Yesterday was fantastic. My oldest boy is just back from working at a dude ranch this summer, and like music to my ears, he asked to go sailing. I couldn’t think of a better idea. He got no protest from this old sailor. We went and had one of those rare August days, easy temps, good breeze, and a lunch in the cooler. Darn near perfect.

Cowboy

We’re still struggling with getting Luna out of her berth when driving NE winds force her back in. This go-round we used our small 2hp Honda thinking its ability to swivel 180 degrees would provide reversing action and drag us out of the slip. Initially successful, the progress degraded as the wind won by grabbing the stern. We had no real steerage. So, like last outing we docked on the outer berth, but this time with jib and jigger we slipped to weather past a crumbling wharf and into the clear.

“Dory”: a Cape Dory 28

Aside from a marina mate, “Dory”, there were no boats out there. With winds 12-15 kts we rushed out of East River on a run, jibed and sailed to port out past New Point. There it got windy (18-20 kts) and lumpy quick. The standing NE wind bucked outgoing tide producing short, quick 6′ seas. Reefing the main settled things down. Dropping the main altogether may have been a better decision. After 20 minutes of taking our lumps, we turned back into Mobjack and reached far up into the Ware River. Pretty. I look forward to seeing this river in the Fall.

siesta

As we turned, the crew was quick to catch up on shut eye.

The reach was strong across Mobjack into Ware River.

wet decks

sweet rig

slicing through

 

colorful

 

my good buddy

The day ended with a beat back up the East River watching the sunset. As I said, a fantastic day.

no complaints.

One evening in Maine at the Small Reach Regatta, I got the opportunity to introduce my girl to some of the “riff-raff”. Only after walking away from some introductions did I hear my buddy Mike say, “There goes a patient lady”. I laughed, and then, I didn’t. What was he implying? I think I know. I’m blessed.

More recently, over the past10 days I’d been watching for a weather window and saw predictions for a day that seemed ideal for August in Virginia. 82 degrees, sunny with NE winds at 5-10 mph. I wanted things to be as perfect as they could to introduce my number 1 girl to girl number 2. As luck would have it, the winds were virtually non existent, but the acquaintance was made and I think a friendship struck. Guess they’ll start trading tales?

my cowgirl and Luna.

Our actual moments of sailing were fleeting.  Several porpoise entertained us as we drifted up river. They were chasing bait fish along our way. For the most part, it was a flat day, but … on a boat … no harm.

Dwindling breeze

To be enjoyed, the outing demanded patience. You had to pause and take in the lovely view. Luna made the best out of the wisps of air. She continually impresses. Like Una, her hull is so easily driven. And just like a dinghy, Luna is small enough that shifting our bodies to leeward helps shape the sails. That’s all she needed. She loves to sail.

Schedules intruded calling us back home mid afternoon. No sooner had we tied to the dock, the breeze began to fill in. Still, all in all it was a pleasant afternoon. I’m glad the girls met. As always, it’s tough to leave either.

Office view toward Mobjack Bay.

 

The heat dropped and the couple days of rain gave way to a strong NE wind this past Saturday. We decided to go sailing. With my two youngest boys as crew, we hitched up UNA and a couple kayaks and headed down to Mobjack to see Luna. Coaxing her from her berth posed a problem. Winds were in the upper teens and pinned us into the slip. Our little engine that can, a 5.5 hp Seagull ( yes, that’s the original one), couldn’t on this day as she has no reverse. Never did. We had to warp Luna from her berth to an outer pier 2 slips down.

Prior to first attempt.

With a hardy shove of the bow to windward and full forward throttle engaged we headed out, or so we thought. The wind would not allow Luna to take her bow to weather and we glided back past our slip and headed for the rocks. I immediately cut the engine and ran forward to jump from the bow onto the marina’s rip-rap saving us from striking. Somehow we avoided any damage (other than ego). Not a scratch. We coaxed Luna back in a vacant slip. That is something impossible to have said with a 42′ boat. 6,500 # is a far cry from Emily’s 22,000#.  Undeterred, we sat and pondered for 30 minutes or so before the next attempt.

The pondering pause. Seagull ready. Nice stem!

I figured not only had we not gotten past the eye of the wind, but we really had no steerage.This time we waited for a momentary wind decrease, got the engine rolling, slingshot the stern with her docile while a stronger shove of the bow passed it through the eye and we were free. (I’m still not satisfied with this technique ad will figure out a better answer). Once out in the river we raised the mizzen and jib to sail up river. I’ve said it before, but I’m continually amazed at the increased cruising grounds in a boat that only draws 4′. We scouted both the east and western branches of the East River. Selecting the western end, we dropped anchor in the mouth of Woodas Creek.

Fetch up Woods Creek. Perfect evening.

There was still enough fetch to the NE to allow for knocking down bugs. We swam, scrubbed the bottom (the Hydrocoat is performing well), had cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, “dined” on black beans and rice, played cards, and watched the sun set.

First mate and mate 1.1.

A good find in Maine from Texas.

Mate 1.1 beat the skipper in gin. How he did it with 5 aces, I don’t know. Incredible. First mate had hurt his back. He mostly lay in the cockpit reading. Accordingly his rank was in jeopardy. He didn’t seem to mind.

Sancho Panza and First Mate taking his siesta.

1.1 exudes his winning card playing smugness.

Wonderful scenery.

Dropping sun.

W.T. Kirkman in action.

We all slept well. The evening was cool. Luna’s deep ballast hardy gives notice to the slight wavelets pushing down the creek. One sailor berthed in the cockpit on an air mattress and 2 slumbered below. For some reason I awoke at 1:00 am and caught sight of a brilliant falling star.

In general, I could forgo much of summer as I prefer the Spring and Fall for sailing, but that’s not nearly enough time, so we make amends for the summer. Here in Virginia, it can get hot enough to burn your hide in short order. In fact two days ago it was 99 degrees F and humid, just down right sweaty. (Try Texas you say? Yep, lived in Houston for a couple of years. Nice brisket, but five months of August). To add insult to summer sailing here, if your evening holding ground is in the wrong place and time, the “squitos” and “no-see-‘um” come looking for you. Sometimes all of them. To handle the day, you can slather on goo and wear a sombrero to avoid a burn. Now the end of the day requires a fair wind anchorage, shade from an awning, a cool swim with fresh water rinse, and a cold drink(s) to make everything right. It is possible. And, as long at there is a breath of air to knock down the bugs, even the hotter nights can be made comfortable with just a sheet and a small 12v fan. I particularly like the Caframo fans. They have a low draw, are quiet, and really push the air. I’ve used them for years. I now carry a couple on LUNA.

Essentially, there is a fine edge between doing summer sailing right or wrong. Perhaps I’ll post on LUNA’s small improvements like a new auto bilge pump, a bigger Ah battery, and a better electrical distribution panel later. Though I didn’t feel like my boat was really ready to go overnight, I gladly took up an opportunity to sail with Curt and Doug on Mobjack along with their Drascombe and Shrimper.

Annie and Tidings

I sailed for just over one night. Curt writes of their extended trip here.

Mobjack Bay offers four significant rivers worthy of exploration: the Severn, Ware, North and East. Several lesser rivers and bays also exist, but may be better for cooler temps. Our trip started, stopped, and started from the East River. Doug returned for a cooler. I for a bag of groceries and to swap the mainsail cover I mistook for an awning. Finally organized and together, we took a good swim to kill the early afternoon heat. As the breeze built from the south, we decided to sail up the Ware and anchor behind Windmill Point ( a common name on the Bay).  This seemed just open enough and secure towards Roans Wharf.

Here are two clips of LUNA’s windward action. It is near impossible to get her rail in the water. She hits a point where she digs in her shoulder and holds there. Still,  you can drag your hand in her wake as she slips along. Add to that her full keel tracks like she is on rails. All done gently, all with purpose, and up tempo. She is, first and foremost, a sailboat and I love that purity.

… and as the breeze stiffened:

Curt and Doug explored portions of the North River before catching back up with us. My late afternoon at anchor involved more swimming, some reading (napping under the awning), and a little straightening up of the cabin. No offense to UNA, but having the ability to leave the cabin junked up is nice. She’ll be rewarded with a sail in Maine this summer, if not here sooner.

Annie and Tidings rafted up with us later. We swam again until sunset. Doug explained that what I’d been calling horse flies were actually Geenheads which were attracted to motion and CO. so. don’t move or breathe when these nasty bugs are out. If they were around after a few ice cold beers, I didn’t notice. Generally, we enjoyed the evening. Without the moon, the stars came out in force and the night cooled off as we broke up to sleep. Waking up to the rumble of a dead rise skiff the next morning was the most gentle way to be roused from one’s berth.

The breeze was fickle early on, but enough showed for my favorite sailing to windward back up the East River and home. I had to pull out LUNA’s 12′ sweep to get there, but it was worth the short rowing. Top speed to reach the wind maybe 1.5 kts of consistent effort. DORY was leaving the marina as we sailed and got this shot.

Photo by Barbara from her boat DORY.

Overall, the sailing was good, the company great, and as always I’m ready to go again.