4th of July 2011 Part 1

With lots of family in town for our annual independence day weekend celebrations, we took our grandkids Isaac and Eli out for a sail. Isaac was so pumped about this boat ride! We look forward to receiving Stephanie, Brad and Alex tonight and more sailing adventures. We will certainly miss Leah, Matthew, and Abby as they are not able to be with us this weekend.

Isaac getting ready to take command of the vessel

Isaac had to make sure that we saw the big catamaran to port!


Joel and I got out for a sail on Monday night. A real pleasure spending some alone time with him.

Eli's first sail. He spent most of the trip below decks taking a nap

Isaac and Amma on crabpot patrol on our way back to port

Birthday Cruise 5.28.2011 - 6.3.2011

For my 50th birthday, Eileen gave me an incredible gift...sailing for a week with my brother Steve. It was an awesome gift and the week was all that I anticipated and more! On Saturday, May 28, I picked up Steve from BWI and we headed straight to Port Annapolis where Domingoman was fully provisioned. We casted off the dock lines and away we went! We encountered all kinds of conditions and had more than enough wind (too much wind at times)! We spent six nights aboard and sailed for seven days, logging 260 Nautical Miles in total. Some legs were longer than others and ranged from 30 NM to 50 NM. We typically sailed for 8-12 hours per day. Our top speed was 7.7 knots and averaged 4-5 knots for the entire trip. Winds were typically 12 to 15 knots and reached 27 knots one day. In order, we sailed to Herring Bay (North), Cambridge, Solomons Island, Smith Island (almost to the VA line), Slaughter Creek off the Little Choptank River, Herring Bay (South), and then back to Annapolis.

A Saturday morning bottle of Vueve

Heading South from Annapolis


Riding bikes to Deale, MD

Why we rode our bikes! This is Skipper's Pier.

We dragged a line for most of our trip. Fish on!

This is a 26" Striped Bass aka Rockfish. We also caught two that were 20" each. We thought that they needed to be 28" to keep so we threw them back. Turns out that they need to be between 18" and 28" to keep. That is very disappointing as this is a very good eating fish! Oh well...next time!

We took a ride into town in Cambridge! Jaye, our driver was a hoot!

Testing out a folding bicycle along the bulkhead.

This is a lighthouse marking the Choptank River. Maryland's own Leaning Tower of Pisa!

Thermal regulating!

Sunset at Solomon's Island

Navigating to Smith Island. Charts, GPS, and Binos are a must for a trip on the Chesapeake.

We anchored 2 NM off of Smith Island. With no electric hookup to power the fans, we put up the wind scoop to harvest a 12 knot breeze which kept us very cool.

Sunset on Slaughter Creek. So calm, so peaceful, you would never know that we would wake up to 4' waves and a stiff breeze on the nose that we had to beat into as we had to begin our Journey North.

Steve had a blast catching Maryland Blue Crabs!

Some rough conditions...getting the rails wet!

Only heeling 40-45 degrees!

We did this for several hours and it was very tiring!

Heading back to Annapolis on our last day, we were greeted by the start of the Annapolis to Newport race. We saw the start for all classes. This is the 100' super max class. These boats are ridiculous!

This is one of the super max boats. Notice how many people are on the rail (you can click on the picture to enlarge it). This boat came in third on corrected time.

This week was certainly ranked in the best birthday gift ever category. I am so thankful to Eileen for this generous gift of time and to Steve for helping her to make it happen. I will never forget this week on the Bay.

Single-handed 5-7-2011

After a rough week at work, I took the opportunity to head out for a sail. Winds were pretty steady at 7-10 knots with some occasional puffs to 14 knots. I enjoyed some lunch and some blue light specials during my 17.3 NM journey! Great day to be out on the water.

Heading toward Thomas Point Lighthouse at 4.9 knots

This is Thomas Point Lighthouse, about 6 or 7 miles South from Annapolis

A video of my approach to TPL:

Leaving TPL to stern:

Prem Veena, a container ship from Singapore anchored just outside the shipping channel

229 meters by 32 meters (751 foot LOA, 105' Beam, just under 83,000 Tons dead weight)

Here is a video of Prem Veena:

First Sail 4.30.2011

Last Saturday, Eileen and I went for a quick sail before she headed to Denver. When we reached the mouth of the Severn River, we were greeted by 18+ knots of wind, a little more than I was expecting. Eileen took the helm and I quickly reduced sail. Although it was a bit chilly and windy, it was certainly great to be out on the Bay!

After furling the head sail, we sailed East under Main only. Still an impressive speed at 6.5 knots!

This is pretty fast for Domingoman! 7.8 knots is about 1.3 knots above hull speed.

Hydro Therapy 4.26.2011

Not our first sail of the season, but certainly our first time away from the dock! It was a beautiful evening, but the wind was blowing like stink on the bay. I clocked 23 knots true, too much for Domingoman! We motored through Back Creek, around the marker and headed up Spa Creek toward downtown. Before we headed out, we enjoyed salads from The Main Ingredient and a 1996 bottle of Bordeaux that I brought back from Paris in 2002! I was saving it for a special occasion and tonight was it! We had some much needed alone time on the water.

At dock before we headed out

The Naval Academy at sunset

Downtown in the distance

Gaining on it...

Our first time on Ego Alley. We passed by Pusser's to port and there were a lot of people dining on the dock. We were the only ones crazy enough to be out I guess! St. Anne's steeple with the sun setting behind it was neat for us to see. We just love our church home!

Ready for Sailing 4.22.2011

Well here she is all dressed up and no place to go. It is a very damp 50 degrees with spotty rain. Believe it or not, Leah and I are still thinking about going out for a quick sail. We'll see if that happens or not!

Launch Day 4.21.2011

Domingoman awoke from her long winter's nap and hit the water today, actually the exact same date as last year! After work, Leah and Abby helped me transport from the launch dock to our slip. What a joy it was just to motor through Back Creek to B dock!

Abby wasn't so sure at first, but when we were safely in the slip, she started to explore!

My newest grandson was aboard as well!!!


One year later! Check out the post on 4.23.2010 for a comparison!

Abby helping Cappy navigate. When I asked her if she liked the boat, Abby said "it's great!"

Domingoman in her slip, still a bit naked as she has no sails or bimini top yet. That is a job for this weekend!