|
Sailing The Chesapeake The sailing adventures on
Aeolus II of West River
Joe McCary
Tuesday August 19th, 2008 This is another non sailing day, but I thought I would update you with the family news. On Saturday, August 9th, Natalie Sutton (webpage) was born. She is doing well and he wife and I are finally home. It has been another big day for me and the crew. Sister Claire is coping well with the competition with mommy time.
Friday August 8th, 2008 (08/08/08) Sudbury, West of Boston MA We have been in Boston area for a week now waiting patiently on THE baby to arrive for my daughter and son-in-law. But NO Baby yet... We have had a wonderful time with my granddaughter, Claire. We have gone to the park most days and watched her as she plays in the sand box and rides down the sliding board and on the swing set. It is great fun. We will be here for another week and hopefully the new baby will arrive soon or we will have to come back later. Another friend is due in Rockport this weekend and I may sneak away for an afternoon this week to visit with him and actually see some boats. So, my non sailing vacation has been fun. It is so good to be with my granddaughter and watch her.
Saturday, July 26th, 2008
One last note, on the way home we stopped for a late (3:30pm) lunch at the Edgewater Green Turtle. While we waited for our waitress I could not help but over hear the discussion at our neighbor's table. Two very happy couples sat and discussed sailboats and what they were getting... I interrupted and asked if they just bought a boat and indeed they had. They were from New Brunswick Canada and just purchased an Irwin 34! It was glorious to see happy faces. I only hope they take a small amount of time to experience some of The Chesapeake Bay's 4,000+ miles of shoreline and wonderful sights. I suggested they come down next fall for a week of glorious sailing and even take in the US Sailboat show in Annapolis in October. It was uplifting to see people who love sailing move up in boats. But hey they are under some disillusion that sailing in Maine is better than our beloved Chesapeake Bay. I hope they enjoy their Mystery!
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 After a week visiting relatives in Mississippi and catching up on work and spending a long weekend shooting a Hall of Fame Golf Tournament and festivities, this was our first chance to get out on the boat. And the future doesn't look much better. Jessie is due with our 2nd granddaughter any time now so it will be off to Boston for those happy times. So, Mary and I decided we should take the time to get out even though the winds were light. We went down in the afternoon and sailed until almost 8pm. We were able to tack out of the river and all the way out to Green #1 but when coming back it seemed to be a race between the sun and wind which would die first. After passing the red #2 we took down the sails and motored in past the racing catamarans as we approached the green #3. We left the dock as the sun was setting. Left, Mary seemed just a bit off. At the right, he Osprey didn't appreciate our passing her perch on the West River, Red #2.
Saturday, June 21st, 2008
Just a quick get away morning. We left early and stopped for breakfast at the diner in Parole and then off to the boat by 8am. We sailed until it got too hot, around 2pm. I wish it could have been more wind but, it's summer so we take what we get and be thankful.
Sunday, June 15th, 2008 With Mary going to Maine for an extended weekend with Jessie. I invited my brothers and families and my mom down to the boat for a cookout complete with crabs. The kids broke out the inflatable dingy and raced all over the river. I went and picked up crabs from Bob Evans. With a crab shortage and state imposed limits crabs were more expensive than ever before, $155 for a bushel of mixed #1 & #2. We had shrimp and Filet Mignon and pasta salad and fresh fruit salad. it was very hot in the sun, so we hid in the shade most of the afternoon. Everyone had a great time.
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 Wind 0-5K East, 85° My long time and dear friend Paul and his wife, Arna wanted to go sailing so after the area's heat wave finally broke (4 straight days of 95+) we went out for a late afternoon sail. We left the dock at about 5:15pm and sailed until 8:30. We had a grand time in spite of the very light air. After docking it out for a late night dinner at The Green Turtle. Paul is an airline pilot who spent the afternoon watching the planes on approach to BWI. Arna was more relaxed being the creative partner, she works as a writer...
Sunday, June 1st, 2008 Winds SW 12-15 kts gusting to 20+ kts in gusts After a late start, Mary and I went out for a nice afternoon sail. We sailed all over West River and down past Camp Letts on Rhodes River. We choose to stay close because we kept hearing about the nasty storms in the area. We lucked out, we had some gusts but only about 10 drops of rain. We heard of bad storms just North and just South of WR. It was a nice afternoon out finally! There is still some more work to do on the boat, maybe next week...
Thursday, May 29, 2008 So, so much to do and so little time. I decided to replace both batteries. It turns out they were both 4 years old, so after $200 and a few hours I had power back. Then I moved on to the bilge pump switch. I had opted for one with no moving parts. Did I say I hate working on my hands and knees? Replacing a bilge switch means working below your knees. But after some nasty words it all came together and now works well.
Sunday, May 25th, 2008 Memorial Day weekend Winds light and varriable
The highlight of this only day of sailing out of 3 was the daughter, Jessie was down for her cousin's Graduation from Engineering school at the University of Maryland. The graduation was Thursday night and Friday at noon. But the party was Saturday. Jess flew in on Saturday morning and flew out on Sunday afternoon. That only left a few precious hours sailing Sunday. But as we all know, a few is much better than none. It was the first time in a long while that the three of us (Dad/Mom/Daughter) went sailing alone, I miss those times. After a while of sitting in the cockpit she just had to go up on the foredeck and stretch out and relax a while... Then it was off to BWI and home to Hubby and demanding daughter.
Saturday, May 17, 2008 After the fishing trip we have had lousy weather for almost 2 weeks whenever I was free, so no sailing. Then a week ago we had a Nor'easter roar through with 6-8" of rain in 2 days, so no sailing. So, today was the first day available to go to the boat, but the winds were 20 kts gusting to 30. Too high for sailing so I went down to check. On first sight all seemed normal. But when I boarded the boat the cockpit had several inches of water due to clogged drains. So I cleared the drains and opened the main hatch to find 6" of water on the cabin sole! The batteries were both dead and the bilge pump would not pump the water. I took my shoes and rolled up the pants and dug out the manual bilge pump. After pumping 10 buckets (5 gal buckets) it was dry. This weekend is memorial Day weekend, but the nephew is graduating from UMD and it will be a command performance to attend. Jess is coming in Saturday morning and goes out Sunday afternoon. Sailing seems to be taking a backseat.
Friday, May 2, 2008 After some work around the house it was off to the boat for the final touches of spring cleaning... well, to be truthful it was finishing touches on round 1 of spring cleaning. I scrubbed the cockpit and surrounding area to the mast. She looks pretty nice all clean and white. I readied the fishing gear, and most work is done on the boat for the pending Sunday fishing trip...
Thursday, May 1, 2008 Another day of getting "stuff" together for the fishing trip. I had purchased a new inflatable dingy for the boat on Saturday but when I picked it up today I learned that I had inadvertently switched it for the smaller model. So back to West Marine to get a size up. The new boat is the SB-275 and is 9' long and accepts up to a 8hp engine. I hope it is small enough for me to lug about on the big boat and yet big enough for the wife and I to pop on and get off the anchored big boat. Time will tell. After getting the boat I went to the DNR in MD to register the boat only to learn that the store personnel did not fill in the forms, so back to the closest WM and there (Forest Drive store) they not only filled in the forms but they also registered the boat and I got stickers as well. Then it was off to the boat for some cleaning and to drop off the new inflatable.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 After a late start on getting to working on the boat I started today. The family has a guy's fishing trip planned for Sunday and I need to get the boat ready. One destressing point, I am missing a piece to the traveler, so installation will have to wait.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 Another warm spring day, but too much wind to sail. So, I decided to make a visit to the boat. So, after Mary finished up her morning at school, my mom and Mary and I went down to the boat. I am pleased to find everything in fine shape. I have loads of work to do on the boat to be really ready, but that will wait for some time this spring. After the hour checking the boat, running the engine, checking for leaks, etc and adjusting the lines, it was time for dinner, so, we went to Pirates Cove. We had the early bird specials (scallops, oysters and shrimp, one for each of us). And we had a pleasant drive home. One small note, we picked up a used mini-van, a 2000 Ford Windstar. I got it to haul the daughter's still growing family (number 2 due in August). So when I am at the age of thinking about retirement and there are just 2 drivers in the family we bought a mini van. Go figure. But at least it will make hauling stuff to and from the boat easier.
The 2008 Sailing season has started!
To email Joe McCary
|
Its been 10 days since we
sailed last, too long. So, After planning on
sailing on Friday the 25th and realized there was light
winds we opted to go today instead. We left home
by 7:15am and stopped for breakfast at Pirates Cove Inn
in Galesville. After a quick meal we were out on
the water by 9:30 am. We had a glorious sail
out of West River and out into The Bay. It was
exhilarating. We sailed several times around and
somewhere around noon we decided to head in. But
the roller furler had a tangle, so after heading
into calmer waters I went up on deck and untangled the
rig. Then we discovered that out old faithful
Honda 9.9 4 Stroke refused to start. She turned
over nicely but no spark. My landlord/slip mate
was out on his 26' power boat so I called to see where
he was... and he was in and almost home driving the
Washington Beltway. So, I briefly considered
calling TowboatUS (I have never used their services!) but figured there was plenty of time
later for that drastic measure so we sailed in.
The narrow channel into Galesville was the only tricky
part since the wind was dead on the nose which forced us
to tack many short tacks but we made it. We headed
up to the far end of the anchorage, beyond out normal
sail douching area, headed up into the wind and lowered
the main into the lazyjacks. That worked like a
charm! I rolled out a small bit of jib and we
turned and sailed into the slip. Nothing fancy and
the wind was perfect for that today. We buttoned
up the boat and headed home. But that's not the
end of the story... our daughter is about to give birth
to our 2nd granddaughter and of course she called as we
were tacking up the narrow channel. She told us
she was having contractions! We explained that we
were a tad bit busy to chat and would call later...
after docking the boat we called: No Answer! We
called again and again. We started making the
lists of last minute things we needed to do in the early
am to leave. But then tonight she called back and
told us it was a false alarm. Of course I will let
you know when it happens, after all we like to mention
our crew here and she WILL be crew. We are tired
and I need to look at the engine, but that can wait
until another day (I am hopping maybe a clogged fuel
line or maybe a spark plug is all it needs).
