Breeze On

Today, on our return from Dun Cove in Harris Creek, we finally had the right conditions to try our gennaker. We were really pleased with how easy it was to use. It comes in a sock that is raised when the gennaker is opened and brought down when you want to douse it. I will take a photo of it in its sock the next time we use it. It made sailing downwind in light winds much more interesting. We are so glad we decided to have one made. Our trip out to Harris Creek yesterday seemed so much faster, but actually took about the same amount of time. We were sailing and had to tack the entire way in winds that were about 14 knots with gusts in the low 20's. We encountered a friend on the river and we each took photos of each other's boats. We love the way Breeze On sails. Dun Cove in Harris Creek was beautiful. This might become another one of our favorite spots. I did say we had light winds today, right? Well, that was until just before we arrived at Cambridge. The winds picked

Last Friday we were all prepared to go sailing with four guests. It was a beautiful day. Just breezy enough, sunny with low humidity. George had gone to the boat to get everything set up. After we all boarded, one of the last things to do was turn on the navigation system. I turned it on at the control panel. The system powered up but had no data readings. No GPS, no depth, no wind readings. We turned it off and on several times with the same results. George and I pulled out manuals, opened up electrical panels and tried to figure it out. I thought it was probably a blown fuse but they all looked okay. After about 1/2 hour I came back up into the cockpit and joined the others. One of our guests went into the cabin to try to help. I eventually got the food out for lunch, so instead of sailing and anchoring for lunch, we ate at the dock. George and I were disappointed but our guests were really good sports about it. After a few hours everyone but George gave up and came home. George tal

Since our disastrous docking experience last month we have: taken docking lessons , moved the boat to a more protected marina and continued to practice maneuvers. I guess it has paid off because my husband received a wonderful compliment when he was at the boat yesterday. Jimmy, a young man we presume to be the son of the marina's owner, came by and took a tour of Breeze On. While he was there he said something like, "your wife is killing it at docking." I can't tell you how much that meant to me. It is one thing to feel a little more comfortable with docking and another for my husband and I to congratulate each other for a job well done. But, to have someone we don't even know offer an unsolicited compliment, well, that feels really good. (At this point I am knocking on wood because I don't want to jinx the progress we have made.) Posted with Blogsy

This past weekend we cruised beyond the Choptank River and out into the Chesapeake for the first time since our delivery trip two months ago. The winds were very light when we started out Friday afternoon so we planned to go only as far as the lovely LaTrappe Creek, seven nautical miles from Cambridge, for the first night. It took us a few hours to get there and anchor the boat. At times we were sailing at speeds between one and two knots. We were sailing, though, so what could be wrong with that? We were in a beautiful, peaceful anchorage and had a restful night's sleep. On Saturday we weighed the anchor and started out for the Chesapeake and the Little Choptank River. We sailed, motor-sailed and then motored into the Little Choptank River. We chose to anchor in the first anchorage we found in Hudson Creek since the winds were predicted to be light again on Sunday. It was another beautiful, peaceful anchorage and we enjoyed our time there. When we started our short cruising trip

One of the most difficult parts of our moving from Connecticut to Maryland was leaving our friends behind. This weekend two of our friends, Grace and Christan, came for a visit. They had not yet seen Breeze On so we took them out for a sail on Saturday. The winds were very light in the morning, ranging from 4 knots to 0 knots. We sailed most of the way to one of our favorite locations, LaTrappe Creek. Christan did a fantastic job driving the boat. Christan driving the boat   We decided to bypass the first anchorage, Martin Point. It has a lovely sandy beach and is always crowded. We opted for the next anchorage, which we had to ourselves. After we arrived we dropped an anchor, ate lunch and then went for a swim. It was a hot day and the water felt good. Christan swimming from the boat. Grace did not want her photo posted.   By the time we weighed anchor and headed back to Cambridge the wind was up to 8-10 knots but was right on our nose so we motored back. We wanted to be back in town

There is a tired old saying that is especially appropriate for the Chesapeake. It goes something like this, "There are three kinds of sailors on the Chesapeake, those who have gone aground, those who will go aground and those who lie about it. " Well, I am not going to lie about it, we ran aground. We were in San Domingo creek which is also known as the "back door" to St. Michaels. The channel is very tricky and narrow and it was an especially low tide. (Mental note--check tides before entering a narrow, tricky, shallow creek.) I was driving in the narrowest part of the creek and apparently got too close to one side when, boom, the boat stopped and the bow dipped down. I put the boat in neutral, then reverse, and the boat backed off of the shoal. Fortunately, the bottom throughout most of the Chesapeake is muddy and soft. Went aground near that green square in the middle The dreaded green mark where we went aground   After we were free and I overcame my confusio

We bought a used, inflatable dinghy with a high pressure inflatable bottom. The idea was that we could deflate it, fold it up and store it in the "garage" when we weren't using it. A few weeks ago George inflated it with the foot pump just to try it out. He said it took less than 20 minutes, not bad for his first attempt. It was a hot day and he inflated it on our porch. He had to bring it inside because it was starting to expand in the heat. The instructions warn you to monitor it when the temperature changes. We hope to go to St. Michaels this week and use the dinghy to go in to explore the town. Yesterday we loaded all of the dinghy stuff into the car then onto the boat. Quite a bit of stuff for the dinghy George tells me the dinghy weighs only 70 pounds, but if you had asked me I would have guessed 200 pounds. We did get it into the garage by going through the galley. George attached the motor to the motor mount on the stern. It is the same 2 horse power long-shaf

One of the many boat projects we did today was mark the anchor chain. It was probably the simplest project we have done yet. It is useful to mark the chain at intervals to verify that enough chain is let out when the boat is anchored. If too little chain is let out the anchor will not hold. There are various methods for determining how much chain is let out. One is to count how many feet of chain go out per second and then count the seconds. Another is to spray paint the chain at various intervals. Another is to buy colored plastic pieces that are inserted into the pieces of chain. Each of those methods has it's advantages and disadvantages. When I attended Cruiser's University in April, Pam Wall , cruiser extraordinaire, told us about an ingeniously simple and effective way to mark the chain. She suggested asking a sailmaker for scraps of spinnaker cloth in three colors. Cut strips that are about one inch by one foot. Tie the strips on the chain at the intervals of your choi

Just before we started out on our delivery trip we purchased a Spot tracking device. Since we started our one-night cruises last week we have been turning it on to keep track of our trips. You can see our tracks by clicking here . I have added a page to the blog called "Breeze On's Adventures" that will also take you to this link. It is right under the photo of Breeze On. Our most recent trip was to the Tred Avon River in Oxford, MD. You can find the track of our trip here . The track will remain there for seven days. After that, this link will take you to our most recent trips and the tracks will be there for seven days. It looks as if we traveled over land because the Spot was set to send a signal once an hour. Believe me, we did NOT travel over land! We have reset the Spot to send a signal more frequently so the track will look more accurate. I have also added another blog page to connect you with the link to current trips. It is called "Where is Breeze On?&qu

Last week we took our second overnight cruising adventure to Broad Creek. This creek is indeed broad and eventually leads to a "back way" into St. Michaels. We opted to save that trip for a time when we have the dinghy all ready to go so we can dinghy into St. Michaels and see the sights. Instead, we anchored in Boby Owl Cove. It wasn't quite as beautiful as LaTrappe creek, but it was still lovely. As soon as we arrived we dropped the swim platform, put the ladder in and went for a swim.   We never went swimming from our last boat, WindChime, so this is a real treat for us. Unfortunately, we hear that we will be unable to swim very soon due to the influx of a type of jellyfish called stinging nettles. Oh well, enjoy it while you can! Boby Owl Cove is protected on three sides and the wind dropped down to nothing after dinner. It was quite warm so we went for another swim.   Later, we watched another beautiful sunset. The winds picked up the next morning and were in the