Breeze On

Our reservation to stay at Homer Smith Docks and Marina in Beaufort, NC was for seven days. Prior to leaving Cape Charles we had checked the forecast and it appeared that we would have unfavorable winds and seas for at least a week. Since we wanted to secure a spot in the marina we made the reservation for a week. When Dan, the dock master, confirmed that our non-refundable reservation was for seven days I thought, “Seven days—that’s a long time!” When we are living on the boat we like to move on after about four days. Even though we love Beaufort we would likely get antsy before the week was over. I started making plans for activities we could do to entertain ourselves—a boat tour to one of the barrier islands, a ride on a double decker bus. Well, as it turns out I needn’t have worried. When George was looking for the source of the salt water in the bilge yesterday he found a through hull that was loose. As he checked other through hulls one cracked as he was attempting to tighten it ...

We left Cape Charles just after 5:30 Sunday morning with a goal of reaching the Homer Smith Docks—in Beaufort, NC—before they closed today (Monday) afternoon. We motored down the bay for about 45 minutes, waiting for there to be enough light in the sky to see what we were doing when raising the mainsail. We passed over the bridge tunnel, leaving the Bay, at 8:00 am and had a pleasant sail with just the mainsail, averaging over seven knots with wind of 15-18 knots. In the afternoon the wind dropped to below 15 knots so we unfurled the jib and sailed with both the jib and main.  As we approached Cape Hatteras shortly before midnight the wind increased to over 20 knots and the boat rounded up. It was time to furl the jib. It happened not long before we were scheduled to change watches. George was in the cabin but heard the commotion when we rounded up and came into the cockpit to help. We sorted everything out and I went to bed. After George rounded Cape Hatteras we were sailing dead ...

We started the day by focusing on boat chores—securing the dinghy for offshore sailing, tightening the boom brake line, buying fuel, and reattaching an enclosure zipper. Once most of the chores were finished we walked into town for coffee and a stroll up and down the shopping district. Since I went a bit overboard preparing food before we left home, we decided to eat dinner on the boat rather than in town.  Cape Charles is a lovely, thriving small town. We visited the here on our “around the Chesapeake Bay driving tour” before we moved to the Eastern shore. We might have moved here if it wasn’t so far removed from things such as health care. Today the town was having a Halloween trick or treat event. We saw numerous families with children in costume and even some adults in costume.  We plan to leave here early tomorrow morning and head toward Beaufort, NC.  The town’s “Love” sign overlooking the Chesapeake Bay.  Some of the many children in costume.  Securing th...

Today we motored all across the bay to Cape Charles, after a day and a half of great sailing. The concrete plant across the channel from Cape Charles Town Harbor seems to be booming. We plan to work on boat chores and take a walk through town tomorrow.  Breeze On snug on a dock tonight.  Busy concrete plant.  Let’s hope they don’t start work early on a Saturday morning. 

Our day started at 4 am when the wind shifted—as forecast—from the S to the NW. The whistling wind and creaking anchor chain snubber line woke us both.  We slept very little after that. We left the Dun Cove anchorage just as the sun was rising and pointed toward the Chesapeake Bay. The forecast called for wind in the mid-twenties so we put a reef in the mainsail. We tried sailing with both the mainsail and the jib but the waves were pushing the boat every which way, making it hard to keep our small self-tacking jib filled. Since we had plenty of wind to keep us moving we bypassed Solomons and decided to go to either the northern shore of the Potomac or Ingram Bay, just S of the Potomac. In the end we chose Ingram Bay because we have been here twice before and knew it was a nice, calm, protected anchorage. In ten hours we covered 66 miles—almost all of it under sail—and are ready for a good night’s sleep.  Sunrise in Dun Cove.  Sunset in Mill Creek, Ingram Bay. 

We are on our way to the Bahamas once again. Since arriving home last March we have struggled with the decision for various reasons. The first reason was the challenging weather we experienced in the Bahamas last year. Frequent cold fronts led us to spend too much time in some protected anchorages while avoiding other favorite islands and anchorages altogether. There were other reasons leading us to question whether to go but the final reason was a strange noise coming from the engine at idle speed. George tried several fixes over the spring and summer but none did the trick. He even tried to get an appointment with the Volvo mechanic in Annapolis who replaced our saildrive gasket a few years ago. After a few  phone calls and promises we would get an appointment, the mechanic ghosted us. Early this fall George found another Volvo mechanic who was much closer to home. This young mechanic actually came onto our boat, heard the noise, and diagnosed it as a bad damper plate. We took Br...