Logs

Halcyon Days - The Circle Completed!

The leg from Cape May back to Annapolis was an interesting one - Up the narrow shipping channel of the Delaware River at night, with channel lights that weren't on the charts and nuns that were on the charts, but no where to be seen; then across the C&D and meeting a huge car carrier coming around the bend at 0200; then down the familiar Chesapeake Bay, complete with a final perfect close reach home.What a great trip!Well organized by the World Cruising Club and Andy, Mia and Isabelle; very competent crew that knew their sailing and safety, who all pitched in and did what was needed and who were fun to be around; and provisioning that was unbelievable - we ate like kings and the only hard part was deciding what wonderful dish to have for dinner - "tonight let's have Asian Pork with. read more...

Dawn - June 22

We had an exhilarating sail to Portsmouth!  Once we were out of Annapolis area, we were moving!  Night sailing was gorgeous!  We were ready to leave on Tuesday, but due to bad weather, the recommendation from Andy and Mia was that the fleet should stay put. Initially, I wanted to leave anyway.  We all got up at 4 am, We had a team meeting and I reviewed the weather fax, Grib files, and given the knowledge and experience of Andy and Mia, and other factors such as crew fatigue, the only decision was to stay.  Then, at about 6:00 am, I got a text from the admiral back at home:  "If the admiral was with you, she would tell you to stay put."  We stayed.  So....we all got some hammock time, met some of our rally mates, relaxed.  It was a fun. read more...

Evening Star - Delmarva

What a great day! We left cape may and had the best day of sailing thanks to a local thunderstorm. Then.we saw some dolphins! We are on our third overnight trip to home. What a fantastic experience!Sent from AOL Mobile Mailimage image image. read more...

Halcyon Days - Where was the wind?

We had a smooth voyage from Portsmouth to Cape May - departing at 0600 Wednesday and arriving in Cape May at 0800 on Thursday.There was a gently rolling sea on our starboard stern quarter and light westerly winds the entire trip...just not enough wind to sail once we turned the corner to head north, so we motored all but a few hours.Now we are tucked into Cape May for the day - some sightseeing for the crew that hasn't visited yet, relaxing for some...some sleep for all....then ready for the home stretch tomorrow/Saturday.The crew, Peter, Gary and Jim S, are all very experienced blue water sailors.Gary has done the DelMarVa twice before with other groups - and in both directions!He regularly sails with his NJ sailing club.Peter has a large number of passages to all sorts of destinations. read more...

Evening Star - Delmarva

Offshore leg was fantastic. Amazing sunset complete with rainbow! Super job of navigating by Charlie, missed both storms and had a wonderful ride. Rick will give a presentation at the last party on Saturday. Arc world cruising expects to post an article about the trip and dsc will be featured. All around a great trip!Sent from my iPhone. read more...

Sablier - Ocean bound

Yesterday's Skipper meeting gave the weather a-okay for us to depart this morning for leg 2 of the trip. So, last night we tried on our safety equipment and practiced lashing to the jack lines that are now running along both sides of the boat's deck. Jacklines allow you use a tether to connect to boat should one need to be out on deck in unstable seas. This is a pic of Nick, with all his gear on. Can you tell what is wrong with picture? Hint: Nick is standing in the cockpit behind the binnacle.     20160618_181956.jpg We rose early and left Ocean Yatch Marina at 5:30 am. It was pretty to watch sunrise and the cities that flank the Elizabeth River start to wake-up. Initially, winds are light and from our stern. As the day went on and our route changed, we were able to set sail.. read more...

Halcyon Days - One leg under our belts...

After a slow start at 10:00, with light winds and some sail changes, Halcyon Days and her crew motored for several hours through the evening, then sailed like a dream through the night when the westerly winds picked up.With the only sounds the winds and the hull pushing through the water, we had a fast and relaxing, first-ever, night sail to Portsmouth, arriving at 10:00 the following morning.image1.. read more...

Halcyon Days - Delayed a Day

Weather forecasts kept us in Portsmouth an extra night, but we have a 36 hour window for a 32 hour sail and will leave the slip at 0600 today, bound for the Atlantic to make our way up to Cape May, along with 22 other boats in the Rally.  The crew is doing well...three blue-water experienced sailors and an bay-sailing skipper looking to get blue water legs, are now a working team, despite never meeting each other before - helped by good food (provisioned by Marcia) and a good boat. More about the team later.  Jim. read more...

Evening Star - Delmarva

We're on the ocean!!fair winds and following seas! Life couldn't be better!!!image. read more...

Sablier - Day 3

Unfortunately, the weather is not in our favor. There is a cold front coming and that means storms. So we will lay over at Ocean Yacht Marina tonight,  Right now, we anticipate leaving Portsmouth Wednesday morning around 3 am.  As always, things can change. So we are prepping for the possibility of  rough seas.  What does "prep" mean? Pre-plotting course options, prepping food, cleaning up the boat, napping . . . .Grant the navigator 20160621_124749. read more...

Sablier - Leg 1 completed!

We began our journey to sail around the Delmarva Peninsula months ago. But the final day was upon us. Grant Woodside (skipper), Diane (DePew) Woodside, Susan Whalen, and Nick Steinbrecher had done a shake out cruise 3 weeks earlier. We identified what was needed (Coast Guard approved live jackets)  and optional luxuries (cup holders!). We had done everything we could think of (bounded only by time and money) to prepare the boat and ourselves. Good thing we each prepped out nails to show team spirit! (See pic). The last few items were brought aboard the boat on the eve of departure and we hoped to have a good night sleep.​On Sunday, June 19, Grant, Diane, Susan and Nick left Glebe Bay aboard the s/v Sablier at 8:57 am to start the first leg of the trip. The goal was to leave at 9 am. read more...

Evening Star - Delmarva trip

We arrived in Portsmouth in middle of pack! Unfortunately the forecast for today is for major storms so we are delayed. The plan is to leave as soon as storms are over and get to cape may before the next serious storms hit. We will need to leave around 3 am image2 image3 image1. read more...

Nomad - Sailing under a full strawberry moon

After 7 hrs of tacking down the Chesapeake, a beautiful breeze from the SW kicked in and we had a wonderful one-tack sledride from Choptank to Portsmouth under a full strawberry moon. IMG_2983. read more...

Mischief - Thimble Shoal

At moon set and sun riseimage1. read more...

Dawn - Good morning

Had a really great had a really great sail through the night. We ducked one tugboat. Before sunup we had to tuckin two reefs and both the jib and the main. We were way over powered. The wind has kicked up to 16 knots with gusts up to 20. Seas are building.Ben. read more...