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2013 Sailing Season

26K views 247 replies 25 participants last post by  Nicklaus 
#1 ·
Thought I might as well get a head start and designate a thread for all to post in as some are still sailing thorugh January and February. We typically post in a thread where we are going and what we are doing throughout the season and our escapades throughout the season.

We start out on the Ides of March ( March 15) for our first sail of the season.

Our Chesapeake group is one of the molst active on Sailnet with frequent posters and get togethers each month. Our 5th Annual Sailnet Rondezvous will take place June 8 at the Maryland Yacht Club as in years past ( There's a designated thread already). If anyone would like to volunteer to take some other days/ weekends during the season and kind of be the organizer for get togethers it would be helpful and appreciated by all of us. Sometimes we just need an organizer to take the lead herding us "cats" together. It would be great if we also could pull on thogethr down in Solomons this year to capture so others ( hint, hint).

I have been working on a design for a burgee for the "Lions of the Chesapeake" and have some design ideas but if someone has suggestions please let me know. How many woud be willling to purchase ( Looks like about $25 each. If enough want this I will proceed with itThis phrase came out of a sarcastic remark made about a few of us a number of years ago, implying we were not " real sailors" as we sailed in the Chessie. It kindof stuck as our moniker.

Also is anyone willing to take over the database and keep organized the Chesapeake eats/ Restaurant section we have. S/V Auspicious ( Dave ) maintained it for about 5 years and really did a great job with it, and it has helped many a person evaluate the various restaurants we have available. If you havent looked at it its quite extensive.

Heres to a great 2013 sailing Season..let the games begin.(bet Bubble is one of the first to post):eek:

Note to moderators: Could you make this a sticky as you have in the past and take the 2012 sailing season and let it float...Thank you:)

Dave
 
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#184 ·
Fall sailing at its best. We didn't have a plan, with the wind forecast changing we decided to go up the Chester River. The sail across the bay was quick with the bottom just scrubbed yesterday, at least a knot or more gained. We are anchored on the west side of Cacaway island with the entire creek to ourselves. I have never anchored on the west side of the island, before dropping the anchor I did a few circles to check depth...I was surprised how close we could get to the shore with plenty of water, although watch out for a huge rock just below the water on the Northwest side, pretty close to shore. We came upon it in the dingy rowing around the island.

Dinner and sunset we amazing, I will post a pic later. Grilled Mahi Mahi with pineapple salsa, curried zucchini, and sticky rice.

Its 8:30 and the water is like glass...enjoying a Malibu & pineapple for dessert ;-)

Life is grand
 
#185 ·
Sounds great. Never anchored on the west side of Cacaway either. Look for us after you round the Chester bends . We will be coming through Kent Narrows sometime after 11 I think. We are anchored in Granary Creek on the Wye. So many stars.

Dave

Fall sailing at its best. We didn't have a plan, with the wind forecast changing we decided to go up the Chester River. The sail across the bay was quick with the bottom just scrubbed yesterday, at least a knot or more gained. We are anchored on the west side of Cacaway island with the entire creek to ourselves. I have never anchored on the west side of the island, before dropping the anchor I did a few circles to check depth...I was surprised how close we could get to the shore with plenty of water, although watch out for a huge rock just below the water on the Northwest side, pretty close to shore. We came upon it in the dingy rowing around the island.

Dinner and sunset we amazing, I will post a pic later. Grilled Mahi Mahi with pineapple salsa, curried zucchini, and sticky rice.

Its 8:30 and the water is like glass...enjoying a Malibu & pineapple for dessert ;-)

Life is grand
 
#190 ·
I sailed to multiple locations this weekend, with friends. It resulted in a circumnavigation of Kent Island. Much alco-beverages and good food were consumed.

Winds were light to non-existant Friday and Saturday. Sunday was awesome.

My GPS logs show that I have sailed a total of 650 miles this summer. I still have a month or so to add to that. :D
 
#191 ·
We were out Sunday as well. Winds started out almost nonexistent and picked up to about 20 kn. We sailed down to the harbor and were lucky enough to see the Maryland Pride sailing right past us. Lots of cargo ship traffic in the Patapsco too.
 
#192 ·
#194 · (Edited)
I got some unasked-for time to go sailing starting last week, so I set sail on Friday and motored and drifted and drifted and motored as far as Swan Creek Friday evening. Drifted to Reed Creek Saturday, which was beautiful. Got a lot of chores done on the boat since I was moving so little. After spending the entire morning becalmed, I almost sailed back home Sunday afternoon to avoid what sounded like a day of dismal weather on Monday, but I wouldn't have made it back before dark, and it would have been a beat the whole way, so I just sailed back and forth on the Chester that afternoon. I waited out the bad stuff in Davis Creek near Cacaway Island, then headed home with building winds yesterday, covering the 35 miles home by early afternoon.

It's funny how in one day you can sail in everything from deck-washing wind and chop to nearly glassy calm weather. This is especially true coming off the Bay and going up the Severn - the wind can be blowing like stink out on in the open water, and then nothing but intermittent gusts as soon as you pass the corner at the Naval Academy. All in all, though, I think yesterday may have been the best day I've ever had sailing, it was so perfect coming back up the Severn.

My outboard stopped pumping water on Monday, and then a heron landed on it when I was below decks and took a big crap on it to add insult to injury. I saw and heard so much wildlife during this trip it was almost annoying: honking, squawking, hooting, screeching, splashing, and evening something braying at a nearby farm. No leaf blowers, generators, or traffic rumble.


Oh yeah, meals: 1 can of Chef Boyardee ravioli, one can of lite beef soup, two packets instant microwave macaroni and cheese (don't have a microwave on my boat, so I boiled it on the stove), 1 packet of ramen, some leftover Turkish kofte and vegetables, two apples, four or five granola bars, one pint of mixed nuts and raisins, one beef sausage stretched out over three days, five eggs, two cups of oatmeal, some coffee, and instant cocoa. And popcorn. I lost nearly five pounds.
 
#196 ·
My outboard stopped pumping water on Monday, and then a heron landed on it when I was below decks and took a big crap on it to add insult to injury.

Oh yeah, meals: 1 can of Chef Boyardee ravioli, one can of lite beef soup, two packets instant microwave macaroni and cheese (don't have a microwave on my boat, so I boiled it on the stove), 1 packet of ramen, some leftover Turkish kofte and vegetables, two apples, four or five granola bars, one pint of mixed nuts and raisins, one beef sausage stretched out over three days, five eggs, two cups of oatmeal, some coffee, and instant cocoa. And popcorn. I lost nearly five pounds.
First, the part about the heron is hilarious.

Second...it sounds like you live somewhere within close proximity to Annapolis? We offer some great classes on various cooking topics, I would be happy to help you improve your menu choices :D I swear its not much more work then heating some Ramen ;) http://www.aacc.edu/noncredit/file/NoncreditScheduleFall.pdf
 
#195 ·
Time for bottom paint. Hauling at HHN. I sailed down yesterday (spinnaker run all the way - excellent). Tuna salad for lunch, burgers on the grill last night, matzo brai for breakfast. Sitting in the lift well waiting my turn.
 
#197 ·
High winds yesterday, off and on, so took most of the day to get hauled and blocked. Plenty of time for baked cod, brown rice, and roast Brussel sprouts for lunch.

Auspicious is on the hard this winter for the first time in seven years. I have a long list of projects...
 
#199 ·
Dave, you could teach most of these vocational classes! :)

They are really designed mostly for entertainment. I rarely teach them, there are a few that are hands on and are geared to a specific technique, method, and/or subject.

We have tried to offer some more advanced classes, but I think the names lost peoples interest? What seems to grab people are things like Artisan Breads or You go Grill...not Grilling Basics or Butchery 101 :) I guess sometimes you just have to cater to the majority audience?
 
#200 ·
Dave, you could teach most of these vocational classes! :)
That would be fun!

We'll just have to get together and play with our food sometime. *grin*

My sister-in-law is Thai. I've been trying to capture some of her recipes (she just cooks and has nothing written down). Somewhere there is a picture of Lamoun and I both on the floor pounding away with pestles. Her peanut sauce starts with raw peanuts.

They are really designed mostly for entertainment. I rarely teach them, there are a few that are hands on and are geared to a specific technique, method, and/or subject.
I did notice the absence of your name in the catalog. The knife skills course was the one that lept out at me as hands-on. I have a knife day coming up. Boat knives, my house knives, and Janet's house knives are all due for a session with a tri-stone. 20 knives will chew up some time. *grin*

We have tried to offer some more advanced classes, but I think the names lost peoples interest? What seems to grab people are things like Artisan Breads or You go Grill...not Grilling Basics or Butchery 101 :) I guess sometimes you just have to cater to the majority audience?
Agreed. You know Mike Smollen don't you? He had some great classes, including spending a day in the back doing production butchering. I loved that experience but it clearly wasn't of broad appeal. I'd still take a long time to turn a cow into plastic-wrapped cuts and grinds in styrofoam trays but I know I can do it. Fowl are easy and I can fit a chicken into the galley. A cow -- even a skinny Anegada cow -- would require a beach and a tree. *grin*

As you pointed out, it doesn't take much to improve on boil-in-a-bag or nuke-em food. The experience is a huge improvement and the effort is not that significant.

I recall a delivery a few years ago that was nearly side-by-side with another Swan. The crews ended up in a bar at Nanny Cay comparing passage notes. My crew kept talking about food. The other boat ate frozen dinners for two weeks. They all ended up on our boat for dinner eating leftovers. *grin*

There are some interesting books out about cooking at sea but generally it's all the same skill set, just bumpier. Mise en place becomes more important, and non-skid is of great value. My best resource at sea is Joy of Cooking 1975 (1997 is awful, the 75th Anniversary edition is fine). I read MtAoFC and McGee for entertainment and general understanding. On the boaty cooking front I like Greenwald and Pardey. I have a copy of Carolyn Shearlock's "the boat galley" and am still working my way through it. No judgment yet. I do like her presence on the Internet and her responsiveness to questions.

Dinner tomorrow will be Thai shrimp skewers on the grill with sticky rice.
 
#202 ·
A friend and I set off for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge which is the starting line for the Great Cheseapeake Bay Schooner Race.

The breeze started out very light at 6 kts, so we double-handed my symmetric spinnaker on a tight reach to Thomas Point Light from the mouth of the West River. After we rounded the light, it was DDW to the bridge.

Once we arrived at the starting line, the only reminders that we were still in the present day, were hulking bridge and a couple of anchored RO-RO's. It was like the set of Pirates of the Carribean.

I shot some video, and we probably took 1,000 still-shots. We're still sorting through them, but I'll post links to my photo sharing site once I've isolated the best ones. We motored around behind the starting line to stay out of the way.

After the race's start, we sailed upwind into a building breeze. Since I'm able to outpoint most of these old gals, we were able to get ahead of them and get some really good shots of Pride of Baltimore and another boat racing hard and in close quarters.

I think the camera lens perspective doesn't show it, but near Thomas Point Light, it really looked like these two ships were trying to run us down. We weren't pointing high enough to clear the lighthouse, and apparently the tactic these ships employ for tacking is to foot off and build speed just prior to the tack, to carry momentum through the tack, and build speed again.

Last night, a front passed through, changing the wind direction to come from the NW, so I'm sure they had a blast last night, sailing downwind.:)
 
#206 ·
Last weekend wed had our clubs annual Geese Circus watching weekend at Cackaway in the Chester, but had to divert.

8 boats..we being the smallest, 35 C&C, 36 CC Benetau, 3700 Tartan, 38 Hunter, 40 Catalina, 46 Passport, 62 Sundeer, and the mothership..a 68 foot custom made catamaran.

Winds were howling at 25 on the nose when we got out of the Patapsco forcasted to clock around to the NW at 25 overnight with the front passage so we decided to forgo the 4 ft chop on the nose and run for the Magothy to our hiding place Broad Creek.

We had a wild ride down the Bay and into the river and anchor in a great protected area. Party began at 4 PM with hors devores and pumpkin shooters and great hors devores. Big full harvest moon at sunset and great commrradiere.

And in the mnoring the geese followed us and we saw some of the circus with one clanging off our mast and fell onto the deck as they tried to "land" in formation. The mothership hosted apple cinnamon silver dollar pumpkin pancakes.

Sunday was a great sail home in 12-15 knots. Fall sailing in the Chesapeake is the best.

Dave
 
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#212 ·
This weekend may be our last sail on our Lippincott 30 as we plan to deliver her over to Lankford Bay Marina on the Chester to go up for sale in the brokerage owned by one of the Lippincott sons. It's been 4 years and a lot of adventures and we're coming full circle - Lankford Creek/Cacaway Island was the first night at anchor we ever spend on the L30! It's bittersweet to let her go, but the time has come for an upgrade. This will be the earliest we've ever ended our season, but we have a busy November coming up and want to get the boat listed before the real dead of winter sets in.

By the way, anyone looking at 80s vintage 30 footers should definitely check out our L30. It's well maintained and upgraded, has a 2004 Yanmar with ~1,000 hours, new mainsail, and new canvas. She's a fun sailing cruiser comparable in many ways to a Catalina 30 but with a gorgeous wood interior.
 
#214 ·
This weekend may be our last sail on our Lippincott 30 as we plan to deliver her over to Lankford Bay Marina on the Chester to go up for sale in the brokerage owned by one of the Lippincott sons. It's been 4 years and a lot of adventures and we're coming full circle - Lankford Creek/Cacaway Island was the first night at anchor we ever spend on the L30! It's bittersweet to let her go, but the time has come for an upgrade. This will be the earliest we've ever ended our season, but we have a busy November coming up and want to get the boat listed before the real dead of winter sets in.

By the way, anyone looking at 80s vintage 30 footers should definitely check out our L30. It's well maintained and upgraded, has a 2004 Yanmar with ~1,000 hours, new mainsail, and new canvas. She's a fun sailing cruiser comparable in many ways to a Catalina 30 but with a gorgeous wood interior.
We have many fond memories of our many raft ups with you and Sharon on Spindrift. You put a lot of quality work into thatt boat and someone will get a great boat for that.

Hope you search is fruitfull and look to many more times together.

Dave
 
#213 ·
Bittersweet for sure, good luck with the sale and search for your next boat

We'll be out somewhere this weekend? Planning to keep the boat in water and sail as often as we can through the winter, but I think its going to be a cold and snowy one...which is also fine by me.
 
#217 ·
Awesome weekend for sailing. We got a late start Saturday since we were in recovery from a late night Halloween party the night before :) We opted to go up to Baltimore Inner Harbor and took a slip at Inner Harbor Marina for the night. Its tradition that we visit the carousel by the MD Science Center, followed by a visit to the flag shop in the Pavilion. Dinner aboard; Veal Medallions with Spatzle, Roasted Butternut Squash, and Brussel Sprouts (yes our kids love my brussel sprouts = bacon is the trick :) ) Winds were perfect both ways, made great time Saturday into the Harbor. We were sailing along with a race, several of which were trimarans. Damn they were probably clocking in the high teens if not more with the wind we had, some flying chutes...I imagine that was a thrill. Breakfast in Federal Hill Sunday, back at the club we had fun at the kids Halloween party. Another great weekend on the bay, or I suppose this time the river :)
 
#218 ·
We successfully delivered Spindrift over to Lankford Bay Marina on Saturday! We left the Patapsco around 9 am in a moderate breeze and by the time we made it to Love Point the wind was up to 15-18 gusting into the 20s - just off the nose. We were able to motorsail into it and once we turned north to go up the Chester we were surfing downwind doing 6-7 knots. It ended up being a great last sail of the season - though maybe a bit more than we bargained for. Once we got settled in, we stopped by Tango for cocktail hour with Clay and Leslie - great meeting and talking to you guys! Yesterday morning we met with the broker to officially list the boat then we offloaded a carload of gear. It's definitely hard to let our boat go, but it makes it easier to shop for new boats knowing that the wheels are in motion to get the current boat sold. Now we're just hoping the nice weather brings out some fall boat shoppers.
 
#219 ·
I had a blast this weekend. Left our dock Friday morning and sailed the entire way to Oxford, a broad reach or run most of the way. Anchored in Plaindealing Creek and was the only boat there except the two fisherman that woke me up 10 feet off my stern at 5AM. Sailed back out the Choptank and got hit with the heavy stuff just before going through the narrows - ended up crossing the bay from the top of Poplar Island across to the West river, going 5+ knots with only a reefed mainsail up. That was wild. I assume the winds were a sustained 20 with gusts to 25 or so, and some of the waves must have been 3 feet. Anchored in the Rhode River, where there were a few other boats. Coming back up the Severn yesterday was painful - the wind varied between zero and just under twenty and veered 30 degrees every minute or two, all afternoon.
 
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