Its been a while sine my last post, but it is starts and stops at this point.  Since my last post I have been to Little Cranberry Island, Maine (by car which proceeded to break down once I arrived) and then with John and Nancy Knight aboard S/V Adventuress - Island Packet 420 (below).

We had a wonderful sail down to Beaufort, SC where the boat was staged for their voyage to St. Martin in November.  Below is a scene from just outside of Hampton on the day we left.   It took us 62 hours to sail from Hampton to Beaufort with a glorious following breeze and seas to match.



John and Nancy have asked me to sail with them next year from St. Martin to Falmouth, England, via Bermuda and the Azores.  I have accepted and am very much looking forward to the trip.

More to follow...

For now, I am getting ready for the Caribbean 1500 aboard a Hallberg Rassy 43 - Starburst.

Dave

Catching Up

I just received a photo of the Mahi I caught on the trip up from Florida on the Hylas.  Really good eating!

Aboard S/V Patriot off of Cape Hatteras

Last week I sailed on the Helberg Rassy in prep for the the 1500 and then went to the Corsica River on Eau de Vie for a Bastille Day party with the Corinthians.  There was not a lot of wind but we all did get to see the Log Canoe Races.  They were in the Chester River near the Corsica.  If you have never seen them they are a must.  You can check out the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum to learn more about them.  They have no keel, but are kept from capsizing by the weight of the crew sitting at the end of long boards. When you tack, you need to do so slowly so the crew can come in, move the boards to the other side and hike out on them.  

Woman on the helm / off the stern

Vintage Boat supporting the race 

Offshore Adventures Planned

OK, the best laid plans.....

There is actually good and bad in that intro.  The bad is that I will not be going to Maine this year...  The good is that it is because I will be racing in the Governor's Cup on August 2nd and 3rd from Annapolis to Saint Mary's.  This is to provide an sailing trip for the entire crew of a Hallberg Rassy 43 in preparation for this year's Caribbean 1500.

  I could go after that but have now been invited to sail to Beaufort, SC beginning in Mid September to prep for a Crossing to either Falmouth England or Portugal (not decided yet) on an IP 420 "Advernturess".

I am really looking forward to all the trips but this means that I only have from August 5th to the end of August for any travel on Eau de Vie.  I am therefore biting the bullet and remaining in the Chesapeake in August.  More to follow...

Two days after returning from France I flew to West Palm Beach to help a friend bring his new boat back to the Chesapeake.  What a beautiful boat - a 2004 Haylas 46 with custom hard top and custom Arch.  They now have to sell their 39' Pearson once they get it ready.

S/V Patriot

There was quite a bit to do to get the boat ready as the former owner had taken everything off and moved it to a storage locker.  Everything had to be put back on, all systems checked and the boat provisioned (luckily there was a Wynn Dixie within walking distance of the marina.  In addition, we had to get familiar with the boat and plan for the passage.  Thursday and Friday were consumed by the prep work and by Saturday morning we were ready with the Corky and Deb (the owners) me and Dick Tudan as crew.  The forecast was as good as could be hoped for with wind out of the South or SW for the next several days as we proceeded up the coast toward Norfolk.  The only hitch was the possibility of scattered or isolated T-storms.  We did hit rain, sometimes heavy but no thunder or lightning nearby.  Winds were as predicted and ranged between 13 - 18 kts on most of the voyage, hitting 22 - 28 for one small portion.  Much of the voyage was under sail, which was GREAT.  The icing on the cake that made the trip even better was that we caught 2 mahi on the hand line I had rigged as we approached Cape Hatteras.  The biggest one was about 15 pounds.  

Corky

Deb 

The route

We left the Dock in West Palm on Saturday 6/29 at 6:30 am and pulled into the slip in Annapolis on Wed 7/3 at 10:30 pm - very fast and very much fun!!

This week I meet with the owner of "Starburst" a Halberg Rassy 43 on which I am potential crew member for this year's Caribbean 1500.  

Navigation - Air; Land and ala bateau.....

The week before our trip to France and cruising on the River Lot in SW France with the Little Ship Club, we learned that there was a planned rail strike for the week of our travel that would not affect us (as we decided to rent a car) but it would affect our crew members and their arrive to Cahors.  Then the Sunday before our planned Wed. departure we learned of a planned strike by Paris Air Traffic Controllers but not to worry as it was focused on the short distance flights and Trans Atlantic would not be impacted... Wrong.  Monday morning we had a call from Useless Air that the flight had been cancelled and after working with them found that the best we could do was to leave a day early for Frankfurt.  After confirming with Grace Giraldo, who was joining Barb and I, that this was doable we cancelled our car in Paris and booked on in Frankfurt.  We were just about to leave on Tuesday when Useless Air called to say that the Paris flight was back on and did we want to switch back.  No way, there were bound to be disruptions on Paris and lets just get there.  over 1,000 km of driving and on night's stop, we arrived in Cahors.  In fact all of out crew had made it.  Who would have thought that Air and Land Nav would have been the most difficult parts?  

Barb avec Wine

At the Chateau du Caix vineyard owned by the King and Queen of Denmark.

The trip and thew Crew were wonderful!!!!  Grace provide gourmet meals throughout the entire voyage and she loved doing it as she did not have time to do so at home with work and school (she is going for her PHD).  Highlights follow:

Valentre Bridge in Cahors

Peter Jenkins

Sue Lyons

Gordon Oscroft

Petie Oscroft

Grace Giving Sue Salsa Lessons

Spices on Market Day in Cahors

Flotilla Raft up in Cahors

Multiple Lock (manually cranked) - up to 9 in a day

We left Rock Hall at 11:00 on Sunday May 12th (Mothers Day).  My crew member is Phyllis Kucharczuk who joined the Corinthians 3 years ago and this is her first real event.  The wind was 25 out of the NW and we set sail with a heavily reefed Jib and a double reefed Main.  Current was also in our favor, so in 3 hours we had reached Bloody Point on the southern end of Kent Island.  Speed reached 8.5 kts and we kept extended our objective for the day from Annapolis to Galesville and finally decided to keep going and we dropped the sails off of Oxford at 5:15.  Wow - this was the best sail in a couple of years.  The Corinthian Cruise started on Tuesday with a dinner at the Tred Avon Yacht Club.

First Point of Aries

INSSA - "I'll Never Say Stinkpot Again"

First Point of Aries and Willoway

After the cruise we hit Antipoison Creek (where the indians treated a stingray sting with a potion remedy).  We had planned on seeing Onancock on Wed but the forecast called for heavy winds on Thursday and beyond so the 5 boats decided to book it for Solomons.  This time we had winds just off our port quarter and @15 to 20 and we went for a Spinnaker Run - Wow!  Another GREAT Sail.  We again hit 8.5 knots and actually caught a 34' catamaran that was ahead of us.  We dropped the Spinnaker off of Smith Point on the southern end of the Potomac when the wind shifted and increased and sailed with just a reefed Jib.  We arrived in Solomons at 3:00 and took a mooring for Wed Night and moved to a Tee Head for the rest of our stay (Winds are now out of the NW at 25 gusting to 30).  This actually worked out very well because Thursday was Phyllis's 70th birthday and her boyfriend drove down here 3 hours to spend the day with her.  He took her to dinner and spent the night on the boat.  Winds are expected to remain high until Sunday, so we are sitting tight until then.

I leave on Sunday for the Corinthian Spring Cruise of the Chesapeake.  The boat is ready and I have started the provisioning list.  There are 23 boats in the cruise, with 55 skippers and crew members plus 7 Drive along guests. The Itinerary is as follows:

Tuesday, May 14th: Tred Avon Yacht Club - Opening Dinner

Wednesday, May 15th: Zahniser’s Marina, Solomons

Thursday, May 15th: Point Lookout Marina Smith Creek

Friday, May 16th, Mill Creek, Great Wicomico - Progressive Dinner aboard.

Saturday and Sunday May 18th and 19th Chesapeake Boat Basin , Kilmarnock.  (This stop includes a Bowling competition.... How many years has it been since I have been in a bowling ally???)

Monday, May 19th: Urbanna, Virginia (there are several Marinas from which to select)

The week will be followed by a second week of informal sailing and coordination back to home ports.
I should be back just in time for final prep for the trip to the River Lot, in France aboard a charter with the Little Ship Club of the UK.