Breeze On

George and I spent our first night out at anchor since we arrived in Cambridge. It was everything we hoped for. The winds were 10-12 knots and we were moving right along at 8 knots on a beam reach, Breeze On's favorite point of sail. After just half an hour with arrived at the opening to LaTrappe Creek, one of the Chesapeake's best anchorages. Although it was a Monday night there were six other boats anchored in the three anchorages within the creek. We chose one that had two sailboats anchored, but plenty of room for us to tuck in as well. As soon as we were securely anchored I changed into my swimsuit, dropped the swim platform, put the swim ladder in and went for a swim. The water was a perfect 84 degrees. What a treat! We ate our dinner as we watched the sunset and then stayed in the cockpit to look at the stars. It was so peaceful there. We saw and heard numerous ospreys, blue herons and even the occasional jumping fish. I wasn't even tempted to pull out my iPad or ...

We had a lovely afternoon of sailing with cousins and friends, Steve and Barb. They both took a turn at the helm and we were all impressed by non-sailor Barb's skills at the helm. Steve would have preferred a lot more wind. At the end of the day we turned into Cambridge Creek instead of the yacht club marina. We drove by our condo by water for the first time. We also went through the drawbridge for the first time. It wasn't as bad as I had imagined. When we were searching for condos with boat slips we avoided any that required taking the boat through a drawbridge. We didn't want to be limited by the schedule of the bridge. The Cambridge drawbridge opens on demand 24/7 with the exception of 12-1 pm Monday through Friday. Approaching Drawbridge, photos taken by Steve We made it, phew!   I have also heard the bridge tenders can be difficult. This bridge tender responded immediately. The opening of the bridge, though, was much more narrow than I thought it would be. Steve ...

The docking chronicals continue. After our disastrous docking of last week, George and I decided to take docking lessons. We chose a private lesson, conducted on our own boat, given by Jeff from The Sailing Academy. Jeff and George I was really nervous before the lesson began and actually dreaded it a little. Jeff started by explaining the drills we would be learning and practicing. He then used a model boat and strings to demonstrate the docking techniques we would practice. I was at the helm as we pulled out of the slip, the marina and then into the channel. We used the markers at the end of the channel as "targets". George and I were both really nervous about getting anywhere near the buoys. We practiced stopping the boat and holding it in place and doing standing turns by using short bursts of forward and reverse. Once we were more comfortable with that, we headed back into the marina. Jeff coached us through a technique using a spring line to tie up to the T head at t...

I am thinking I should rename this blog "The Docking Chronicles". So much of it is focused on docking these days. I guess it makes sense since our boat is tied to a dock and every time we use the boat it requires leaving the slip and returning to it. Breeze On is a much bigger boat than we have ever owned and the style of slip is not what we have known. When I wrote my last post I was feeling very hopeful that I was really getting the hang of docking. That all came crashing to a halt two days ago. My mother and brother arrived for a visit on Tuesday afternoon. They had never seen our new town or condo and really seem to like both. They were also looking forward to going for a sail on Breeze On. The weather looked good Wednesday morning so we packed a lunch and motored out of the marina by 10 am. The winds were a steady 7-9 knots from the East and we were sailing downwind on the Choptank River. My mom was in a comfortable position in the cockpit and kept commenting how nice it...

We set the alarm for 6:30 am on Saturday so we could begin docking practice while the winds were still very light. We ate a quick breakfast and made it to the boat before 7:30. After we removed covers, opened through hulls and reviewed our checklist we started up the engine for our first practice session. George threw off the spring lines and bow lines and I threw off the stern lines. I removed the stern lines before George was finished with the bow lines and the boat started to shift in the slip. I made it out with just a little nudge on one of the (padded) pilings. I drove out of the fairway and into the main fairway so I could turn around. I decided to back into our fairway and then into the slip. My first attempt went well. I drove very slowly and did nudge a piling just a bit. The wind had picked up to 6-7 knots but decided to practice again anyway. This time I decided to hold onto the last stern line until George had finished releasing all of the other lines. That did help keep...

We have sailed only twice since bringing Breeze On to Cambridge almost two weeks ago. That is much less than we used to sail WindChime. One reason we haven't sailed much is that have been very busy. We returned to New York to pick up my car, then drove my husband's car to Massachusetts to trade it for our daughter's car. Then my husband helped to sail a friend's boat from Norfolk to Cambridge. Another reason is that we still aren't very good at docking and we are waiting for light winds to practice leaving and returning to the slip. Our first time out since bringing Breeze On to Cambridge went very well. We asked friends Dawn and Ray to join us and lend their expertise. After they helped to release the lines we had a lovely sail to La Trappe Creek. We dropped an anchor and enjoyed a peaceful lunch. We sailed back to Cambridge and made it into the slip without any issues. I was at the helm and George, Dawn and Ray handled the lines. I was so relieved and excite...