Sailing The Chesapeake

The sailing adventures on Aeolus II of West River
(www.aeoluswestriver.net)

Joe McCary
Aeolus II  Catalina 27 #4795
West River, MD USA
38° 50’ 25.54N, 76° 31’ 52.20W
The Chesapeake Bay

 


Thomas Point under sail.

To quote Mark Twain: "Twenty years from now, you will be more
disappointed by the things you did not do than by the things you did."
 
Following this spirit, in 2007 Mary and I purchased the "new" boat, an '81 Catalina 27.

When my  8 year old nephew, Ryan, came for a day's sail, I thought it might be fun to add a pirate flag.
Here, I am adding a pirate quote.

"What a ship is, you know, it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails,

that's what a ship needs.  But what a ship is,... really is, is freedom."

  -Johnny Depp, as Captain Jack Sparrow

Pirates of the Caribbean-

So freedom is what Aeolus II is about, freedom to escape our daily grind, even if just for a few precious moments. This website is about all of those days, both the good and the bad. Read below to follow  the sailings of Aeolus II and the friends and family who sail on her. Fair winds and following seas to all.

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
Winds South 12-18 kts

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).
Another Catalina 27 sails across the Bay with us.

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!


A fun afternoon flying along at 6.5 knots!

 

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
Winds light <5kts

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
Winds <10Kts

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
Father's Day
Wind Light and Variable

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...

 

 

 


Totally Irresponsible, Melges 24 #90, as we tow her from the dock out to the
starting area for the Wednesday night series,
The 2 photos above and above right by Paul.

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
60s, wind 15 NW

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
70°, wind 18 WSW.

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.


Sailing January 7th, West River, MD
Monday January 7th, 2008
65° Wind 12 ESE

The 2008 Sailing season has started!


YES!, that's right, January 7th and I was sailing!  The prediction was for mid 60s.  The temps on land passed that but on the water it was a bit cooler, the recorded temp at Thomas Point was 57° and the wind was steady at 10 knots.  I slipped away from the dock at 11:30am and motored out in an almost calm West River in Galesville.  With sails up I found a breeze as I passed the entrance to Shady Side's Parish Creek.  It was wonderful to be out on The Bay cheating old man winter.  I searched the horizon for other intrepid sailors and off in the distance I saw 2 boats between Annapolis and the Bay Bridge.  I saw another South of Bloody Point.  There was one boat sailing out of West River and I saw him as I turned for home.  One last sailboat was motoring out of the river with sail cover on as I sailed in at almost 6 knots!.  I saw 3 work boats and 2 power boats (one was being towed by BoatUS TowBoat), and other than those I was alone on my beloved Bay.   With so few boats on The Bay I wondered if I was one of the very few sailors out enjoying the weather break this far North.  I suppose I will never know...


 


So here is Aeolus II (on right). at her slip on West River. 

 

To email  Joe McCary

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