Mona SOBO 2016

[CharlieJ]

Raylay- the fishing pier next to the marina logged 40  kt gusts yesterday morning with steady winds of 25. Then by afternoon was a 5 kt breeze.

Oh, and it's 80 degrees. Soon to change :)

[ralay]

Frank, I think I'm a little spoiled as a full time liveaboard.  I'm so used to being on the boat everyday and keeping watch over it that I have a bit of a hard time leaving it to its own devices.  It would probably be just fine, especially in some Chesapeake gunkhole.  But the winter weekly rates were low enough, I paid a babysitter for peace of mind. 

It also made it easy for lots of relatives to come and see the boat.  We had my mom, 90-year-old Grandma, Dad, Stepmom, pregnant sister, brother-in-law, 2 brothers, and uncle on the boat on three different days.  That's a lot of rowing in an 8 ft dinghy and I doubt my Grandma or sister would have been very good at climbing in and out of the dink these days.  So marinas have their purposes.

While we were eating ice cream and doing puzzles at Grandma's, some super lucky sailboater got rescued out of the Bay by some powerboaters who just happened to see him in the water near his capsized (14') boat. 

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2016/11/21/watch-man-rescued-after-boat-capsizes-near-south-river/

It's crazy to hear people in the articles talking about how the weather came from nowhere.  It seems easy to get caught by a summer thunderstorm, but the cold front was well forecast.  We knew the day before when it was 70 and beautiful that it was going to go to poop.  I guess folks expect the weather to deteriorate gradually rather than all at once?  Or they don't look at the weather?  Either way, good on that fella for having his lifejacket on and good on those powerboaters for keeping a sharp lookout.  The water at Thomas Pt Light is 50 degrees right now.  Brrrrrr.

[ralay]

I find the 5kts harder to believe the the 40kts, CJ.  Too bad you can't bottle that Port Lavaca wind and export it.

[Frank]

Relay:
"Frank, I think I'm a little spoiled as a full time liveaboard.  I'm so used to being on the boat everyday and keeping watch over it that I have a bit of a hard time leaving it to its own devices. "

That's why I said "your home" not "boat" 😄

I'm not "live aboard".....but 7-8 mths/yr my boat IS "home"

glad things worked out well and really glad grandma got aboard!!
Special times!! Treasure them....

[SeaHusky]

I'm not "live aboard".....but 7-8 mths/yr my boat IS "home"

I think we have to redefine the term "live aboard".

[ralay]

We've had rough, slow going since Chesapeake City.  We needed to head W out of the Canal and then SW until the Bay opened up.  We tried to leave before a front brought strong westerlies.

It was a warm(ish) rainy day with south wind.  We needed to leave our slip in. Chesapeake City at high tide, so we backed out around 1100.  As soon as we were in the canal, being swept along in the 2kt current, a boat hailed us to tell us the Canal was closed due to fog.  The fog wasn't too bad where we were and we weren't thrilled about clawing our way back against the current as we had less than 5nm of canal left to go.  As soon as we got out of the canal, the visibility dropped to less than 1/4nm.  I know it was that bad because I could see all the cans great on the radar, whereas Woody (standing on the bowsprit with the air horn) couldn't see them until they were really close.  Even then, only their tips stuck out above the blanket on the water.  The radar returns were pretty great over nice still water, but you never know who else might be zipping around out there blind.  We anchored as we had enough water outside the channel and watched the world disappear.  Pretty soon we couldn't see anything farther away than the dinghy.  The front showed up in the middle of the night in a series of little squalls.  We woke up for each one and kept a watch to make sure we wouldn't drag towards the ship channel.  We never budged.  It's so nice to be back in the land of shallow water and thick mud.

The front blew all the warm air and fog away by the next morning.  The next two days we had winds W15-20 G25 and went out with a single reef in the main, staysail, and Yankee.  We couldn't quite make our course the first day and actually did some tacking rather than turning in.  We made it into Still Pond after about 4h and eagerly tossed out the hook.  The next day we were able to fall off a bit and flew down to Rock Hall beating and bashing.  We were smashing hard up to the tiny entrance to Rock Hall Harbor when we heard "Sailboat approaching Rock Hall!" on the VHF.  I went scrambling for the radio thinking they were going to tell uz something grave about our navigational situation.  Instead, they just wanted to tell us how awesome we looked.  Woody thinks it was some marina trying to suck up, but either way, it's a lot better than "I just wanted to tell you there's a big oyster reef in front of you!"

Rock Hall had a very empty free dock and and we were able to walk to town to get treats at the grocery store. 

This morning, we had a forecast of NW 15 G25.  I don't know where those 15kts were, cause I never saw em.  We went out with just the staysail and a double reefed main.  The waves were a lot bigger, especially where they could run all the way down the Patapsco before hitting us.  Pretty much every wave had a white cap and the very tips of the white caps were leaping off.  It sure looked angry and sounded angry, but really, the boat was happy with its little sails.  I had to take some deep breaths to be able to assert that, but it was true. We plowed along to windward at at least 5kts and the boat was very well balanced and easy to steer.  I shut all the sink drains, but we spent most of our time heeled 15 degrees.  As long as one was sure to duck when one heard the characteristic sound of a bucket of water becoming airborne, maybe it could be considered fun?  When I used to get frightened by the wind offshore, I'd put in earplugs and raise my hood.  I'm a much more objective judge of conditions if I can't hear the loud howling.  Same goes for the diesel engine.  Everything seems calmer the second it's turned off. 

Woody made the good point that he'd rather have the kind of steady high pressure winds we got today vs the unpredictable sort.  It's a lot more nerve wracking to be putting up a spinnaker and then clawing it down when you see waterspouts than it is to just put up your tiny sails and bash steadily along.  That's one of the things I like about our off-season sailing.  Most of the times I've been most frightened have been in Florida and the Gulf during the summer, when it might go from dead calm to 50kts as some thunderstorm overtakes you at 0200.  The cold weather is obviously a risk factor, but isn't so bad for short days in full foulies.  We switch off and make tea before anyone's hands go stupid.  At night, the heater is so warm we can sit in our underwear.  Wouldn't want to be going round the clock offshore,  but it's not bad for daysailing. 

Also, every time I think we're badass, I see someone out in a much less substantial craft.  Annapolis attracts extreme types, I suppose because I saw 3 sailing dinghies going out and one maniac kiteboarder waaaay over on the eastern shore.  We're not impressing anyone over here.

Spa Creek is just as cramped as we remembered, but at least it's calm.  The next several days are supposed to be relatively windless, so we'll be here hanging out with Woody's grandparents and hopefully some sailfar'ers.  Anyone in the area, feel free to get in touch. 

[CharlieJ]

I stole Raylay's pic of Mona bashing to weather, because it's just super

[jotruk]

great pic

[Norman]

Shirley and I had lunch with Rachel and Woody in Annapolis today, and had a most delightful visit.

A trip to Annapolis is never complete without a stop at Bacon Sails, and that was the first stop after picking them up at the dinghy dock, and after much browsing the immense array of goodies, they bought a few needed items for Mona, and I bought two books.  The selection of books is not large, and most are on how to do some part of sailing, maintenance, or preparing to cruise.  I picked out sailing stories, nonfiction, the sort that our library never has.

Our visit proved timely, as the propane tank went empty as they cooked supper last night, so a visit to refill that was part of the day.

Shirley passed on a trip out to Mona, and waited in the car, warmed by the sunshine, and took a look at one of my new books (she had a book of her own to read, but tried mine).  It hooked her, and she is now reading it at home.

Mona is very pretty on the outside as we rowed up, and shows the care that they have given her.

I was pleasantly impressed with the stability of their dinghy with a propane cylinder, myself, James, and Rachel on board, as James rowed us out to Mona.  James went first, I handed up the propane and then climbed carefully on deck.  Rachel waited patiently with her box of leftovers from lunch, then demonstrated the advantage of youth and quickly came on board.  I was jealous!

The first thing that caught my attention was the beautiful and strong laminated tiller that James had built to replace the old one that broke.  Down below, Rachel started the tour, which included the electric distribution box which she built from scratch at Charlie Jones shop.  It is hinged for easy access, and it pleased even this critical eye, inspecting electrical equipment was my career, and I have seen factory wiring that was not as well done.

Their Westsail is certainly well equipped and arranged for the type of sailing and livaboard life that they are enjoying, excellent galley, cabin heater, and water system for at anchor, and just a very small cockpit, so the space is down below for living.

I am anticipating their stories in the months ahead, remembering when I was young enough to tackle the challenges that go with living on a boat, and enjoying the unique advantages that go with it.

Thanks for having me as a guest!

Norman

[CharlieJ]

Great couple huh?  Two of my favs. See why I'm envious?

[ralay]

It was good to meet you and Shirley.  Thanks again for lunch and the rides.  We'll keep and eye out for Kruse'n on future trips past the Potomac.

[lance on cloud nine]

that is a great pic! thanks for posting!

[ralay]

Couple of little video clips to go with that pic.  It was a wet week. 

Password = Mona

https://vimeo.com/194542258
https://vimeo.com/194540628

[Frank]

👍 👍

[jotruk]

Great videos looked like it was cold that day

[Bubba the Pirate]

Thanks. Does my heart good. Can't wait to get my W32 out there again.

[ralay]

It has been in the 50's most days, though we have a good number of days in the 40's coming up.  I think we're just going to sail over the the Eastern Shore and spend the winter on the Choptank.  A free slip was offered and who are we to argue with free? 

[Frank]

Keep S !!

Love to see both of you over here!!

77 today...

[ralay]

Well, if we go up to Maine next summer we'll have run out of US states to visit on the Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico.  I guess that means it'll be time to go to some other countries.  Maybe you'll see us next winter. 

[Godot]

Are you still in Annapolis? I haven't had much chance to breath the past several weeks; but I'm planning on being in Annapolis for the SSCA lunch on Saturday. I'm trying to decide whether I'm going to sail up on Friday or drive on Saturday. Seeker is not heated at anchor and it's beginning to get rather chilly.