached R82 about half way across we were really moving, averaging over 9 knots with a top speed of 10.3 knots.  With the wind off our starboard side we were heeled over about 10 degrees and makin' like a bakery truck - haulin' buns.  Nice!  When we broke through 10 knots (check it out) Cheri made up some Bloody Marys to celebrate our first sail of the year.  Mmm, mmm, mmmmm.  This is, indeed, the sweet life.

The wind died down to about 15 knots as we entered the Choptank.  We picked up G7 just below Tilghman Island at 1300 and decided we had better head back home to get in by 1600.  I'll tell ya, it was pretty tempting to just keep on going and blow off our plans for the evening but we're all growed up and responsible so we came about and headed home on course 330 degrees magnetic.

The haze burned off and the sky turned from grey to a brilliant dark blue but the going was slow, about 6 knots in a 14 knot breeze.  Around 1500 we were halfway across the Bay and I knew we weren't gonna make it back by 1600.  So much for being responsible, huh?  The surface of the water was pretty glassy and the breeze was variable.  Looking off to the West I could see the water was textured and darker due to some wind so we came about to 220 degrees magnetic to try to pick it up.  As we sailed into this fresh breeze it quickly increased to 35 knots.  We were sailing close hauled and heeling over about 20 degrees but we were really moving now.  After passing a tug/barge coming up the Bay we came about and headed North.  We reduced sail by furling the genoa and proceeded under full Main and Staysail averaging 8.5 knots.

As we sailed past Chesapeake Beach the winds were gusting over 40 knots, blowing out of Herring Bay.  We decided to sail further North to GC 83A before turning into the Bay as this would give us a good angle for our next tack.  The plan was to make one tack and sail in towards Herrington Harbor South.  Of course with the wind blowing off the shore at a steady 35 to 40 knots we got pushed back out into the Chesapeake on our first tack and had to come about again and head North once more.  We did this two more times before finally getting in as far as HHS (aka Rose Haven Harbor) at G 1A where we dropped the sails and motored in the rest of the way to HHN.

I'd like to point out here that we were sailing hard, heeled over at 15 to 20 degrees and making about 8 to 8.5 knots throughout all this.  Cheri and Bella were taking a nap in the cockpit through most of it.  We tacked a number of times in rough conditions and it was all completely effortless.  This is because we were sailing without the Genoa, just the Main and Staysail.  Our Staysail is attached to a Hoyt self tending boom (more info here) so there's no line handling required once the sail is set.  Coming about is just a matter of turning the wheel, pretty much like driving a car.  Well, except that the car is leaning over and crashing through the waves.  I'd also like to note here that our cockpit enclosure kept us very cozy throughout all of this.  Excellent!

So, as we motored back to HHN Cheri went down below and made some homemade chicken vegetable soup because we weren't gonna have time to go out to dinner.  It was 1700 as we backed into our slip with 30 knot winds blowing across our port side.  Took us a while to get in but we handled it pretty well, if I do say so myself.  I stayed at the helm, goosed the engine in forward and reverse, bumped the bow-thruster side to side and spun the wheel like a madman while Cheri handled the lines.  It actually looked like we knew what we were doing!

We made it to our dance lesson with two minutes to spare.