18 April 2011 | Alexandria, VA
11 May 2010
31 July 2009
26 April 2009
24 January 2009 | Cadle Creek
27 December 2008 | Chesapeake Bay
09 November 2008
13 October 2008
30 September 2008
13 July 2008 | Warehouse Creek
30 May 2008 | St. Mary's River
26 May 2008 | Rhode River & Chesapeake Bay
24 May 2008 | Chesapeake Bay
04 May 2008 | Chesapeake Bay
29 April 2008

Sunny and 70F in November!

11 November 2006 | Chesapeake Bay
This is a late update, but a summary of Saturday November 11, 2006. My youngest brother Andy joined me again as did my friend Dan. Dan last joined me back on May 1st.

The weather was beautiful, 70F, sunny, blue skies, in November! The previous few weekends were lousy, cold, and sometimes rainy which did not make for fun sailing. I definitely had to take advantage of this weather. We got out there and departed my marina around 11:30am and motored directly into the wind down the Rhode River. I called up Dave since he made it out about an hour before us to check on the conditions. He said he had two reefs in and winds were around 20 knots if I recall. I decided to fully raise the main and we could partially furl the genoa if needed. As soon as made it out of the Rhode, I shut off the engine, opened up the headsail, and fell off the wind.

The winds were strong, probably in the 15 knot range. I varied the amount of headsail several times, adjusting the reefing depending on the winds. We were having a lot of fun and heeling 20-25 degrees most of the time, sometimes approaching 30-35 in gusts. We rounded the outside green marker and headed close hauled just north of Bloody Point towards Dave. The ride was a little pounding since we were heading into roughly two foot seas and it slowed us down a little. We were going around 3.5-4 knots on average during that heading close hauled into the waves. It was around 2pm when I asked if Andy and Dan wanted to have lunch. Dan decided to try a little bit of his Lunchable which he soon realized wasn't the best idea on the boat since he had to put it together as the boat was pounding through waves. Well, shortly after he got sea sick real bad. I didn't want him to be more miserable so I decided to turn back home.

As soon as we changed out tack and took a beam reach on a course towards the outer green marker, we were cruising 6-6.5 knots non-stop and only heeling about 10 degrees. I gave the tiller to Dan, grabbed my life jacket, and then went on the deck to take some photos and videos.

Here is a photo showing the nice weather we enjoyed. You can also note my genoa was just partially furled.


Here is Dan at the helm. He learned how the boat really handles in wind during this sail. It was calmer back on his last sail in May.
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Here is Andy just relaxing. He loves sailing and just being out there on the water. Glad he has not gotten sick yet!
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I let Dan sail us all the way up the West River main channel towards the Rhode River entrance. He definitely learned how she handles in the wind because we took a closer hauled course down the channel and had some pretty strong gusts. The boat would start to heel and turn into the wind and I just had to tell Dan to just keep pulling the tiller. He was nervous about it, but I noticed when you are not at the helm and the boat is heeling, it is not as scary. I was taking videos and checking out how close the leeward side was to the water while Dan was starting to really get nervous and I kept telling him everything was fine. We were heeling around 30 degrees and gusts took us up to 40 degrees, but it didn't seem like it when I wasn't at the helm.

When we got into the Rhode River channel, we were heading almost directly down wind. I furled the head sail and we sailed under the main alone still keeping a nice pace around 3.5-4 knots if I recall. The seas were much calmer now and I decided to pass Cadle Creek and head further into the river to check out the anchorage and islands. Here is the entrance to Cadle Creek in the fall:
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So we made it back safely and Dan was glad to step on land. It's too bad he gets sea sick. This was probably my best of last sails of the year!

I have decided to keep my boat in the water through the winter to save some cash. Originally I was going to haul her out for a month and get some projects completed this month, but when I found out I would be charged a daily land fee and not monthly I decided it would be best to get the work done in a weekend if possible. Since I want to clean and polish the hull and then apply her name, it would be best to do that in warmer weather and closer to next season. I now plan to haul her out in late March or in April. I will inspect and replace most if not all the retractable keel hardware. In a couple weeks I am going to help Dave lower his mast for the winter and see how that works. Then we will lower mine sometime this winter and I will install a new anchor light, steaming and deck light, and rewire the mast. Next year I may upgrade to new all rope halyards. I also need to buy and install a solar panel system. The list goes on and on!
Comments
Vessel Name: Sapphire Breeze
Vessel Make/Model: 1982 Catalina 25 SK/SR
Hailing Port: Mayo, MD
Crew: Justin
Extra: This site is all about my experiences with my first boat; from restoring it, to my sailing adventures. I enjoy hearing from my readers, so feel free to send me an email. I'm also interested in meeting new people in the area, especially people in my age range since I hardly know any that sail.

Who: Justin
Port: Mayo, MD