I wake to find Curt is already to raise anchor, the horizon glowing red before dawn. Noting it is day ten I put on a new set of clothes, all clean and dry. How nice. Sails up at 6:55 with calm, glassy water. Curt and I motor alongside each other. At Ware Point crabbers are working their pots and the breeze carries the scent of fish as they discard the old bait into the water. A little wind and Curt motors up close and says he has decided to head south. With a wave we say goodbye.
Mixed berry Rx bar, buffalo bar and mango for breakfast. At 7:40 a little southwest breeze. Enter beautiful, winding Broad Creek at 8:00, motor sailing at 3.4 kts. 8:30 I can feel the wind filling in. Out of the creek and on the Little Annemessex 8:30.
We cross the river and round Island Point at 9:10, out out on to Tangier Sound making 3.9.
Wind falls off then fills back in, 4.5. I can see Solomon's Lump Lighthouse across the sound, steady wind and pleasant sailing at 4.5. Lots of pelicans skimming the water, flying in groups of five or six. I pick out a hunting blind on South Marsh Island and steer by that tiny dark speck on the horizon.
Near the south end of South Marsh Island at 11:10, 3.7. Wind falls off just afternoon and I start the outboard. A west wind fills in at12:30, sailing at 2.5. Wind comes and goes, still overcast but a little brighter and warmer.
1:30a nice breeze, 3.3 kts and then 3.8 alongside Bloodsworth Island. Approaching Hooper Strait a gust of wind and gps shows 5.0. Three deadrises out crabbing on the north end of Tangier Sound. Enter the strait at 2:10 and put out a trolling line. It is the calmest crossing of the strait that I have ever had. No fish so I reel in the line. Enter the Honga River as an eagle circles low to port, dips, grabs a fish and flies away. Making 4.5 on the river just after 3:00.
Jibe into Fox Creek at 3:30, anchor down in near a little creek in Crab Point Cove at 3:45. 29.29 NM for the day.
Italian sausage and rice for dinner with a cup of tropical fruit.
Steve, I'm really moved by your photo at the top of the post. Beautiful colors and subject... that wonderful feeling at the start of a sailing day, world full of possibilities. Your composition is also so very elegant - all diagonals and different planes, yet anchored by the mizzen mast. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tom. I like that photo too. Not bad for a cell phone photo before the sun is up.
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