Catching Up
So much to write about! I thought of separating this in to different posts (to look like I’d written this over time). But that would be silly.
So….
Taking the Boat Down for Cock Island
I decided to take the boat over in two hops this time, rather than on long one. It was a mixed blessing doing so. The first day, we left about 3 in the afternoon, expecting to make the halfway point (Salt Ponds), within 5 hours. The weather prediction was for gale force winds, and, of course, I was nervous. But Steve had driven about an hour down to take the boat with me. And, not doing it in that time meant a long day on Friday. Steve checked the York River from Yorktown and called it good, so we set out.
Mistake of course. At least 3 hours while we were out there, there were heavy winds and 4-5′ waves. I wasn’t too nervous. I’d taken the time to roll in the jib and reef the main, so I was feeling in control. Bad part was the last hour and a half, when we had driving rain, lightening, and thunder.
Steve N., who was meeting us at Salt Ponds, to take us home for the evening, found a local, thank goodness! who could give us directions on how to get into the marina. Since it was now dark and visibility was poor, we appreciated his advice!
Friday was a dream. Not alot of wind and sailing, but very relaxing. Steve, his sister, Bethany, and her boyfriend, Larry, helped me get the boat the rest of the way into Portsmouth, where we docked right next to Steve R’s Excelsior.
Being next to the main party boat at Cock Island is a mixed blessing. Being next to the main party boat at Cock Island and having your moms come in to watch you race, well, it keeps you sober a bit longer. 😀
Cock Island Race
We ran a beautiful race! We started on time (hooray)! The winds were perfect. We flew the whole time. Mind you, we didn’t come in last, so we did okay. But the sailing was perfect, no matter what the outcome!
Going Home
Alex called the dockmaster at the private marina where he lives and was able to find us a slip for the week. So, going home we were able to break it up into two slices again. The first slice was the Saturday following Cock Island and the second that Sunday.
Jodi, her daugher, Shannon, Paul and Grant helped me take the boat from Portsmouth to Salt Ponds. Erik and I took it the rest of the way to Wormley Creek. Saturday was very relaxing. Wind kept shifting, so sailing was a challenge, but it was a good day on the water. Sunday was another wavy and windy day. Unfortunately, we were fighting the waves most of the time, so using the engine to make progress was the better bet.
All in all, though, it was a marvelous week.
Maybe it was an Omen
… that I put the link in about the learn to sail in gusts link. That’s just what happened yesterday.
The weather was perfect for sailing! Breeze was nice. It was a little on the cool side, but not enough to be uncomfortable. We’d been out a couple of hours and were just about to turn back to the docks when BAM! A gust came and knocked us over about 35 degrees. Not much, if you’re a racer, I know – I’ve been at bigger tilts when racing. But this came out of nowhere! Everything inside the boat that wasn’t locked down went from port to starboard. The boat spun til it was facing a windward direction, then stayed pretty stationary. It was still rocking in the wind, but not quite that bad.
I first tried to pull down the mainsail. I got it partway down and it stuck. I couldn’t at the time figure out what was wrong. Debbie, my one passenger, I told to try to bring the jib in. It’s on a roller furler, so I showed her how to haul it in. But the wind was too strong and she couldn’t do it.
I finally got the mainsail reefed in (still couldn’t get it all the way down), and started the motor. I turned the boat slightly off the headwind, since directly in took us into a crabpot minefield. Debbie took over at the helm. I pulled in the jib, then took over the helm and headed back into port.
We were on a broad reach heading back in. With the main reefed, and the engine on minimal, we were still doing about 6.5 knots. The waves were coming in parallel to us, and growing.
Yeah, the waves. There were ripples on the water most of the time we were out. There were still ripples when this storm hit us. By the time we neared Wormley Creek (home), the waves were about 2 foot high.
Wormley Creek is sheltered. In fact, you really can’t tell what the weather will be like on the York River sitting there at the docks. In this case, it was a good thing. I knew, when I brought the boat in, I could take care of whatever I couldn’t in that weather.
When we got in, I saw that the main halyard had wrapped itself around the spreader. That’s why I couldn’t take it down. First lesson – follow the entire line when trying to figure out why it won’t move. That’s no saying that I could have gotten it unwrapped out there. That would have required holding the line tighter as I tried to bring down the sail. But at least I would have known why it wasn’t moving.
Second lesson? Well, I’m going to hope some more knowledgeable sailors can tell me how I could have predicted this, or was it a fluke?
Weather report – land: 5 – 10 mph winds; marine: 10 – 15 knots, with gusts of 20 late in the afternoon in the bay. Sky: partly cloudy when we headed out. Overcast most of the sail. But the sky was a light, even color, almost as if we were staring up at fog. No dark spots – no dark spots ever. That I would have known was a storm heading our way. And, as I mentioned, the waves didn’t pick up until after the winds had started getting strong.
The online buoy report doesn’t work for that part of the river. The only report I can get is from the buoy closer to the mouth of the bay. The weather report I get for that portion of the bay tends to be less favorable than I find conditions on the river, although I won’t venture out if the words small craft advisory appear.
And the whole time, I kept repeating my mantra: sailboats are stable, sailboats are stable. I have 4 tons under me and it will take alot to tip it over.
[Top]Tropical Storms
Tropical Storm Hanna is on her way. As I write this, she’s just off the coast of South Carolina and expected to make landfall. She’s expected to give us 20 – 55 mph winds (depending on the current forecast) and a 2 – 4 ft. tide surge.
First notice I received that I needed to consider doing something about my boat was from the marina. They have a list of owners who want their boats hauled out immediately in case of a hurricane. That means they’ll be the ones getting first dibs on the space available. Since Hanna wasn’t (isn’t) expected to be that strong, there wasn’t going to be an automatic haul-out. But they would take it out of the water if I wished. I didn’t think it was necessary.
Next notice was an email from my insurers, BoatUS, who suggested I read about Named Storms in my policy. Okay. Here goes…
The applicable deductible amount showin on the Declarations Page will be subtracted from each loss. It will not apply in the event of a total or constructive total loss.
However, in the event of any loss caused directly or indirectly by a storm named by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and if your bot is located in the state of VA, FL (and about 1/2 a dozen other states)
…. blah blah blah….
Basically, the deductible is bigger if NOAA deems the storm namable. You can reduce that amount if you have the boat on dry land and it’s lashed down and the sails are removed.
What to do, what to do.
Next I heard from Dave, who suggested I add extra lines to hold my boat, lashing down the boom, and removing the sails. Of any advice I receive, I tend to put Dave’s first.
So, Thursday night, I headed over and talked with some of the other owners who were preparing their boats for the storm. They were tying down their roller furlers, rather than removing the jibs, and doing the same to the mainsails. I did the same. I also lashed the boom to the aft port and starboard cleats. I put all the fenders out. At one owner’s suggestion, I put a line from the transom (I’m parked transom in) to the cleat on the slip a couple away from mine. He said there wouldn’t be anyone around to trip over it (hope he’s right!). So I did that, too.
Now to wait a couple of days and hope it all works well!
[Top]High Winds
Debbie joined my on the boat today. It’s the first time she’s been on and, I think, the first time she’s been on a sailboat this size. I recall her saying that she had sailed before on a yacht. Ah well! To come so far down in the world!
It was quite breezy and choppy. I settled for doing some motoring and bringing out the mainsail, but not the jib.
I’m still pretty nervous when the winds are high. Part of it, I’m sure, was the fated Cock Island trip home. Part of it, too, is that, although I feel comfortable, and actually enjoy, heeling over so the rails on on the water when someone else is in charge, I’m still not comfortable doing it when I am. I know – and keep reminding myself – that a sailboat is quite stable; it takes alot to tip it over. But I still am uncomfortable when I get it at more than a 30 degree angle.
I probably would have been more comfortable, too, if Debbie were a seasoned sailor. But it was one of those occasions when I was going to have to sail it myself, since she was going to not going to understand what to do.
So the trip was short. And I did let her steer for a bit once we got the mainsail down and were headed back to the docks. And I told her next time, hopefully, we’d have more warm bodies to help out, and we’d be able to do more.
