Christmas Sailing
One of the joys of sailing in the Chesapeake Bay Area is that there are few times during the year when you can’t sail. Hence, sailing on Christmas Day has been something I’ve done almost as long as I’ve owned a boat. This year, I was a day off. Christmas Day, high gusts were expected. Since my passengers were going to be my young granddaughters, I chose to wait a day.
I’ve missed this. Between my husband’s cancer, engine issues, and wonky weather, I’ve sailed this year less than any year except last.
Winds are perfect, about 10-12 it’s. Temperature, with wind chill, is chilly, but not unbearable. I’m listening to my podcasts, which I never seem to have the time to catch up with. But they’re just background noise; I’m not paying really close attention.
I’ve brought some of my instruments along, but haven’t broken them out yet. Problem is that this chilly weather will make it hard to keep them in tune.
So I listen to my podcasts, the engine, the water lapping against the boat. And sometimes I turn off everything electomechanical and just listen to the water.
It’s calming. I’m hoping I will leave, as I have so many times before, better to handle the stresses onshore.
My First Raft-Up: Part Deux
A sailboat, a cabin cruiser and a power boat met in a bar….
Well, not really. But they did get together for Labor Day weekend to raft up in Mobjack Bay. This is part 2 of our story.
As you recall from part 1, I did a lot of maneuvering after I got the anchor down, trying to get the sailboat parked next to the cabin cruiser, which was already anchored. So getting the anchor up took a lot of time, because there was a lot more line laid out than was really necessary. In fact, I’m glad there wasn’t much current or winds while were were there. Because it seems were were just relying on the cruiser’s anchor. The good thing? That anchor had set well, so it took a bit to get it up.
After we got the anchor up, we started following the cruiser, who had a destination in mind. From the East River, our current anchorage, to the Severn, our new anchorage, it was almost straight across the bay. We kept behind the cruiser about 2/3rds the way across. Then they got ahead of us. No problem. We had a good idea where they were going to be – we thought. This time, though, we had Jodi’s husband marked on Google Maps. So we found the cruiser.
This time, we set the anchor and let out enough line to put us able to swing towards the cruiser. And I just floated over. Piece of cake!
I later did check for other ways of doing this. Other people suggested that you just needed to have one boat anchored. Still others suggested that you get rafted up, then send someone out on a dinghy with your anchor and set it. I’ll have to try one of those next time.
Rafting up was easy. What I did have a problem with was the kayak. I’d towed it behind us on the way over, rather than deflate then re-inflate it. But maneuvering to get us rafted up, I got the line wrapped around the rudder. So I put on my swimsuit and jumped in the water. Luckily, I have long legs and could reach with my feet to the other side of the keel. I pulled, then used my toes to pull the line from between the keel and the boat, pulled some more, and kept this up until I had the line untangled. Next time, I’ll pull the kayak in tight before starting to anchor.
After we got all set up, Maria said she was running low on ice. In addition, the power boat needed more gas. So we found the number for the nearby marina, called to make sure they’d still be open, then headed over to Severn Yachting Center. The owner met us, got us the gas we needed then took us over to the office to pay for it and get the ice.
There was a pool right outside the office. Maria, Steve and Jodi took a quick dip an said it was wonderful. We talked to the guy about what repair services he had available since it seemed everyone was still behind in repair work, even this late in the season. Sounded like he had a pretty well-rounded crew. But he, too, said he had about a 2 week waiting list. We might just have to check him out sometime!
That night was rough. We must not have pulled the boats as tightly together as we had the night before, because I kept feeling the banging of fenders throughout the night. I moved from the V-Berth into the aft bed and I could finally get some sleep!
In the morning, the fridge, again, was not working. Seems we again had run the battery down. Doing some diagnostics and getting that fixed was put on my list of ‘to do’ items.
What was working was the hot water! I had a marvelous shower. And the nice thing about this quick trip is that I could have a leisurely one and not worry about water shortage.
After showering and providing the ‘neighbors’ with hot water for tea and coffee, I packed up and got ready to head back. Once I was done, Steve jumped aboard to help with the anchor. Jodi started up the power boat and followed. Once the anchor was up, Jodi pulled up beside the swim platform and Steve jumped over.
I debated taking the ‘shortcut’ back. The shortcut allows you to get from Mobjack to the York River without going around all the shallows between the two. But the channel is quite shallow and I didn’t want to take the chance of getting stuck. So I put up the mainsail and motorsailed back.
The trip back was uneventful until I reached the power plant that marks the channel to Wormley Creek Marina. There, I saw a huge number of dolphins! It’s always fun to see a dolphin when sailing. But it must be baby season because there were more than a dozen of the creatures having a good ole’ time!
