Mona NOBO 2017

[ralay]

W00dy and I are heading north on the next southerly wind (probably Thursday).  We're heading to Baltimore to pick up a crewmember then heading to Philadelphia for several weeks.  End of May we'll start working our way up to Maine.  Any sailfar'ers along our path want to meet up and gam, let us know. 

[Norman]

Wishing you a SW to W wind for the Chesapeake and Delaware bays!

More southerly after you clear the Delaware, of course.

Did your new sail come in at Bacon?

Norman

[CharlieJ]

Wishing you the same as Norm did. Mostly hoping for a great trip for Mona and her crew

[ralay]

Yep.  It's very stiff and white and strange.  We cut and rigged new nettles and reefing pendants earlier this week so it's ready for action.  Hopefully there'll be some beating in our future so we can see if our performance has improved.

[ralay]

Had great sailing up the Bay.  We turned our motor off as we left Broad Creek in the Choptank and sailed all the way to the mouth of the Patapsco.  We'd considered stopping in Annapolis, but Annapolis is a little too crowded for us even when there isn't a spring boat how going on.  We sailed on by and anchored in Rock Creek.   

The next day was a magic day in which we sailed off the anchor and back onto the anchor in Baltimore, just off Canton.  There's free dinghy dock right next to the grocery store.  We spent 3 days there picking up Woody's cousin and exploring Baltimore.  On Monday we tacked down the river and out into the Bay.  We had  a small craft advisory, which is good Mona weather.  We sailed right up to the C&D Canal where all boats are required to motor.

We intended to take a "rest" day in Chesapeake City.  The wind is still blowing 25kts and 6 more boats packed into the tiny pond with us.  3 of the other boats had difficulty anchoring.  Two REALLY had trouble anchoring.  One swung right next to us and started to drag.  We used the electric windlass to zip all our chain in and flee.  The next boat was another Westsail 32 that came flying in into the anchor with a bone in its teeth and had to go hard in reverse to avoid plowing its bowsprit into our side.  It then "anchored" and promptly began dragging broadside through the anchorage.  A boat near us had to abandon their spot to avoid them and we had to abandon our spot a second time.  We loaned Woody to the other Westsail to help the skipper get things under control as he was a single hander on a new-to-him boat. 

We're all packed in like sardines now, but it seems like the excitement has died down.  It was another day that I really appreciated our electric windlass and remote.  Being able to raise and lower 100' of chain and a 50lb anchor in a couple minutes from the cockpit is REALLY​ helpful when the poop hits the fan. 

[CharlieJ]

Sounds great Ralay

[Frank]

You know the saying.....

"You're either watching the show or you ARE the show"

Seems you've certainly been watching the show lately 😄😄

Have fun!!!

[ralay]

Oh, we've definitely been the show before.  I don't like to watch anybody having a rough time.  I'm glad we had a dinghy in the water to be able to lend crew to short handed boats.

[Bubba the Pirate]

Good work!

      and fair winds sailing north.

[ralay]

Well, I ought to put my money where my mouth is and add some pics now that Capn K upped the size limit.  These are from the trip up to Baltimore. 

I sewed a snuffer for our spinnaker this winter, which we got to try out.  I'm not sure I'm satisfied with it.  It still takes a good bit of force to pull down and on one try, it jammed and the sail had to be lowered manually.  I used naugahyde over the hoop, because I figured the nylon would chafe through quickly.  That fabric is not as slick as the nylon or the molded fiberglass in commercial versions.  I may be able to improve it by changing the attachment of the lines as well.  The beauty of building something is that you have all the tools to fix/change it. 

We like spinnaker days because we can sail with our poor man's bimini.  It's just a colorful thrift store sheet with four constrictor knots at the corners.  Not waterproof, but it does a lovely job as a sunshade when tied over the boom.  Making a bimini is high on my list of sewing projects, but it'll take some extra doing to work around our boom gallows and mainsheet.

Lastly, we were terrorized by these ducks.  The pooped in the dinghy and kept Woody up all night with their flappy feet on the deck.  They don't even look guilty.

[ralay]

We were able to motor sail out of Chesapeake City and out into the Delaware.  After the first bend, we were able to shut down the motor and beat the other 30nm to windward up to Philly.  With 2 kt currents, 6 foot tides, and lots of shipping traffic and chemical plants, the Delaware isn't much like the Chesapeake.  With 25kts out of the NW, we still had a nice sail.  We sprung for a month at a marina so we can host and meet with all our Northeastern family.  We'll head to New England in the start of June.  All photo credits to our crew.

[CharlieJ]

I LOVE your expression in the one with J playing the music :)

[CapnK]

Agree with CJ, *that* is funny. :)

[ralay]

We were clowning for the picture.  W00dy's actually pretty good at playing the accordion.  I only make that face when he plays me out of bed in the morning with the Star Spangled Banner.

[CharlieJ]

We were clowning for the picture.  W00dy's actually pretty good at playing the accordion.  I only make that face when he plays me out of bed in the morning with the Star Spangled Banner.

:) I know  - remember the day we sailed Mona and Woody sat on the cabin top and serenaded us? Can't find the pic just now though :)

[Jim_ME]

Great photos! Kudos to crew and to you for posting them. :)

[ralay]

Woody and I are back underway after a whirlwind month in Philly.  Meet great people, visited lots of family and friends.  We stayed right in downtown Philly  near Market St.  It was a pretty laid back spot, surprisingly.  We didn't even bother to plug in.  We're 15 months without shore power and can't say we miss it much.  We were paying for the location as there really isn't anywhere to anchor in Philly - fast current, no protection, lots of container ships. 

We had such great sailing and little motoring on the way up that we're being stubborn on the way down too.  Yesterday we short tacked all of 10 miles from Pier 3 to Little Tinicum Island and anchored.  We wouldn't have made the next anchorage 25 nm away without the current switching on us. 

Today there's not a breath of wind so we're staying put.  The current is to strong to row against, so we had to time our trip out to the little island to the currents.  The "trails" had all been reclaimed by poison ivy and Japanese knotweed, so we didn't venture ashore.  At high tide, we were able to follow a water trail back into the interior where we met a snapping turtle and some big bald eagles. 

Best of all we found a bunch of mulberry trees overhanging the water.  We spread out the old windsurfer sail CJ gave us, poled the dinghy under the branches then shook like mad!  We both wound up with mulberries up our sleeves and everything is stained, but we've got no regrets and a bumper crop of berries in the colander. 

We're supposed to get some Northeast winds Wed and Thurs, so I suppose we'll keep sailing down Delaware Bay then.

[ralay]

Aaaaand a few more.

[Frank]

Docked right in Philly would have been neat!!
Love your berry collector 😄😄

[Norman]

 ;D Fresh mulberries, YUM.  There was a mulberry tree across from my Grandfather's house in the cow pasture when I was small, and a  lot of berries fell on the road.  There were no limbs any where near low enough to pick berries.  From your comment on the weeds, you have been on the island before.

That turtle is lucky that one of you is a vegetarian, they are delicious, and one that large would last many meals.

Great to have the time to "go with the flow" of wind and tide.  I have had days that the tide took me further than the wind did.  With bare poles and the outgoing tide, you could make a good many miles in the upper Delaware bay.

Both of you look a lot happier without winter clothes.

The island is effective protection from big ship wakes, I am sure.  How much water on the shore side channel?