by Judy Handley | Nov 8, 2012 | Passage to South Carolina, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 5, Year 8: On to Annapolis
Date: Thursday, November 8, 2012
Weather: Overnight, 40 degrees F; Overcast, Then Mix of Clouds and Sun, 57
degrees F
Wind: Windier Than Expected-WNW 10-15, Turning NNW 20-25 with Higher Gusts
Latitude: 38 58.521 N
Longitude: 076 28.993 W
Location: Annapolis City Basin, Annapolis, MD
We were on the move again today. We left Chesapeake City at 8 am. There
was no snow overnight as predicted and today it was windier than predicted,
but it was actually a great sailing day once we got out of the canal and
could head downwind. It was a fifty mile day and we got here before 5 pm
with plenty of daylight left to get settled in. We only had a one day
weather delay, so life is good. We have made a decision to not take the
extra time to somehow get to Washington, DC, for my friend Sue’s wedding
reception on Saturday night. We had really hoped to do this, but the
weather has taken its toll on us and we just can’t think about leaving the
boat and heading inland. We are going to miss the social event of the year,
but our hearts will be with Sue and David. Instead, we have made last
minute connections with friends who are in locations on our route south and
we will visit with them as we stay on track. Tomorrow night we will tie up
to a dock in the Patuxent River in front of the home of Ron and Suzie
Williams. Ron and Mark went to high school together and were both in the
National Guard together in 1960 just out of high school. We have seen them
a few times in the last few years and will enjoy seeing them again tomorrow
night. Then on Saturday night, we will anchor just north of the
Rappahannock River with friends Kevin and Claire. Claire was in graduate
school in Boston and she and Kevin lived on their boat in Shipyard Quarters
just a few slips from us in the two years before we left to sail around the
world. We have continued to get together and we look forward to seeing them
again. On Sunday we move a little closer to Norfolk, and then on Monday we
hope to enter the Intracoastal Waterway to work our way south to Little
River, South Carolina. The trip from Norfolk to Little River will probably
take at least seven days, so reaching our destination before Thanksgiving
means we need to keep on truckin’ and hope for no more weather delays.
Heading down the Chesapeake today brought back memories of the last time we
were here in 2005 at the beginning of our voyage around the world. That
prompted me to look back over my logs to see where we have been at the
beginning of each of the last seven years. The conclusion-We are nomads.
The beginning of each cruising year was not always at the same time of year
as we were moving from one hemisphere to another, but the beginning of each
year has always been the start of a new adventure.
Voyage of Windbird, Year 1, started on October 18, 2005. Just as this year,
we were leaving New England headed south. In 2005 we were headed around the
world. We had an unexpected, extended stay in the Chesapeake as we put a
new engine in Windbird, so this was our home for late October and most of
November.
Voyage of Windbird, Year 2, started on April 25, 2007. We were in New
Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere, headed back to the islands of the South
Pacific. Because the cyclone season there is the opposite of ours, the
cruising year started in their fall.
Voyage of Windbird, Year 3, started on May 10, 2008 as we were leaving
Bundaberg, Australia headed north up the inside of the Great Barrier Reef
to northern Australia and then on to Indonesia. Again, we were starting out
in the fall of the year in the southern hemisphere.
Voyage of Windbird, Year 4, started on October 24, 2008. We had just
arrived in Singapore and were getting ready to head further north to
Malaysia and Thailand. We were back in the Northern Hemisphere, so our year
started in the fall as we know it here.
Voyage of Windbird, Year 5, started on October 26, 2009. We were heading
back to Malaysia to begin our sail to Thailand, on to India, south to the
Maldives and Chagos, and then west to Madagascar and South Africa.
Voyage of Windbird, Year 6, started on October 25, 2010, with our arrival in
South Africa. We had completed our Indian Ocean crossing and were beginning
a period of waiting for summer weather to arrive in South Africa so we could
begin the 6,000 mile trip back to the Caribbean.
Voyage of Windbird, Year 7, started on November 9 of last year. It was our
first day in our new winter location at Fiddler’s Cove Marina. It was the
beginning of our first land-based year since 2004.
Voyage of Windbird, Year 8, started just five days ago on November 4, 2012.
This year is our year of experimenting with the idea of moving Windbird
south for the winter and then back north for the summer. Stay tuned for the
results of this experiment. If it works, we will probably be right back
here this time next year. One thing is for sure, this experiment has put us
on the move once again.
by Judy Handley | Nov 7, 2012 | Passage to South Carolina, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 4, Year 8: Sitting Still
Date: Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Weather: Overcast with Temps in the Low 40’s F; Protected from the Wind
Location: Schaefer’s Marina, C&D Canal, Chesapeake City, MD
Sitting still is not something Mark and I do very well, but we managed to
fill our day of waiting here for the weather to clear with boat tasks that
needed to be done. With the help of the marina staff, we moved Windbird
this morning so we could have water and electricity. I used the water to
spray down the outside of the boat and clean the bottom of the dinghy. It
was in the water all summer and fall except for the three days it was on
land during Hurricane Sandy. Then it was back in the water and hoisted up
on the deck just a few minutes before we left Woods Hole on Sunday morning.
We painted the bottom with a bottom paint last spring and it did the job.
There was absolutely no growth on it. But there was about a three-inch wide
strip adjacent to the painted bottom that was grimy. So I scrubbed that as
well. Then I spent the rest of the day putting away the two bags of canned
goods that I bought last week and just left sitting as I had no time to deal
with it. While I was at it, I reorganized the canned food storage area.
Mark spent a frustrating day trying to find yet another fresh-water leak and
trying to get one of our bilge pumps working. He wasn’t successful on
either count, so those tasks will have to be tackled again on another day.
The weather report says we are getting 25 to 30 knot winds right now but we
are feeling none of that as we are so protected here. It also says the
outside temperature will get down into the 30’s tonight and feel more like
23 degrees F with the wind chill. Our outside thermometer says it is 40
right now, so I’m sure it will get down into the 30’s during the night. Our
little heater is keeping the inside temperature in the 60’s, so we are doing
fine. The same weather report shows that the gusting winds that were
forecast for the Chesapeake Bay tomorrow are not going to happen. It looks
like it should be a great day for sailing down to Annapolis, so we’ll wait
for the marina staff to get here in the morning to help us get off the dock
and head on to the Chesapeake. We are going to move quickly, stopping in
Annapolis tomorrow night, Solomons in the Patuxent River on Friday night, an
anchorage just north of the Rappahannock on Saturday night, and then on to
Norfolk on Sunday to start our trip down the Intracoastal Waterway. So
onward we go.
by Judy Handley | Nov 6, 2012 | Passage to South Carolina, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 3, Year 8: Arrival in Chesapeake City, Maryland
Date: Tuesday, November 6, 2012-Election Day
Weather: Clear Overnight, Overcast Then Partly Sunny Late Day; Temp in 40’s
Wind: Windy–NNE 18-20 knots during the night; NE 17-18 all day
Latitude: 39 31.819 N
Longitude: 075 48,900 W
Location: Schaefer’s Marina, C&D Canal, Chesapeake City, MD
After a night and day of bucking winds and seas in the Delaware Bay, we are
securely side-tied to a dock in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. In
season, this is a marina with a restaurant, but right now it is deserted
except for us and the gentleman who promptly came to collect marina fees.
We have no water or electricity, but still we are paying $1.00 a foot for
the protection. Since the winds here are predicted to be 25 to 30 with
gusts to 40 tomorrow, we’ll take it. We will probably be here until Friday.
I guess we’ll just have to see how things look on Thursday morning and
decide then whether or not to continue on into the Chesapeake or wait until
Friday for fairer weather. The forecast is for windy weather through
Thursday, with dipping temps and possible snow. We have our generator
running on the back deck and have our heater plugged into that. It is 67
degrees in here and 43 outside, but I’m not convinced that the little heater
will be able to keep up once the temperature outside dips and the winds
start to blow. But we won’t freeze. It just might not be as comfortable as
we would like. Not only do we not have electricity and water here, there is
no public radio reception. And on election night, that is close to
disastrous. We do have phone service, so we will use it to connect to the
internet and listen to the returns via live streaming on WCAI, our Cape and
Islands public radio station. We tried live video streaming, but our
connection is not strong enough for that.
I’ll back up a bit and talk about our arrival in the Delaware Bay last night
and our subsequent trip up the bay. From Atlantic City to Cape May there
are so many flashing red lights that it looks a bit like an airport runway.
Around 11 pm, the moon rose and gave us even more light for our entry into
the bay. We turned to enter just before 2 am and immediately found
ourselves bashing into headwinds and seas. It was a sloppy night as
Windbird bucked her way up the Delaware Bay. It was like riding a bucking
bronco and the ride continued until about 9 am this morning when the winds
finally turned from the North to the Northeast. Windbird had been dipping
her bow into the waves and coming up with water that poured over the deck,
sometimes with enough force to actually lift the back of the dinghy (tied on
deck).. Thankfully when the winds shifted to the NE, all calmed down. We
had a little hitchhiker, maybe a yellow warbler, who tried in vain to get
into the cockpit and finally settled on the mainsail sheet on the back deck.
Even she knew things were fine once the wind shifted and she flew away. We
were dry inside the cockpit enclosure despite the amount of water being
thrown over the deck, and we were warm with our many layers of clothing.
Let’s see-two long-sleeved shirts, a polar fleece vest, a heavy wool
sweater, a polar fleece jacket with a hood, a wind breaker, and finally a
foul-weather jacket. With jeans and heavy wool socks, the layers worked to
keep us warm. When the wind is howling and there is no sunshine, even
inside the cockpit enclosure, it feels cold. On top of all those layers, we
then wrap ourselves in polar fleece blankets. We didn’t get a photo of all
this, but I’m sure we’ll get another chance as it is supposed to stay ‘cool’
as we head south down the Chesapeake.
by Judy Handley | Nov 5, 2012 | Passage to South Carolina, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 2, Year 8: Passage to Cape May, New Jersey, Day 2
Date: Monday, November 5, 2012
Weather: Totally Overcast AM, Partly Sunny PM; Temp 47 degrees F
Wind: N18-20 Gusting to 23 Knots Overnight; Turning NW 12-15 Mid-day
Latitude: 39 24.913 N
Longitude: 073 55.053 W
Location: Off-shore Little Egg Inlet, New Jersey
Just as Herb on South Bound II told us yesterday afternoon, around 7 pm last night the weather changed drastically. The front went through and the wind shifted to the NNW blowing 15-23 knots all through the night. The engine went off and the sailing began. With the switch in the winds, the seas started coming from NW which hit us on the starboard hind quarter. There were periods of 15-18 knots, then periods of 18-23. Most of the time we were on a beam reach, so it was a rowdy night and morning. Around noon today, things settled a bit. The wind is still coming from the NNW but it is down to 10-15 which makes for a much nicer beam reach ride. In addition to the rowdiness last night, the temperature was miserable. Actually the temperature has stayed around 47, but with the 20 knot winds blowing under the cockpit enclosure, it was VERY cold. We wrapped in blankets and made it just fine, but it is not our favorite way to sail. IF the wind stays as it is currently we will reach the Cape May before sunrise and enter the Delaware Bay. The nor’easter that was coming is predicted to much stronger than expected with possible hurricane force winds along the coast, so we are going to as fast as we can to get into the Chesapeake Bay and hope things are better there. This afternoon Herb said the high winds will arrive on Wednesday morning. We should either be in Chesapeake City or in the northern Chesapeake Bay if we decide to just keep going. That will depend on weather reports we get between now and then.
Note: We just had a scare with the auto pilot. We were swinging from 120 to 320 degrees. We finally figured it out. The remote control was low on battery power. Once we took it below and plugged it in, things have been fine. Whew! I really didn’t want to hand steer tonight!
by Judy Handley | Nov 4, 2012 | Passage to South Carolina, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 1, Year 8: Passage to Cape May, New Jersey, Day 1
Date: Sunday, November 4, 2012
Weather: Beautiful Day, Temp in the mid-50’s, Winds W 5-15
Latitude: 41 57.063 N
Longitude: 071 27.903 W
Location: South of Block Island
Slishy, sloshy, wishy, washy . . . that’s how I would describe our current forward motion. Unexpectedly the wind has been on the nose all day, coming from just South of West. We thought it was going to be WNW, moving to NW and then N, but not so. The swell is coming from the SW and it is not exactly regular. We get a couple of greater than one meter waves, a bunch of smaller ones, and then the larger ones again. And the seas are increasing as I write this log. It is a lumpy, bumpy ride as we head southward. We left Woods Hole at 7:15 am and hobby-horsed our way down the Vineyard Sound for the next three hours. Once out to sea, the ride eased a bit. For the most part the day has been uneventful, but not entirely. Right off the bat we discovered that the button you push on the cockpit display to engage the auto pilot was not working. Thankfully we have the remote control for the auto pilot and we are using that. Then when we tried to unfurl the headsail we discovered that we had left too much of the furling line wrapped around the furler after securing the lines for Hurricane Sandy, so we are motor sailing with a full main and a deeply reefed head sail. Since the winds are directly on the nose, we have been motoring all day to keep up the speed. We do need to reach Cape May by Tuesday morning and try to get through the Delaware Bay to Chesapeake City on Tuesday night before the heavy winds begin on Wednesday morning. Windbird is in what I call tanker-mode as she plows into these increasing seas and head winds. It is not the most comfortable ride, but we are making decent progress and feel secure. The west winds are pushing us too far to the east, but Herb on South Bound II told us this afternoon that a front is passing and in about four hours from now we should start getting winds from the NW gradually working around to the NE sometime tomorrow. As that happens we will be able to turn more to the west. One thing we must note–We are truly appreciating the cockpit enclosure. Without it, it would be a cold, wet ride.
