LORD’S PRAYER LOG, Part 542:

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Anchored Lake Ogleton near Annapolis MD

0726 I check the NOAA weather forecast:

Prognosis for Chesapeake Bay from Sandy Point to Drum Point:

Today: NE winds 15 kt. Waves 1 to 3 ft. Scattered showers.

Tonight: N winds 10 kt. Waves 1 to 2 ft.

Sun: N to NE winds 10-15 kt. Waves 3 ft.

Sun night: S to SE winds 15 kt becoming SW to W after midnight. Waves 1 to 3 ft.

Mon: S winds 10-15 kt. Waves 1-3 ft.

0900 Lord’s Prayer is underway, bound for home, a distance of about 33 nm.

0915 There’s blowing mist in the air. The sky is overcast. Visibility is good… except when it’s limited in light showers. The wind is N 12-15 kts.

0940 I set the twin jibs on the poles and secure the engine as I head further south in the Chesapeake. Boatspeed is variable 6.8-7.2 kts as I run downwind, with the wind now coming over the port stern quarter. There is a major sailboat race ongoing today and there are spinnakers set all over the Bay… as many spinnakers as I have seen on the Chesapeake at one time! It is really quite a pretty sight!

0948 I adjust my course and sail by Thomas Point Light to take some pictures; this is one of those fascinating Chesapeake Bay screw-pile lighthouses.

1005 I find myself in a downwind low-angle crossing situation with a J-30 that is racing under main and spinnaker. Neither the J-boat nor Lord’s Prayer is pulling ahead. I cannot head up higher to facilitate a crossing without catching the wind behind my port jib. I scandalize both jibs by easing the two sheets. This collapses the spread of the sails thereby de-powering them. Lord’s Prayer slows and I drop back enough to cross astern of the J-Boat. I leave my sails in the scandalized condition long enough to create a good separation and minimize loss of wind for the racing sailboat.

1015 I cross ahead of another group of racing J-boats.

1027 I sail by Bloody Point Light and into Eastern Bay.

1045 Blowing mist has turned to light rain; visibility has dropped as a result.

1048 Wind strength has dropped to N 8-11 kts; boat speed is off to about 5 kts.

1100 About a half mile east of the NE end of Poplar Island I must alter course to sail around a pound net (a fish weir) in 8-9 feet of water. I then turn south to transit the pass behind Poplar and Coaches Islands. The rain has ended.

1143 I stow the twin jibs and poles before turning east to enter Knapps Narrows.

1149 As I enter the Narrows, the bridge is opening; I call for it to be held and the bridge tender indicates he’ll do that… there’s another sailboat behind me; the bridge tender holds it for him too.

1151 I pass through the bridge.

1155 I exit the narrows and start out the marked channel.

1203 I clear the channel and turn into the wind to hoist the mainsail.

1207 With the mainsail up and the boat on course up the Choptank River, I haul out the jib. Lord’s Prayer is on a port reach making about 5 kts.

1212 I pass starboard-to-starboard with a skipjack under a reefed main; it’s headed toward the Narrows.

1253 As I sail up the Choptank, I note with interest that to leeward of me there’s a stream of sailboats racing up the Choptank. Evidently the course today has taken these boats out around Poplar Island and Tilghman Island and then in through the mouth of the Choptank. I do not know yet where they are headed next.

1315 I fire up the engine as I approach to cross the stream of close reaching racers. I then turn downwind to cross the path of the racing boats at about a 90° angle. With the help of the engine, I expedite the crossing process and minimize effects on anyone’s wind. Once clear, I return to course and eventually secure the engine.

1320 It becomes evident that the racers are turning at Choptank light and beating up the Tred Avon River to a finish line at the Tred Avon Yacht Club…. I later learn that this event is the 52nd Annual NASS Race to Oxford… sponsored by the Naval Academy Sailing Squadron.

1335 Another rain shower sweeps over the river. These showers remind me of the tropics.

1409 There’s a little patch of blue sky opening up to the north as I sail by Horn Point, and the sun is breaking through above.

1437 I pass Hambrooks Point and turn toward the Creek in Cambridge.

1451 I turn downwind to sail into the Creek

1458 In the turning basin, I douse the jib, turn into the wind, drop the main, stow it, start the engine, and jockey the boat around to back her into the slip. Backing a sailboat under ideal conditions is something akin to trying to throw a dart backwards… It just isn’t natural! My slip entry today is made more difficult by the north wind, which blows the bow to starboard as I back up. I’m not doing very well at this today. It is so much easier on no-wind days! After some further jockeying around, I finally get her lined up and moving backwards and into the slip… not gracefully though! I need more practice! Chris is standing by and gives me a hand with the lines. It is really good to see my bride! I have missed her company. Chris adds: I am glad to see him safe and sound and back home!

1515 Lord’s Prayer is at home in Cambridge Creek MD after an 80-day, 1558 nm voyage to New England and back. Position: 38 34.265 N 76 04.457 W. Engine time at shutdown: 1886.2 hrs.

END OF PART 542

END SUMMER VOYAGE 2006

Christine & Jim Kidd and Onyx, the sailing cat.