fall 2024 track

Here is the track from the fall sail, from September 29 to October 27, then a few more days in Chestertown for the excellent Sultana Downrigging and Bluegrass Festival.  Hope to start the logs in a couple of days.

where am I???

I received a blog comment asking if I was ok. Not having posted for about a month, the anonymous reader was concerned. Thank you for your concern, everything is ok. In fact life is great. I've been sailing Chesapeake Bay since late September. I am in Chestertown now for the Sultana Downrigging Festival. And after the festival, I will head home. Once home, I will begin publishing the Chesapeake log.

day thirty-three - back to the ramp

A bouncy sleep as the wind swings around to the north in the early morning hours.  Cool and crisp at dawn.  Sail off anchor 7:10.

7:30 round Harriman Point, turn downwind.  I could sail directly to Green Island but instead sail out and around Tinker and Bar Islands.  With great wind, why not?  

9:00, just past Bar Island, turn west toward Green Island.  Wind on the beam, 4.4.

9:30 sail just below Green Island with the little lighthouse.

Perfect weather  to end the cruise, sailing close hauled under bright blue skies.

Begin making a series of tacks between Green Island to the east and Naskeag Point to the west.  

The wind is building as we tack into Herrick Bay.  If I were sailing any farther I would round up and tuck in a reef, maybe both reefs.  Instead I round up and bring down the sails.  Docked 10:40.  The summer cruise is done.

 12.44 NM

day thirty-two - "would you like some coffee?

Some rain overnight, not too much.  Wake at 5:40, a little overcast and gusty.  I can see fog outside of the anchorage.  Having breakfast, I can hear someone paddling nearby.  I look out the boom tent to see a man on a paddle board.  He is surprised to see me.  He was coming over to look at the boat but had not expected to see anyone on board.  We visit for a minute, then his wife arrives on a kayak.  They are out for their morning paddle.  Their home is back in the woods on the point and they paddle most mornings.  "Would you like some coffee?" the man asks.  I have to laugh, I've never been asked that before.  I thank him but say no.

8:35 sail off the mooring, wearing a sweater and drysuit.  Cool and gusty, I wonder if things will get wet.  Making 4.1 out past the little island at the opening of the anchorage.  8:50 tuck in a reef.  As I tie the reef points I wonder if this is the first time I have reefed in 32 days of sailing.  I just can't remember.  9:25 tie in the second reef.

9:25 rounding the point on the southeastern corner of Stinson Neck I cut inside a couple of rocks, fall off downwind.  There are plenty of lobster pot floats there, telling me there should be plenty of water.  I soon hear a clank as the centerboard hits a rock, then the rudder pops up.  I reset the the rudder, check the GPS to see there are in fact two rocks in the little patch of water.  I had just found one, the other one is just ahead.   I quickly jibe to avoid the second.

10:20 downwind wing and wing.  10:30 shake out second reef while crossing Eggemoggin Reach.  

12:30 round the lighthouse on Green Island, plenty of wind and the water is a little choppy.  Jibe and turn to the northwest.  

It is an easy run in calm water.  Still good wind but less gusty.

At Harriman Point round up to shake out the first reef.  Full sail.

My last full day on the water, and I enjoy a just a few more tacks crossing back and forth across Allen Cove.  Anchor down 1:30 Allen Cove just as the skies begin to clear.  

15.49 NM

 

day thirty-one - wandering through the islands

Up at 6:00, clear and calm with a light north wind.  I am uncertain of my destination for the day.  The trip is almost over, in fact I could be back at the ramp before noon if I wanted.  But I have a couple of days before I have to haul out.  So I will explore.

Under power at 7:20, I pause for a few moments to look at ANNIE, a Fenwick Williams yawl that I read about in a sailing magazine years ago and remember to this day.  What a wonderful boat.  

I would like to offload some trash so motor over to the town dock. A man is standing there looking at the boats in the harbor.  He says hello as I tie up.  I ask if there is a trash dumpster up in the parking lot.  "No," he says, "there used to be one but they got rid of it.  All it did was attract trash," he says with a smile.  "So they got rid of it, now no trash."  I thank him for saving me from a walk.  "Why, do you have some trash?  Just give it me, I'll take care of it."  How nice.  I give him two gallon bags of trash and thank him.

Chilly morning, low broken cloud cover.  Sails up 7:50 on Eggemoggin Reach, making 3.4.  8:55 passing Center Harbor.  9:40 less wind near Babson and Little Babson Islands, 2.3.

10:15 sailing off the pier at the Wooden Boat School.  I tack back and for to admire some of the fleet of boats moored nearby, products of the boat building program I am guessing.

There is also a young couple on the modified Sea Pearl SHANTI.  They tell me they have sailed her up from Florida.

We cross the reach and sail between Conary and White Islands, tacking back east past Greenlaw Cove, wind building and making 4.8 but it doesn't feel like it.  We round Crow Island and begin tacking south around Stinson Neck.  Find two currents colliding, rough and unruly waters for a while.  Past Stinson Neck fall off the wind into Southeast Harbor.  

It is a downwind run at 3.1 until the wind suddenly swings to the southwest and becomes very gusty.  We round up and look at going into the Inner Harbor, which is to the south. It doesn't appeal to me.  I look west and see Osprey Point and little unnamed island providing some good protection from the wind.

Sails down, I motor around the rock to find several empty moorings.  I see a man working on his sailboat at a mooring and ask him if those are private moorings.  He says yes, they are all private, though many of them are never even used.  I thank him for the information and turn away to find an anchorage.  He calls me back, tells me the next mooring over is also his, and I am welcome to use it for the night.  I thank him.  Tied to the mooring at 1:50.

19.89 NM

 

day thirty - Eggemoggin Reach

Stillness in the early morning.  Cold, mid 40s, and clear.  Oatmeal and hot chocolate for a leisurely breakfast.  Sail off anchor with hardly a hint of wind.  

Decent breeze at 9:30, 2.4.  10:35 rounding Pickering and Easton Islands.  10:55 wing and wing with Easton Island to port.

11:30 cutting through the shallows that separates Scott Island into two islets, dodging the big rock along the way.  I think I have enough water but still raise the cb and rudder a bit just to make sure.

11:45 more wind, 3.7 to Birch Island.  At noon inside Birch Island.  There's a woman on the porch of her waterfront home and I can hear her singing.

Pass by Pumpkin Island, saying hello to a group of kayakers coming out of the little harbor at Eggemoggin.  12:35 in Eggemoggin Reach, the chilly wind coming right up the reach.

Tacking at 3.3, long tacks using the full width of the reach and then shorter tacks where the waterway narrows at the bridge.  

Under the bridge at 2:00, and lighter wind at 2:30.  The wind fills in again the last two tacks.  It takes me a moment to pick out the Benjamin River, then an easy sail with wind on the beam up the river past the spit on the starboard side.

The basin is filled with boats at their moorings, classic boats that make it feel like I am sailing through a boat museum.  Anchor down just east of the moorings at 3:50.

 19.01 NM

SPOT track link for the fall sail on Chesapeake Bay

Here is the link for the SPOT track for the fall sail on Chesapeake Bay, or you can copy and paste the link below.  The track should got live this coming Sunday or Monday.

https://maps.findmespot.com/s/GGQR

day twenty-nine - downhill run to Stonington

Morning comes with a sky that glows.  Cool and clear, forecast of north winds now that the front has moved through.  5:50 leaving the anchorage behind Green Island.  6:30 wind fills in.

7:05 round up in a little harbor with a town town dock, tie up to get rid of trash and empty the head.  

7:15 under sail and the wind just keeps getting better.

7:40 passing between Bartlett and Hardwood Islands, wind forward of starboard beam and making 5.2.

Fall off downwind keeping Tinker Island to port, 8:30 jibe once we are past Tinker Island.  Can't ask for better sailing.

9:00 jibe to the southwest, doing in 5.9 helped by a rushing ebb tide.  9:30 Eggemoggin Reach to starboard, choppy confused waters as tides collide.  Look up the reach to see three windjammers sailing together.  Beautiful.

Once out of the chop, making 5.3 with wind on the beam and sailing across the ebb tide.  10:50 in Deer Island Thorofare.  11:25 sails down, motoring into Stonington.  Time for lunch, a nice salad, at a restaurant called Crybabies (don't understand the name) and then a glass of iced tea (with high speed wifi on the side) at the coffee shop.

I take a self-portrait.  Not in too bad of shape after three-plus weeks on the water.

2:00 sailing west on the Thorofare, tacking towards Burnt Cove.  I hear there is a grocery store there and a dinghy dock.  And a friend of a friend says I can tie up at his boathouse.  

3:30 Burnt Cove, but can't find a dinghy dock, just private docks.  And it is an extreme low tide, can't get close to the boathouse.  Decide to pass on grocery shopping.

4:00 sailing northie light winds.  Nothing but blue skies and glassy water.

I search Navionics looking for a good spot to anchor.  A gentle sail carries us up behind Sheephead Island.  Anchor down 6:00.

 30.9 NM

day twenty-eight - they almost had me at "margaritas"

Morning forecast says a front is arriving early afternoon, rain in the morning and strong north winds after 12:00.  Maybe this is what Dave was warning me about yesterday.  I check Navionics to see there is a spot just a couple miles away that will give me good protection.

Sail off anchor in a light rain.  Wearing the drysuit with expectations of heavier rain.  2.8 leaving Galley Cove.  

7:15 out on open water with a downwind run to the northeast.  Heavy, steady rain.  7:25 round High Head, now in the lee of the cliffs and trees. 8:10 anchor down inside of Green Island.  Excellent protection from all directions.

What I don't realize is that I have anchored in the middle of a family reunion.  A man named Chris comes out in a small skiff from the island, greets me and asks the question I am routinely asked when in a small boat in the rain:  "Are you ok?"  I tell him I am doing just fine, in fact I am having the time of my life.

He tells me that an extended family owns homes on both the island and the mainland, and they are having a family gathering.  I can expect people coming and going across the water all day long.  And then he asks if there is anything I need.  I tell him a gallon of water would be nice, and give him an empty jug.  

A while later a woman rows out from the island.  She says hello, and then of course "Are you ok?"  I laugh, tell her I am doing fine.  

People come and go all day, young people, older folks, even a young woman swimming back and forth from the island to the mainland.  Kayaks, Boston Whalers and row boats.  Chris comes back early afternoon and drops off the full jug of water.  I thank him.  

Skies have cleared, and the wind has filled in but it is calm tucked in behind the island.  I've got the boat dry and organized.  I read, relax and take a nap.  Put on a fresh set of clothes.

Late afternoon Chris comes out on the pier, asks how I am doing.  He tells me I am welcome to join them for dinner.  I thank him, but tell him I've got to catch up on my logbook.  "And we're having margaritas too!"  I hesitate, think for a moment, then say thank you, but no.  He wishes me a good evening. 

After dark I hear laughter and singing.  I think I hear a piano, I definitely hear guitars.  And a wonderful bluesy voice of a young woman.  It sounded like a fine family reunion.

 2.04 NM

day twenty-seven - fog, a friend and a favorite cove

Morning comes with a thick fog.  After breakfast I hear a voice calling "hello, Virginia."  Looking out the boom tent I see Dave from the neighboring boat COOKIE.  He had taken his dog for a walk on shore, came by to say hello.  We talk about the fog, sailing Maine and anchorages.  He also warns me about high winds in the afternoon.  Later I check the forecast and see nothing that concerns me. 

10:00 fog begins to lift in the anchorage, but still see thick fog out on the open water and can also hear the fog horn from the Swans Island ferry.  10:40 sail off anchor, making a couple of tacks on the anchorage while waiting for the last of the fog to clear.  

Just as I turn to head north I see a woman waving from a sailboat anchored farther out.  I sail by the boat, BAKHITA, and the woman tells me that they saw about exactly like mine anchored at Roque Island a couple weeks earlier.  I tell her that was me.  I visit with her and her husband for a few minutes, then turn north toward Seal Cove.  A few minutes later I receive a text with a nice photograph from BAKHITA.  How nice!

11:30 sailing on Casco Passage, 3.2.  Lighter winds after noon and motor sailing.  More wind and making 1.6 sailing between Bar and Trumpet Islands.

2:45 sail into the mooring field at Seal Cove looking for Bruce's Friendship Sloop LOON, thinking I might take a photograph and send it to him.

I find LOON, take a few photographs, then notice the dinghy tied to the stern.  

I call out for Bruce and his head pops out the companionway, a bit surprised to hear someone calling him.  It takes a moment to recognize me.  I tie up alongside and he gives me the tour of LOON, showing me some working his is doing on the diesel.  We talk his recent sailing and my trip, comparing notes on places we've visited.  

Cast off 3:20.  I sail out around Moosehead, then turn north on a downwind run.  

4:00 making 2.3 east of Hardwood Island.  4:50 better wind and doing 3.5 past Folly and tiny John Island.  

4:50 round Ledges Point on Bartlett Island, then follow the shoreline to Galley Cove, a favorite anchorage from last year's trip.  Anchor down 5:30.

 14.04 NM