Weekend Roundup

Saturday morning I picked up Glen and Fred on a creek in the Magothy. As you can see from the picture in the earlier post, I backed the boat up to a boat ramp on the creek and walked the eight feet or so to shore. The 18 inch draft on this boat is a nice feature.

The wind was blowing 10-20 knots from the north all day as we made our way down the bay. The gps showed that we were consistently running 6-8 mph (6-8 mph/ 1.15 knots per mile = 5-7 knots). I highly recommend bay sailing in the Fall. Yes the conditions were at the limit that I enjoy sailing. And there were large swells, but they were following and we surfed down them. The bridge deck even got a little wet as we barely breached some of the swells. It was a little chilly too, but not bad with several layers of clothes.

Summer sailing on the bay can be more pleasant, but it's also a lot more unpredictable. Weather conditions on land also seem to be magnified on the water. If it's hot on land, it's even hotter out on the water. There are plenty of times in the summer when there is no wind and it's just hot and unpleasant to be out on the bay. And then there are the dreaded afternoon thunderstorms which seem to appear out of nowhere. The most harrowing sailing experiences I've been through have been when I've been enjoying a summer afternoon with friends out on the boat and someone turns around to discover a really dark cloud coming at us fast. I'll take steady 20 knot winds and four foot swells over a summer thunderstorm any day.

Unfortunately, during our Saturday sail, we damaged the rudders. Fiberglass was torn and a metal bracket bent. I think there were several contributing factors to the damage, including: the heavy weather, old fiberglass, poor boat design, and strong helmsmen who didn't mind manhandling the wheel to keep a steady course. Glen maguevered a repair while we were underway, and we did a more substantial repair Sunday morning, but a more permanent repair needs to be fashioned. I think it will involve a number of steel straps and brackets to reinforce the steering connections. I'm just glad the steering cable didn't snap. On the gemini forums, that is a major topic, and would be a real pain to replace. The damages and repairs will probably be a topic of a future post.

Anyway, between the busted rudders and having three guys living on the boat this weekend, it looks like the boat has been hit by a hurricane. Glen and Fred brought as much stuff on board for the weekend as I brought for the entire six month trip. There was luggage and food strewn everywhere. Fortunately, they left the uneaten food behind and I'm stocked for the next week. Fred also loaned me his handheld gps for the trip, for which I'm deeply grateful. It will be nice to have a backup gps. I've spent the night at the pier at Glen's dad's retirement home off Solomon's Island. Glen says that when I visit his dad this morning, I can also get a shower. The pier has electricity and water, so I can top off my water and battery banks and power wash the boat.

Oh, and the picture up top. That's a j boat race south of Annapolis. We passed it on Saturday.