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2015 Sailing Season on the Chesapeake

54K views 434 replies 48 participants last post by  fallard 
#1 ·
Checking in this morning to see what the new season thread looked like it appears no one has started one.

Best wishes to all on the New Year and a wonderful season for sailing.

To start things off, we expect our first day on the boat of the New Year to be tomorrow.
 
#2 ·
Happy New Year to you as well. I'm going to be on the boat but not sailing next week. I need to sew up part of the flap on the jib that covers it when it furls. Not much of a sewer but I'm going to give it a try. Can't wait to get sailing!
 
#3 ·
We didn't launch last year due to John's work travel schedule. This year will be different. We started our projects yesterday. Launch date is 1 April after which we intend to tear up the bay.
 
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#4 ·
Cheers mates...here is too a wonderful 2015. Boat project list never gets shorter but why should it :) We are looking forward to getting together with friends more often, boat is still sail ready and hopefully we will get out for the first sail of 2015 soon.

Best to all in 2015...Happy New Year!
 
#5 ·
I have a few electronics projects planned. I have a Seatalk/NMEA converter/WiFi router arriving tomorrow. It will integrate depth/compass/GPS/AIS (and eventually wind) into my navigation tablet so it's all in one place.

A new Windex arrived yesterday, so that will go on the masthead as soon as I fabricate an extension arm to move it away from the antenna. The current Windex was mangled by a PO who avoided building an extension arm by bending the Windex itself to avoid the antenna. In so doing, the fins ended up pointing forward, not backwards. Shawn is the only person who ever noticed that (last September while anchored in Still Pond). I've procrastinated on that one for several years, but a good price came up on Amazon so I bought a new one.

Finally, I have an wireless electronic wind transducer that will hopefully come in March. I hope to put that at the other end of the extension arm from the Windex. But I may decide to test it out at deck level for the first year to make sure it's reliable. In that case, I'll mount it at the very front of the bow pulpit.

All that, plus due for new bottom paint - it will be a busy Spring.
 
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#7 · (Edited)
Happy New Years to All

We finally winterized Haleakula today after staying overnight last night. Our club, Maryland Yacht Club had an awesome New Years Eve Party attended well.

Because our GM and Executive Chef resigned prior to the event the responsibilities for running it, making the menu, cooking fell to me.

I was able to encourage 15 members to help the day preceding , dec 30, to make over 2300 upscale handmade hor devours as well as prep the Italian, Chinese, seafood and carving stations. I was fortunate to get staff out of one of the restaurants units I am in charge of to come a do the cooking and plattering that evening.

The event was a great success, a good band, a nice safe place to be on New Years for those of us who dont have to stay home with kids. And people didn't have to go on the roads as we had limo service and many stayed on their boats.

Pictures can be seen at Facebook friending the Maryland Yacht Club. Our club really is a special place
 
#10 ·
Well, for the first time in decades, my boat list is very, very short, I'm gonna desert the old girl and my wife and I will drive south as soon as I'm healthy enough to do so, drink lots of booze, sing to the lades in skimpy bikinis, and come back home in mid March with a good tan. ;)

Cheers,

Gary :cool:
 
#11 ·
I'm getting itchy.

I'm working 10-12 hour days, so no time for sailing or maintenance. I'm barely able to check on the boat every couple of days to make sure everything is ok. I'm putting in OT to recover from some financial challenges I've had this winter. The goal is to be back to normal well before the normal season kicks off.

I'm lucky my winter punch list was basically nil this winter. I'd love to be doing some interior varnish or something though. Or sailing...
 
#12 · (Edited)
While working on the boat this past weekend saw one of these(slightly smaller version) on a teather what I thought was over the Fairlee Creek area up about 1000 or so feet..

http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/tethered-aerostat.jpg

...drove up but it disappeared. I know there is an ice navigation tower up in that area as there is scattered areas of ice flow on the Bay...

To big to be a private ballon... Something the CG is playing with..?
 
#14 ·
Took our B311 to St Michaels the weekend after Christmas, wonderful trip and loved hanging out with the locals. We finally moved her to winter storage this past weekend. 35 degrees and 15-17 knots out of the SE as we crossed the Bay to Kent Island. Final approach to the well was still covered in thick ice so we had to tie up in a vacant slip about 200 yards from the well. She should be pulled this week and will hopefully be back in the water the first part of April with new bottom paint. We're also having new sails made for her over the winter and asked the sailmaker to install glowfast luminous sail tape in addition to our draft stripes. Looking forward to our first night sail to see how well they work. :)
 
#15 · (Edited)
Had a decent sail yesterday on the Severn - wind was 1-15 knots from the NW - W - SW and back and forth and up and down. Wasn't too cold, either. Only saw one other boat, a deadrise-type thing that snuck up on me while I was trying to relieve myself. How he picked that moment to circle me from 10 feet away, I'm not sure. I ended up walking around the rest of the day with my fly down as a result.
 
#16 ·
Now that's funny.
Someone took me for a sail on the Severn yesterday as well. I did see another sailboat, and it could have been you. We never did get close to the other boat though.

Thanks to work, I haven't been sailing since November so I was glad to get out.
 
#20 ·
I had a couple last night while I was performing for a private party, which helps keep the vocal cords lubed. I finished the night with My Way, tilted my second Margaretta and got a standing ovation. I guess I must be doin something right, even for an old man. ;)

Stay warm,

Gary :cool:
 
#21 ·
Do you know what I do, when I can't sail or even work on my boat?

Out of feelings of impotence and frustration, I buy crap for my boat. This usually results in a backlog of shiny hardware to install. *sigh*
My old tractor bulb spreader lights have finally failed, so I grabbed a pair of these:


I'm impressed so far. The housings are rugged, powder coated aluminum and they appear to have plenty of cooling capacity to protect the LED's. They very bright, and will absolutely wreck your night vision at a paltry 2.5 amp draw for both spreader lights. By way of comparison, the old Seadogs drew nearly 7 amps.

As always, the final evaluation will come after they been installed and provide reliable service for some number of years.
 
#23 ·
Stayed on the boat last night and was awaken by howling winds out of the NW. Even in the protect slip I saw steady 20 with gust to 35 at 8:00 am.

I am thinking about going out this weekend for a day sail, maybe an overnight, highs in the high 40s and lows low 30s, that's doable with little complaint from the crew. If the forecast stays accurate a nice Southerly 5-10 says a reach to Swan Creek :)

Just need to fix a couple of things tomorrow, like the charger/inverter, and we are good to sail, and even that's not going to stop me if I don't :)

Cheers
 
#29 ·
I could have sailed on Sunday, but preferred to install some of my "boat bling" and avoid the hassle of re-winterizing the engine. The sun and temperature were a much needed break from the cold.

I drilled and filled the deck with epoxy in preparation for installing some Wichard folding pad-eyes for my jacklines. If there's any goodness in the universe at all, I'll do the final drill and install them tomorrow or Wednesday.

I'll be doing a lot of singlehanding up and down the bay this year, so staying on the boat is Priority #1.
 
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