SAILING!
07 October 2011 | Onto Solomon Island
Sunny, windy and cool (60's).
We woke up at our anchorage to scenery was very beautiful, although we were both disappointed that we did not see any dolphins anywhere near the boat. The anchor had held all night without moving an inch. Unfortunately, when Wiley tried to pull the anchor up it wouldn't move an inch. We got the anchor chain to the vertical position off of the bow and then ran the boat forward with the engine at 1800rpms, and it finally came up with the chain forming a great muddy mess on the foredeck.
We were underway for what turned out to be an unforgettable sail. The wind was between 14 and 18 knts out of the NE and gusts to 20+, and we screamed down Chesapeake Bay at speeds of 5- 6 + knts - which is fast for our little boat. However, with Wiley's adult ADD, Wiley is not at his strongest when steering the boat on a run or broad reach. On three occasions this resulted in accidental jibes with the boom and mainsail crashing from one side of the boat to the other. However, with our Bimini between our heads and the boom crushed skulls were never an issue, but it is a tribute to the boats mainsheet, traveler, and hardware that nothing broke. Nonetheless, Merry's nerves were a bit shattered and she is reconsidering allowing Wiley to steer when the wind is from this direction. We covered 42 miles in what seemed no time all in 3-4 foot waves before turning up the Pautuxent River and navigating up the channel to the harbor on Solomon Island.