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2014 Sailing Season

49K views 528 replies 46 participants last post by  SVAuspicious 
#1 ·
Well here's to the New Year and may all have a great year for sailing.

Haleakula had to be rested on land a few weeks ago as a late fall hitting a submerged object in Cornfield Creek seems to have injured the keel bolt under the mast. There was a steady filling up of the bilge over time and it wasn't safe leaving her in her normal winter berth in her slip.

The mast will be pulled in a week oe so to access the damage, but there was evidence along the leaing edge and one side of the keel. It will give us he opportunity to doing some work conditioning thru hulls as well as put a New steaming light on the mast. Donna has finished all he new cushions.

The Ultima 60 we put on 3 seasons ago was still going strong.

Well March 15 won't be far away.

Good health and New Years to all our Chessie friends.
 
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#274 ·
Re: Still Pond Creek

I saw nothing less than 5'9" at mid tide, the "risk" is not greater in my opinion then Fairlee or Queenstown creeks as examples.:cool: Why did I choose a boat with a 4' draft? So I could make it in places like SPC. If I had a 6' draft I probably would not try it except maybe at high tide.:rolleyes:

Perhaps that boat you saw get stuck and "literally block the entrance" had a draft of 5' or more? Do you recall the make of the boat, its draft, year, anything? Running aground on the bay is nothing new is it? Thankfully the bay is mostly soft mud!:eek:

Earlier this year we saw a boat run aground in Broad Creek on the Magothy, hardly a place that is "risky" to get into.:confused:

One should read Active Captain for more info on SPC, but let me make it easy and pull a few quotes...

"As of April, 2014, the channel was dredged to a depth of 10'."

"Captain: SailingHarry+, Mill Creek, Annapolis (132)

This is an incredible anchorage. It makes my centerboard with 4' draft so worth it! We grounded once or twice, so take it slow and easy, and the reward is awesome scenery and complete quiet.Some water skiing, so there will be wakes until sunset."


"Captain: Mark Hoffman+, Browns Cove, MD (382)

As other reviews have stated, tricky entrance but several spectacular anchor options here. Not as busy as the outer anchorage called Still Pond and it has huge sand bar that you can use a stern anchor on to enable easy access. If you don't like that (I don't feel that comfortable that close to the bar), there is an amazing 12ft deep section just east of the bar that is fantastic for swimming."


"Captain: Capt Angel, Lavallette, NJ (241)

Entered this anchorage to hide from front with forecast 25 knt squalls. As per prior reviews, need to stay close to G9, then head to staraboard to a point very close to shore (25-50 feet) at point of land just prior to first 3 set of piers. Had no problems entering at high tide, but ran aground when leaving next morning just after low tide. Channel from mooring field to G9 is very narrow with 4-5 ft depths at low tide. Aside from tricky channel, this is an excellent place to hide out bad weather."


"Captain: rudy reinecke+, placida,fl (330)

Shoal entrance. If you draw less than 5 feet, a magical anchorage awaits. We were there during the middle of the week. /weekends will probably be buzier."
 
#275 · (Edited)
Re: Still Pond Creek

"Captain: Capt Angel, Lavallette, NJ (241)

...As per prior reviews, need to stay close to G9, then head to staraboard to a point very close to shore (25-50 feet) at point of land just prior to first 3 set of piers.

I'm very puzzled by this advice, and also by the "official" ActiveCaptain instructions to "Stay as close as possible to G9 on the way in".

The Ches. Bay Cruising guide says exactly the opposite:
As you leave "7", hug the trees, not the buoys, as the deeper water actually is closer to shore.
Upon entering, I hugged the trees and the private docks along that shore, and was seeing 8-10'. It wasn't until I rounded the corner SE of G9 that I saw skinny water. As I mentioned to Shawn, I saw a big trawler in a slip along the shore and figured if he had enough water, I would. But things got real close. Based on the trajectory of the anchored boats' rodes, the center of the creek must have been only a foot of water, so I was reluctant to go out there. I suspect that there is a big sand bar there, and those "in the know" walk their anchors out there and plant them.

So I'm still curious to know where the good water is southeast of G9 (and where is the underwater sandbar that I must avoid). Next time I'm on the boat I'll get a copy of my track file and post it on here to demonstrate my questions.

Over Labor Day weekend there must have been 50+ boats on the outside part of Still Pond (south cove by entrance to Churn Creek), including a raft-up of over a dozen boats. Inside the creek there were only about 6 boats by sundown, and every one of them except one was a sailboat. One was a 36' Catalina, plus Shawn's 37 footer, so these were not tiny boats. So there is a way to get into there.
 
#277 ·
Re: Still Pond Creek

Nothing bent you out of shape? Did you not file a complaint against me with the moderators? Did you or not? :confused:

I'm not perfect, no one is...but your post are often misspelled or mis-typed. Its well documented here...no I don't need to be perfect to suggest you either preview your post before hitting post/send or use a tool that points it out easily. You yourself have mentioned your misspellings and grammar misses.
I have four soft shackles given to you and I by Hugosalt when we met up with him. I will tape to your dock box in an envelope when I unpack them
 
#279 ·
Had a great day sailing single handed yesterday as the Admiral was taking care of the babies at work. Low humidity....boat still wokring great after our 1300 mile trip.

Looking forward to seeing the Blue Angels again this Saturday.

Yeah the Redskin and Ravens fans were all whining yesterday:laugher:laugher...while my Eagles marched on:laugher:laugher:laugher:laugher:laugher
 
#283 ·
The Spruce Street Harbor Park (located at Penns Landing, open until Sept. 28, and reopening in 2015) is actually separate from the Fringe Arts Festival (hundreds of exhibits and shows located all over the city, open until Sept. 22).

The Wetland exhibit that you referenced is located at the Seaport Museum Pier, right in the heart of the Harbor Park area, so I suspect the success of both have fed off each other. It looked very interesting when we were there a few weeks ago, but we had dinner reservations and could not wait in line for a tour. The pics and audio in the link do seem to fit the "fringe" theme. ;)

I did hear a report on WHYY radio yesterday (local public radio station). Click the link above to hear it. Perhaps it was the same report that Donna heard. But the report that I heard was specific to the Wetlands boat, not the Spruce Street Harbor Park.

Weather and schedule permitting, I am hoping to sail back up to Philly this weekend to take in more of the events there. It's hard to beat having your own little miniature hotel room on the waterfront for under $40/night slip fees.
 
#284 ·
Best show or festival in the area

Home Page | Star-Spangled 200Star-Spangled 200

We are headed out tomorrow to see some of the ships come up the Patapsco Channel followed by a re enacted landing of the battle in 1814 on club grounds. There is a replicas
British gunboat landing and cannon firing as part of it. Uniformed militias. Maryland Yacht a Club open to public at 6 PM for festivities. British troops will bivouac on club grounds in tents for a few days and join the Inner Harbor Festivities on Saturday.

Saturday we are headed up to our favorite vantage point just off FT MCHenry as we did two years ago to see the Blue Angels. They are unreal.

Then well probably head over to the Chester somewhere for peace and quiet.

Head to Bacltimore for the sights this weekend.

What else is so funny, our club is located 200 yards from where Francis Scott Key was on the British ship where he wrote the Star-Spangled Banner. Every time we head out we pass over the spot.
 
#287 ·
Decided to forgo the crazies in the rain to watch the Blue Angels. Would have gone, but we saw them twice in the last two years. We decided to sail over to Cacaway Island, Langford Creek, Chester River with our.friends in the 62 ft Sun Deer, Crazy Horse. They have done the World Arc and 1500 a number of times so they are always great to raft with. Their rescue cat, Carley Simon was just diagnosed with a terminal disease so it may be the last time she will be climbing in and out of our boat exploring.

The highlight besides dinner and great conversation was the new Bald Eagles nest in the trees on the island next to the cut. We saw both Eagles and some chicks with binoculars.
 
#288 ·
Motor Sailed down to Worton Creek, pretty much had the place to ourselves till about 6 p.m., then a dozen more sailboats arrived looking for place to get out of the nasty weather. The wind kicked up just about midnight to the upper 30s or more, boats were dragging anchor through the soft, gooey mud, but no mishaps that I know of.

Left about 9 on Sunday morning, wind was dead north at about 20, which translated into some long tacks to get home. Finally gave up at the mouth of Elk River and motored back to Perryville.

For the most part, a great sail on Sunday,

Gary :cool:
 
#290 ·
Re: Star-Spangled Spectacular Air Show

Looks like a nice weekend to be on the water. Not much wind though. Our club is doing a mini-vous which we do once a month. Still undecided where to go.

Probably look close as the club has its annual Maryland blood sport event tomorrow aka Crab Feast.
 
#291 ·
Re: Star-Spangled Spectacular Air Show

Nice sail yesterday albet light winds. Tacked over to Rock Hall then back to the Magothy Eagles Nest and had a great hors dovoures with 4 other boats from our. Club. Great conversations and food . We broke off with one of our friends and moved over to Cornfield Creek a quiet creek next to EaglesNest . Saw eagles and stars. Great night.

Returning now to our clubs annual crab fest.

Glorious Sept weekend on the Chesapeake.
 
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#292 ·
We just got back from our week long bay cruising trip after spending last weekend on the boat at the marina watching the air shows both days and the excellent fireworks display Saturday night. There were more boats out cruising than I expected and winds were lighter than we anticipated for this time of year, but we still had a great time and managed to find the peace and quiet we were looking for.

The best sailing day was Tuesday when we crossed the Bay close hauled on 12-15 knots gusting into the high teens. The wind lasted all the way from the mouth of the West/Rhode to about 2/3 of the way into Eastern Bay when it died.

We didn't make it an endurance run but hopped down to the Rhode, then over to the Wye, then to St. Mikes, then to a USNA mooring on Saltworks Creek of the Severn. We managed not to tie up to a dock the entire time except for a few hours at the free Maritime Museum day dock on Thursday to pick up some additional groceries in town. We moved to the anchorage outside the main harbor for the evening and took the dinghy back to town where we had dinner at Theo's.

In the Rhode, a pair of ducks boarded our swim platform in the early morning hours. In the morning we found it covered in duck poop and feathers. One of the unforeseen downsides of the sugar scoop transom.

The only real misadventure was with our dinghy. The brand new all around light I bought for the transom died within 5 minutes on the first night out. The motor is as unreliable as ever and after throwing lots of good money after bad, we'll probably be shopping for a new one this fall.
 
#297 ·
We just got back from our week long bay cruising trip after spending last weekend on the boat at the marina watching the air shows both days and the excellent fireworks display Saturday night. There were more boats out cruising than I expected and winds were lighter than we anticipated for this time of year, but we still had a great time and managed to find the peace and quiet we were looking for.

The best sailing day was Tuesday when we crossed the Bay close hauled on 12-15 knots gusting into the high teens. The wind lasted all the way from the mouth of the West/Rhode to about 2/3 of the way into Eastern Bay when it died.

We didn't make it an endurance run but hopped down to the Rhode, then over to the Wye, then to St. Mikes, then to a USNA mooring on Saltworks Creek of the Severn. We managed not to tie up to a dock the entire time except for a few hours at the free Maritime Museum day dock on Thursday to pick up some additional groceries in town. We moved to the anchorage outside the main harbor for the evening and took the dinghy back to town where we had dinner at Theo's.

In the Rhode, a pair of ducks boarded our swim platform in the early morning hours. In the morning we found it covered in duck poop and feathers. One of the unforeseen downsides of the sugar scoop transom.

The only real misadventure was with our dinghy. The brand new all around light I bought for the transom died within 5 minutes on the first night out. The motor is as unreliable as ever and after throwing lots of good money after bad, we'll probably be shopping for a new one this fall.
Sounds like a great trip Brian. I love th eplaces you visited and you had great weather.I am lkooking for a new dinghy engine also
 
#293 ·
Hung out in Still Pond this weekend. Went all the way into the pond. Nice anchorage. Went crabbing with the kids using the new traps but didn't catch any. Half hour dinghy ride to the public access point at the end of the creek. Entered at high tide no problem. Ran aground about 4-5 times leaving at low tide. We draw 4ft. Made it out though :)
Winds are extremely light to non-existent, strange for September.

Josh
 
#294 ·
...Winds are extremely light to non-existent, strange for September...
It's crazy. I've never had September doldrums before. :mad:

We did a last-minute ride down to Delaware City Friday afternoon, and back yesterday. We went to a new restaurant on Clinton St. called "Lewinsky's on Clinton." (think about that one for a few minutes) We met up with BeejDeC and his fiance for dinner, and had some nice discussion when the band wasn't playing. (We chose the wrong restaurant - too loud.) Sailing was so-so. We'd get a solid breeze for 20 minutes or so, and then it would die. We had some solid breeze at the end on Friday, with wind opposing the current leading to very confused following seas. That was a nice challenge!

The season is winding down fast, since our schedules don't allow for much in the way of overnight travel. My wife has the week off after the Annapolis Boat Show, so we're hoping that I can get a few days off that week so we cann do a 5-day cruise with my high school friend on her Mason 44. I can't wait for that!
 
#295 ·
We enjoyed a sail to Swan Creek Saturday in lieu of joining the clubs minivouz in Eagles Nest behind Gibson island unfortunately.

Took the cut across Swan Point bar...just North of the smaller range light. Saw 5.9 at one point at about low tide IIRC but other wise it was mostly 8'+ to 11'. Water was calm so running aground was not a big worry as we draw 4'. If you search our boat name "Windgeist" on Marinetraffic.com you can see our route ;)

Enjoyed great steamed crabs (Maryland style oh yea) and cold beer back at the club. Made some new friends, and a possible delivery opportunity to Florida...very exciting!
 
#296 ·
Didn't hoist a rag all weekend.

I puttered around the corner to my sailing club and camped out on one of their mooring balls in the West River, most of the weekend. We cooked, drank, went ashore to Big Mary's dock bar (what a dive :rolleyes: )

On Sunday, I was taken out on an F16 catamaran. Fast and sporty.
 
#301 ·
I'm headed out Thursday afternoon if the weather forecasters are correct and the rain ends. Gonna take my wife down the bay, maybe up the Magothy to a place we used to visit 50 years ago, Tebston. Neat place right across from Magavista Beach.

We hope to spend the weekend onboard, then head home Monday afternoon. Gotta go to work Tuesday.

Cheers,

Gary :cool:
 
#302 ·
My 2 sons and I are headed for Rock Hall on Friday, then across the bay to Baltimore on Saturday, then back to BoBay on Sunday. I am looking forward to the trip as it's been a lot of years since the 3 of us did a trip anywhere together. I am also curious to see how 3 guys 6'4" and over (they are 6'7" and 6'5") sleep on a 30' boat.:)
 
#303 ·
We're headed out, just my wife and I for a quick overnight...a rare opportunity for us to sail without our kids. I hope for some wind, some BFS kind...last weekend was more motoring than sailing...odd for September on the Chesapeake.

I hope I can my spinnaker pole fixed in time and fly it!!!

Cheers
 
#305 ·
Looking at the forecast, 5 knts +/- :( I think the admiral and I are going to head up to Baltimore and have an adult dinner at Roy's...as I just received my industry discount coupon in the mail yesterday.

Anyone know if the bulkhead in Fells Point is still free? I remember someone posting something about it, we may just swim in if so ;)
 
#306 ·
Back in Philly at Penn's landing tonight. Docked 25 yards from USS Olympia, Dixieland band playng off the stern. Nice! Dinner in Old City, then back home tomorrow morning for a School Board meeting.

The only eagles around here are wearing green jerseys. ;)
 
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#309 ·
Well I found that there is no more docking in Fells Point by Broadway pier at all. According to the Baltimore Dockmaster people essentially staying there for extend periods so they closed for all. Was not a great bulkhead to tie to anyway.

We, just Irene and I which is unusual, enjoyed a wonderful weekend. Went to watch the Shawan Downs horse races Saturday afternoon, then down to the boat and enjoyed a great meal at Roy's Restaurant Baltimore. We had such a great stroll around town after dinner along the waterfront. Downed a bottle of wine people watching from the cockpit late night near McCormicks & Schmicks...then slept in till 8:30...yup, 8:30!!! Had another wonderful meal at Miss Shirleys on Pratt. The "Gettin your Grits on with Cajun Shrimp and Pork was superb. Real fresh squeezed OJ. Back to the boat, cruise the harbor quickly then back to the dock and up to my brothers to watch the Ravens game...which was awesome. (Steve Smith Sr...you are craziness; ) ). Finished the wonderful weekend with dinner back home, arugula with fresh peaches, goat cheese, and pear balsamic dressing...simple roasted chicken and roasted butternut squash with pecans and garlic.

I think this weekend I must reflect and say...wow, life is good and dont take moment for granted. Loved my getaway with my wife...but we both couldn't wait to see our two angels. My friend and colleague lost his younger brother yesterday to cancer way to young, this makes it bittersweet. Life is like sailing right, its not just the destination but the journey as well. RIP R.J.
 
#310 ·
After not sailing for a month and a half, I finally got out on Sunday.

I was gently sailing through the SSCA fleet, anchored in the Rhode river, weaving smartly between the anchored boats to see who was visiting.
I thought I was being quite clever, but I missed one of the buoys marking the corner of High Island, which is nothing more than a shoal, and ran hard aground on a falling tide.

A nice couple immediately motored over in a dinghy with a 25hp motor on it. They kindly yanked me backwards off the shoal, but the flow over my rudder was so strong, that the tiller got away from me, and completely reversed the rudder, nearly knocking me overboard in the process.

I thanked them kindly, and sailed over to the mooring balls in front of the WRSC, and dove on the rudder to make sure that the post wasn't bent, and that the hull penetration hadn't been stressed or damaged.

A careful inspection seems to show that everything is ok, so I cast off to do some sailing, but the wind pretty much died. I spent the rest of the day, drifting around, getting beat up by power boat wakes.

Apparently the stinkpotters haven't received the message that fall is here, and to put their boats away. This is supposed to be our time. ;)
 
#311 ·
I don't recall a worse September for wind (in my 5 years of owning this boat). I guess we're paying for the unusually good summer breezes.
 
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