Date: Saturday evening, 15 Oct., 2005
Location: Rhode River
Current position: 38 52.938N 76 31.942 W
The lousy wet, windy weather we've been having for the last couple of weeks finally starts to let up so we decide to leave Annapolis, planning to get across to the Wye River on the Eastern shore with plenty of time to spare for R&R later in the day. According to NOAA (on Friday evening) we'll have a 10-15 knot NW breeze helping us along.
As we're dropping the mooring pennant preparing to head out, the guy in the boat next to us says "They just posted a new forecast. Now they're calling for 20-25 w/ 30+ kt gusts." Great. While that's great sailing sometimes, we just don't really want to work that hard today.
We head out anyway, hoping to beat the wind, which is scheduled to build during the morning, reaching it's height by mid-afternoon. Whenever we go out sailing, we always try to have a "bailout plan" in place in case the weather deteriorates or something else unexpected happens. Today we know we have until we get near the entrance to the West and Rhode Rivers to make a decision to either bail out or continue on around Bloody Point (we believe it was named when the governor of Maryland told Blackbeard that plundering in the Bay had a negative effect on the economy and the pirate asked "What's your bloody point?", but that's unsubstantiated) to the Wye. The decision point is a couple of miles south of Thomas Point light.
We start out with two reefs in the main, since it's easier to shake out a reef if you don't need one than it is to put one in if you do. The wind's pretty light and we're thinking about shaking out one, if not both reefs. As we pass Thomas Point, the wind starts to build, and we're glad we were cautious. We furl one of our headsails (the staysail) and carry on under reefed main and yankee, still hoping to make the Wye. The gusts start. We adjust the sails, flattening them to make the boat easier to steer, and carry on. The wind continues to build, just as NOAA said to expect. Several gusts come along that are strong enough to bury the leeward rail underwater, helping us to finally make the decision to bail out and pull into the Rhode River at the decision point. If you remember we were here a couple of weeks ago on our way to Annapolis.
When we get here, there's no one else anchored. This is great! We have the place to ourselves. Expecting pretty strong and gusty wind from the Northwest, we pull in a little farther than we did last time and drop the hook, letting out plenty of chain in case it really pipes up. A lovely ketch sails in, silently, the couple sailing her conversing quietly as they tack, shake out a reef to get around a sheltering point, and anchor, all w/o running their engine. Sweet. One of these days that'll be us, we say.
The day wears on, we read, loaf, do a few chores, and more boats start arriving. And arriving. And arriving. There's a continuous stream of boats arriving now. By evening, there's a raft-up of 7 Hunters, several other two and three boat raft-ups, and about 30-40 other boats in here. Big difference from when we were here the last time - during the week. We decide everyone is making the most of maybe one of the last nice weekends of the year, even though it is a bit breezy for our taste.
The abundance of boats causes us to check the Thomas Point Light web site for the 24-hour history of wind and waves to see if they know something we don't. Turns out the highest winds and waves of the day were at exactly the time we made the "bail out" decision. So, instead of the wind continuing to build during the morning and early afternoon like NOAA said, it ended up dropping off a bit and turned out to be a beautiful sailing day w/ 12-18 kt winds. And we missed it. Go figure. Sigh.
Unlike Robert Frost, it appears we chose the Rhode more traveled, but it has turned out to be a lovely relaxing 'Rhode'. Today was very gusty - even at anchor we were heeling 10-15 degrees. But the sun was out and the temperature was in the low 70's and we got several more chores and a lot more reading done. We have taken a week of vacation and the weather is "supposed" stay clear with warm days, cool nights, and moderate winds all week. Tomorrow we'll head over to the Eastern shore somewhere - haven't decided where yet, but we'll let you know when we get there.
Mark & Julie
s/v Rachel
Location: Rhode River
Current position: 38 52.938N 76 31.942 W
The lousy wet, windy weather we've been having for the last couple of weeks finally starts to let up so we decide to leave Annapolis, planning to get across to the Wye River on the Eastern shore with plenty of time to spare for R&R later in the day. According to NOAA (on Friday evening) we'll have a 10-15 knot NW breeze helping us along.
As we're dropping the mooring pennant preparing to head out, the guy in the boat next to us says "They just posted a new forecast. Now they're calling for 20-25 w/ 30+ kt gusts." Great. While that's great sailing sometimes, we just don't really want to work that hard today.
We head out anyway, hoping to beat the wind, which is scheduled to build during the morning, reaching it's height by mid-afternoon. Whenever we go out sailing, we always try to have a "bailout plan" in place in case the weather deteriorates or something else unexpected happens. Today we know we have until we get near the entrance to the West and Rhode Rivers to make a decision to either bail out or continue on around Bloody Point (we believe it was named when the governor of Maryland told Blackbeard that plundering in the Bay had a negative effect on the economy and the pirate asked "What's your bloody point?", but that's unsubstantiated) to the Wye. The decision point is a couple of miles south of Thomas Point light.
We start out with two reefs in the main, since it's easier to shake out a reef if you don't need one than it is to put one in if you do. The wind's pretty light and we're thinking about shaking out one, if not both reefs. As we pass Thomas Point, the wind starts to build, and we're glad we were cautious. We furl one of our headsails (the staysail) and carry on under reefed main and yankee, still hoping to make the Wye. The gusts start. We adjust the sails, flattening them to make the boat easier to steer, and carry on. The wind continues to build, just as NOAA said to expect. Several gusts come along that are strong enough to bury the leeward rail underwater, helping us to finally make the decision to bail out and pull into the Rhode River at the decision point. If you remember we were here a couple of weeks ago on our way to Annapolis.
When we get here, there's no one else anchored. This is great! We have the place to ourselves. Expecting pretty strong and gusty wind from the Northwest, we pull in a little farther than we did last time and drop the hook, letting out plenty of chain in case it really pipes up. A lovely ketch sails in, silently, the couple sailing her conversing quietly as they tack, shake out a reef to get around a sheltering point, and anchor, all w/o running their engine. Sweet. One of these days that'll be us, we say.
The day wears on, we read, loaf, do a few chores, and more boats start arriving. And arriving. And arriving. There's a continuous stream of boats arriving now. By evening, there's a raft-up of 7 Hunters, several other two and three boat raft-ups, and about 30-40 other boats in here. Big difference from when we were here the last time - during the week. We decide everyone is making the most of maybe one of the last nice weekends of the year, even though it is a bit breezy for our taste.
The abundance of boats causes us to check the Thomas Point Light web site for the 24-hour history of wind and waves to see if they know something we don't. Turns out the highest winds and waves of the day were at exactly the time we made the "bail out" decision. So, instead of the wind continuing to build during the morning and early afternoon like NOAA said, it ended up dropping off a bit and turned out to be a beautiful sailing day w/ 12-18 kt winds. And we missed it. Go figure. Sigh.
Unlike Robert Frost, it appears we chose the Rhode more traveled, but it has turned out to be a lovely relaxing 'Rhode'. Today was very gusty - even at anchor we were heeling 10-15 degrees. But the sun was out and the temperature was in the low 70's and we got several more chores and a lot more reading done. We have taken a week of vacation and the weather is "supposed" stay clear with warm days, cool nights, and moderate winds all week. Tomorrow we'll head over to the Eastern shore somewhere - haven't decided where yet, but we'll let you know when we get there.
Mark & Julie
s/v Rachel
