Breeze On

Breeze On now has AIS. The Wikipedia definition of AIS is: "The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an automatic tracking system used on ships and by vessel traffic services (VTS) for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships, AIS base stations, and satellites." Breeze On has always had an AIS receiver as part of the VHF radio, so we could see the names and locations of ships and other boats on our chart plotter if they were transmitting AIS. But, they couldn't see us. I thought it might be nice if other vessels could see Breeze On as well, particularly if we are sailing at night or in fog. George and our friend, Ray, recently installed an AIS transponder (on a brutally hot day I might add). Now you can see where we are by going to either marinetraffic.com or vesselfinder.com and searching for Breeze On. You can even sign up for an email alert to be notified when we are on the move. MarineTraffic and Vessel Finder als

The cabin where we sleep is the v-berth, right behind the bow of the boat. Any small noise the anchor chain makes reverberates through the chain locker and sounds very loud in the v-berth. When we anchor, George attaches a line that goes from the anchor chain to a cleat. This line (called a snubber) takes the pressure off the anchor windlass (a motor that pulls the anchor up). You can see the anchor chain on the left in the photo below and the snubber line on the right. The snubber line is attached to the anchor chain below the water line. When it is windy Breeze On swings back and forth around the anchor chain. When that happens we hear a loud clunk, clunk, clunk as the chain rubs on the snubber and/or a loud "Creeeak!" as the snubber line rubs the boat and stretches. Not a recipe for a good night's sleep.   Over the past two seasons George has made several changes in the way he ties the snubber line. He has finally found the answer to a quieter anchor chain. Tie a

George recently commented that the Sassafras River had become our "white whale"--as in Moby Dick. We had wanted to visit the Sassafras for over a year but just couldn't get there. Last week we finally caught our white whale. We left on Monday afternoon after George's dentist appointment. We sailed for a few hours and anchored in Dun Cove, near the mouth of the Choptank River. We left Dun Cove early Tuesday morning and started the 70 nautical mile trip up the Chesapeake toward the Sassafras. Our plan was to get there before dark. We started out with good sailing conditions. After a few ours the winds dropped and we decided to motor-sail to improve our chances of getting as far as the Sassafras. We checked the weather radar throughout the day, watching for thunderstorms. By the afternoon thunderstorms were starting to head our way and the Coast Guard broadcast severe storm warnings. We cranked up the engine even higher hoping to be securely anchored by the time they r