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

Sailing Prima Donna

22 October 2006 | Herrington Harbor/Chesapeake Bay
Sunday I went sailing with Daren on his Prima Donna and showed him the ropes. He plans to change the name, so that was the previous owner's. I actually met Daren through my sailblog you are reading and he even started his own here. He emailed me a little over a month ago that he lives right down the road and is looking at buying a Catalina 25 as well. There aren't that many people out here that sail so it's cool to meet someone nearby that is enthusiastic about sailing as well. He bought the C-25 he was looking at which is a '86 C-25 tall rig, fin keel, with a diesel inboard. He is learning a lot and at first was nervous with the heeling, but I told him to just hold the course and let the boat heel. He started getting used to it and was beginning to enjoy it. I remember it took me a while to get used to heeling as well. We had a good sail out in the middle of the bay and back. The winds picked up and his tall rig with a 150% genoa provided a lot of power. His GPS was reporting 5-6 knots just about the entire trip and we didn't heel that much, maybe topped out at 30 degrees momentarily a few times but probably most of the time only around 15-20 degrees or less. I was surprised that Thomas Point was reporting winds in the range of 14-22 knots during our time out (10a-2p). Maybe the winds were higher up near Thomas Point but we never reefed and it was a comfortable ride. We weren't heeling like I did on my trip to the bay bridge which had 13-15 knots. With his C-25 having a tall rig and a genoa 150%, I'm sure it would have been a lot more difficult to control if the winds were really 14-22 knots in our area that morning. Still, it was a nice ride and we were cruising along very nicely.
Here are some photos:
This is about the maximum heel we hit (I wish I had his windows, newer style that aren't as prone to leaking):


Here is Daren at the helm of his new boat:


We sailed wing on wing downwind back to his marina down the channel:


A nice beer after another successful sail:



Daren's marina Harrington Harbor North sure is nice. There were so many nice boats there. I could just spend hours walking around looking at all of them. It's too bad slips there cost more than twice what I pay, but mine has pretty much all I need. I should have pulled out my camera and taken some photos of some of the boats there. Maybe next time I will.

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