Sailing to Pirates Cove

On Friday afternoon, we set sail for West River and spent the night at Pirates Cove.  This was Jamie's first trip since his surgery.  We had beautiful weather for our trip south.  We sailed 19 NM in 10 KT winds and an adverse current.  Here we are just NW of Thomas Point Light. 

The crab pots were plentiful and must be avoided.  The last thing I need is my rudder or prop fouled. 

After tying up at Pirates Cove, we tidied up the boat and Jamie ordered food from the restaurant.  We enjoyed a few sundowners while Jamie ate his fried shrimp.  Afterwards, Eileen and I walked to Thursday's, a dock bar/restaurant down the road a bit. 

On Saturday morning, Eileen and I went for a walk around the sleepy little town, Galesville.  We came across this park which was quite nice. This poem was mounted on a boulder at the entrance, but neither of us get it.  So, if someone wants to explain it, the comment section is below!!!

This was a little antique shop in town.  We thought the tea pot totem pole was unique! 

On Saturday, we woke up to a stiff breeze of 20 kts out of the north. I put a reef in the main while in West River, before we hit the open water of the Chesapeake. Eileen said, you should put in a double reef.  While I was considering it, we were hit with a gust which made us heel considerably.  I instantly put in the double reef!  Pictured above is Domingoman's main under double reef.  The head of the main is about 3/4 of the way up the mast. With the proper sail plan, it makes for a much more comfortable sail. 

Eileen took the helm a lot early on.  She typically doesn't like to sail the boat in rough conditions, but she did an amazing job.  I think she almost liked it....almost!

The air temp was on the cool side on Saturday and was the first time I had to wear long sleeves since spring! Eileen found a comfortable spot on the port sole.  The wind dropped to 15 kts and I shook one reef in the main and unfurled the genoa a little more.  Still balanced and sailing at an impressive 6.8 kts.  The main would stay reefed for the entire trip, but we later sailed under full genoa.

At this point, we were heeled at 30 degrees.  Shiloh found her spot on the low side in the sun and had a nice nap.  Jamie was down below for the trip home.

It was a great trip, one I didn't expect.  Eileen had called me at work on Friday and said..."what do you think about going on a family sailing trip this weekend?"  I didn't have to think too long!  Thanks for a great weekend Eileen!

Family Outings

So, we had three family outings in the very recent past with nary a blog post!

We were joined by Kathi and Ed Morrell, my aunt and uncle from Rochester, NY.  Yes, they are NY Yankees fans and we will go to the Orioles/Yankees game on Sunday.  The weather conditions on the bay were a bit on the rough side with 20kt winds out of the south, accompanied by pretty big rollers!  Eileen suggested that we sail up the Severn River and I am glad that we did. Aside from almost running aground, we had a great time together.  I couldn't get the helm back from Uncle Ed and it took a while, but Aunt Kathi mustered up the courage to sit in the stern perch! 

Joel flew into Baltimore and drove up to NY with Eileen.  Prior to their road trip, we had our own full moon party!  We sailed 9 NM around that freighter on a night that was near perfect.  The steady10 kt wind combined with balmy temps, full moon, and having the bay to ourselvs for the most part made for a very enjoyable sail. When we were on the east side of this ship, we encountered another sailing vessel in very close quarters.  It was hysterical as the captain from the other sailboat said "excuse me...do you have any Grey Poupon?" 

My mom and her husband Don Quinn, along with their friends Jack and JoAnn Vienne spent a few days with us on their way to Ireland.  They flew out of Dulles so it was convenient to bake in a few days in Annapolis.

 Don and JoAnn having a chat

 Jack on the perch

Need I say more?  lol.

99 Years Old!

Born on August 4th, 1913, Margaret Helen Dietrich (Eileen's maternal grandmother) turned 99 years old!  We celebrated grandma along with several of her residence friends on Saturday.  Eileen's brother Ron and sister in-law Jane drove here from Buffalo to join in the celebration.  It was a nice gathering and extra special to hear her friends say such nice things about her!  Everyone had a turn to say something to Margaret.  At the end, she stood up and thanked everyone for coming, etc.  We sang happy birthday of course and enjoyed some cake and coffee! Happy Birthday Grandma!!!   

Sailing Mademoiselle

We joined our friends Dave and Carol Leach aboard their Beneteau 44.7 Mademoiselle for a Sunday sail on the Chesapeake.  Mademoiselle is a relatively new Bruce Farr design, insanely cool, beautiful, blue-water equipped sailing vessel.  At almost 45' LOA, she handled like a dream.  Dave gave me the helm for almost the entire time out.  It was very cool to have this level of trust from him and I had a blast finding her groove!

Carol and Eileen having a chat as we just got underway 

I think I smiled the entire time!  Thanks Carol and Dave for the invite and the wonderful afternoon!

Catching up

Various pics from spring/early summer 2012.  So much sailing...so little time to blog!

Sister-in-law Jane and Eileen 

Eileen's brother Ron, visiting from Buffalo 

Dang crab pots! Water was 60 degrees mid-May! 

Solomon's Island

This is just funny ^^^
More pics from our May cruise follow...

Jamie chill'n

 

Impressive speed 7.4 kts

Eileen's version of chill'n errrrrr...chilly!

 

Our dockmate's schooner

Jamie's new hangout

HHS 7/5 - 7/7 2012

After the Fourth of July holiday, we set sail for Herrington Harbor South, a resort marina about 20 NM south of Annapolis.  Zoli, our crazy Hungarian exchange student whom we hosted several years ago came back to the States for another visit.  The winds were light, the sun was relentless, with air temps over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  It cooled off to 85 degrees at night...woohoo!  To venture out on a trip like this in extreme heat causes one to think he should have his head examined!  (pictured above "Forever Eileen" I like it!)

Knowing ahead of time that it was going to be hot, I purchased a 12 volt fan for Jamie.  The fan worked well and kept him cool while we were underway.

A pic of Domingoman from across the marina.  Photo credit to Eileen as she took this pic while on a walk with Zoli.

In order to keep the cabin somewhat cool, I hung a tarp over the boom to shade the coach roof.  Best quote of the trip..."Chris, I like what you did with the IKEA bag!"  circa Zoli!  The IKEA bag is large for a bag, but isn't 9'X12'!!!

Having drinks with our friends, Glenn and Sunny at Mangos (S/V Solare).  The house specialty is orange or grapefruit crush.  Tropical treats with lots of rum!

So, after sweating it out Thursday night, I called a meeting of the crew on Friday morning.  Each had one vote and I had two!  Choices were to leave HHS on Friday and go back home to air conditioning and lose the money we paid for the slip on Friday night, or gut it out again. Zoli and Jamie immediately said, let's stay.  I kind of shrugged my shoulders and asked Eileen what she thought.  She said let's stay...so stay we did.  We spent the entire day poolside jumping in every 10 minutes to cool off.  Then Eileen had a brainstorm...she said, why don't we sail back to Annapolis tonight.  What a great idea!  We left HHS at 21:00 and arrived Port Annapolis at 00:30.  It was much cooler and we had the bay to ourselves.  The moon was almost full and we had an amazing time!  The one very cool thing was seeing all of the bioluminescent jellyfish light up as our bow wake disturbed them.  Apparently, jellies do this as a defense mechanism.  In spite of the heat, we had a great trip!  

The Derecho 6.29.2012

On Friday night, we experienced a storm that left us without power for two days. A derecho, according to Wikipedia is a "widespread and long-lived straight-line windstorm that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms." The howling wind woke me up at 23:00. Impressive lightning filled the sky as the wind flexed her mighty muscle and seemed to be winning the battle with the mature 100+ foot trees that line our neighborhood. The power went out without a flicker which is usually bad news. According to the Washington Post, this storm left over 5 million people without power from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic and was responsible for at least 22 deaths. See: Could forecasters have better predicted the June 29 Derecho? by clicking here.


It didn’t take long for me to figure out that this system was coming out of the West, the only direction that Domingoman is not protected. Eileen and Jamie were still in Denver, so I grabbed Shiloh and we headed to the boat. I weaved the car through what looked like a war zone with limbs and branches everywhere. Fortunately, Port Annapolis Marina is very nearby to our home and there were no power lines blocking our way.

I was happy to see that the power at the marina was not interrupted and that Domingoman remained well secured. I went back home to pick up a couple of essentials and we headed back to the boat to spend the night on board.

It was stifling hot on Saturday so Shiloh and I went out for a sail. The air temp on the Chesapeake was at least 10 degrees cooler than on land and we enjoyed sustained 12kt winds out of the South. We sailed 17NM in 3 ½ hours!

Sunday was round two of the heat with the air temp of 97 degrees and high humidity. Eileen and Jamie were now home from Denver and we spent most of the day in the air conditioned Chessie Lounge at Port Annapolis. Power was restored at our home on Sunday evening.