Messing About in Boats

From The Wind in the Willows:  

"Believe me, my young friend, 

there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing

 as simply messing about in boats."

As I noted in my anchor research, I've become a fan of Drew Frye's Sail Delmarva blog as well as some of his books and articles.

Anyone who's ever owned a boat, has heard this quote from The Wind in the Willows hundreds (if not thousands) of times.  As Drew points out in the introduction to his blog, this is frequently cited as a reason to ditch life here on land and head out to sea, but he goes on to explain that the water rat who receives the advice, considers a sea life, but is unable to explain his compulsion to his friends and eventually "regains his sanity".  (Read it on Drew's blog at the link above... he's better at expressing this.)

Drew goes on to explain...

"What most of us need is a miniature adventure. It suits the time available. More to the point, it fits our priorities. We have families ashore. We have friends. We have shore-bound interests at least as important and valid. In other words, the myth, yea the fantasy, of casting all aside and following the winds across an ocean isn't something we're avoiding out of cowardice, but rather because it makes no damn sense to us. For heaven sake, we're land animals and we like it that way."

This really spoke to me.  I've long been a fan of SV Delos, Sailing Uma and others (such as Harry Dreckel) who are crossing oceans, sailing around the world and doing all sorts of adventures.  But while I like to view and read these exploits, I have personally never craved sailing out on the ocean.  In fact, the one experience I've had on the ocean for two days, didn't really excite me - in fact it had be contemplating how I could return Seas The Day 315 during this delivery trip.  So Drew's blog seemed to be saying that... you know, it's OK to just get out on the water just to "mess around".

In fact, that's what I've been doing all summer so far.  I don't really have any sailing goals... just enjoy the fact that I have this boat and the ability to mess around in it, but in the end, "real life" (and a very good one at that) awaits me back on land.

And that's what I did this weekend.  

There was a lot going on at work on Friday and I wanted to stay near a good connection since some last minute calls extended after 5:00 and in the end I decided to stay at home reading Drew's book on single handing.

I left early Saturday morning for the weekend (intending to stay overnight and possibly Monday as well).  As I walked out on the dock, you couldn't help but notice the dark clouds just a bit to the northeast.  Were these the fading remnants of a previous storm, or warnings of what was to come?  My radar app seemed to indicate the former, so I unloaded and quickly went out.

It was a beautiful day.  Winds were in the 10 - 15 kt range with gusts into the high teens.

An error I made with Otto had me uncomfortably close to Sol Searcher (a commercial charter boat which is in a nearby berth on B-dock).  Getting so close makes for a great iPhone photo once my heart restarts.

Joe out with some guests on Sol Searcher

I set up and was close-reaching across the bay (just enjoying a beautiful day as shown in the two videos below).

Video 1

Video 2

I did notice that there was a really weird steampunk-looking thing off in the distance towards the bridge.  I watched as it got closer and realized it was something being towed.  My AIS indicated it was the Justine Mcallister and of course I was heading towards it.  The AIS inbox also showed that she was slowing down.  I tacked away, and she sped up and when I tacked back (thinking she had passed), she slowed down again.  My memory wasn't good... she wasn't in the channel... did she have the right of way or did I?  In any case, I hailed her on the VHF Ch13 and let her know I was aware of her and would just be tacking back and forth but staying out of her way. The good captain thanked me for the call and resumed his track.  

As she passed, it appeared that he was towing the front part of a submarine of some sort.  The marine traffic app indicated she left Norwalk, VA (home of much of the Navy's shipbuilding on the East Coast) and was headed to Groton CT (home of the US Coast Guard).  I'm thinking it's part of some sort of research submarine - the Coast Guard does a lot of neat environmental research.

Saturday was also the trip where I tested our new SailRite electric winch handle.  Both Vicky and I have experienced shoulder pain after periods of sailing.  I just had a visit with the doc Friday afternoon (why my work ran overtime).  The winching might be a cause and I decided to add this capability.  It works great for furling and unfurling the jib... you still need a normal winch handle for fine adjustment.  (Note that the self-tacking jib has many more blocks that the jib sheet passes through, so it's not possible (at least for me) to just haul out the jib by yanking on the jib sheet.  It always requires it to be winched out and the new handle will make this easier.  Above you can see it being used to quickly crank in the jib as the winds picked up from a squall to the south.

With what looked like a storm over the mouth of the Chester River, I decided to head in.  The track was a simple motor out to Green #3, then sail across, tacking back and forth a few times and eventually taking a nice beam reach back to the east before motoring up north to Swan Creek.  So yea, just messing around in a boat.  (And I have to agree... there is nothing half so much worth doing!)

After grabbing an incredible brisket sandwich from the pool bar & grill at Osprey Point, I spoke to Joe from Sol Searcher and learned that frequently the charter captains do just the same thing - motor down to Green #3, sail out a bit and back and then motor north to come in.

I also saw this beautiful Kady-Krogen coming back and walked out to help Anne & Dave tie up.

The rest of the afternoon was just relaxing.  I was making the bed and stowing stuff as the water for dinner was heating up when I realized that I forgot my CPAP machine (a device that helps me sleep better without snoring).  I realized with an hour or so before sunset, that I had to quickly make a choice between a good night's sleep by heading home or dinner on the boat.  I quickly abandoned the water, shut off the gas and closed things up before heading home.

I'll head back later in the week for the holiday weekend!

Upgrading Our Anchor

 

I realized I needed to replace my anchor back in June 2020, during a couple of days of sailing with Jie and Tao.  (Why do these things always happen when young ladies are aboard with Vicky and me?)  We had anchored near Gratitude Marina in this little area between the channel coming into Swan Creek, and the shore to the north.  We had a pleasant time eating lunch, fishing and taking photos.  When Jie went to the Bow and I took the photo below, I marveled at how dramatic the sky looked.

... 

And then the realization dawned on me....

Uh oh!

Yes, a fast moving summer squall was crossing the bay from Baltimore and at this time, boats started racing back.  You can click on the link above for the rest of the story, but in summary, I was worried. I had to try twice to get the anchor set and wasn't confident it would hold.  During the squall, we started dragging back into the channel requiring me to weigh anchor quickly.  One of the ladies was seasick earlier (that's why we were anchored in the creek) so going back out into the bay wasn't a possibility and trying to dock during the squall wasn't a good idea either.  I was caught between a rock and a hard place and I didn't react well.

The anchor we were using that day was the one supplied with Seas The Day as part of the "safety kit" that typically comes with new boats.  I don't know the exact specifications, but I'm guessing its the Delta 35 lb which on their size chart is the one for a 40' boat.  Inside the box on the dock is a rode that is maybe 15' of chain and around 125' of nylon rope.  I'm not complaining... the purpose of the safety kit is to provide the minimum of what is needed to make the boat legal and get it delivered.  

The anchor and rode supplied as part of the "Safety Kit"

It is inadequate, though.  I've used it a few times... struggled to get it set each time (the plow shape seems to just pull through the loose Chessie mud) and the only time it felt really secure was during the time fishing with my brother when it snagged on a submerged and buried branch and held quite firmly.  I've been thinking off and on since the squall incident about upgrading my anchor and decided that now is the time.

In preparation for this upgrade, I researched a lot over the intervening year... read anchoring parts of Chapman and The Annapolis Book of Seamanship, watched tons of YouTube videos, and during evenings the last week or two, read the book at the top of this post Anchoring: A Ground Tackler's Apprentice.

   

I also posted on a few facebook groups to get other's opinions (which was interesting because let's just say that opinions are varied among sailboat owners - even among those who own the same boat).  So here I'm going to share my choices, what I finally ordered, and a bit of my rationale behind those choices.

I liked the approach in the ground tackler's apprentice book... namely size everything for likely maximum loads.  With that in mind, however, Seas The Day won't be anchoring out in hurricanes or anything approaching those extreme conditions.  If conditions are expected to be bad, I'll be at a dock.  I'm sizing for summer storms that come up unexpectedly... those can (and have) touched 40 to 50 knots, but for a short time.  

I found the table below listing ABYC working loads on the sail-delmarva blog (which has some incredibly detailed information).  For my 40' sailboat (LWL) in the event we see 60 kt winds, it looks like we should shoot for 3600 lbs horizontal working loads.

Found on Sail-DelMarVa.blogspot.com

That is good because Seas The Day already has a windlass - a Quick Rider windlass - that has a gypsy for 5/16" G43 chain which has a working limit of 3900 lbs.  That windlass has a working load (for lifting the anchor) of 265lbs (from the manual).  A call to the Quick folks confirmed my chain specs, but also noted that this style of windlass can shred rope rode, so an all-chain rode is recommended.

Quick Rider R1012D Windlass
The motor is mounted below deck and the metal part is what you see.

This defines the first part of my system... an all-chain rode.  I purchased a half-drum of Peerless 5/16" G43 HDG chain through Gratitude Marina (who will handle putting everything together... they also had the best price including delivery).  They will splice it to 50' of nylon 3-strand (just enough to attach it to the boat and allow for a few years of redoing the splice as needed).  That may sound like a lot of chain, but any place I'd likely anchor in the Chesapeake Bay is maybe 20' deep.  275' of chain will cover us for 30 to 35 feet at a 7:1 overnight scope.  If needed, it will be relatively inexpensive to add additional rope to the rode later.

Now for the anchor... I decided to go with a modern design and ended up selecting the Mantus M1.  I selected their M1 over their newer M2 model because their website said it performs slightly better in loose mud (which is common in the Chesapeake area).  I selected the 65# model based on my LOA from the chart below.  That means the windlass will have to be able to lift 35 lbs of chain and the 65 lb anchor... well within it's limits even if it is lifting some mud as well.

I added the Mantus S1 swivel to connect the anchor to the chain.  This has a working load of 3000 lbs but they noted that was with a safety factor of 5x, so we should be good for that occasional 60 kt load of 3600 lbs.

Finally I added the Mantus medium bridle with the appropriate chain hook (to mitigate shock loads from the all chain rode) and their Anchor Bungee (to secure the anchor while underway without straining the windlass).

This gives me an all-Mantus system with all the parts designed to go together and sized for the chain that my windlass can handle.  It's all ordered and should come in within a week or so.

Finally, I realized from my research that I shouldn't rely on only one anchor.  That means that the anchor and rode from the safety kit will become a back-up and remain on-board Seas The Day.  

I also have (at home) a traditional fluke (i.e., Dansforth) anchor that was a backup on Seas The Day (315), and that will be brought onboard for use in an emergency.  It's technically undersized at 13 lbs, but several tests show that these anchors can quickly penetrate loose mud very deeply and it's not likely to get used sitting in the garage.

That will give me three "anchor-rode" systems for now.

Father's Day Weekend

 

This is just a quick report on Father's Day weekend.  I stayed home on Saturday to meet my new grand puppy, Luna, who is only 3 months old.  Given her age and threatening thunderstorms we decided this visit is best done at the house.   After some family photos, a nice dinner and lots of fun in the yard, John Jess and Luna headed back north.

I spent Saturday evening finishing "Anchoring: A Ground Tackler's Apprentice" and I finally pulled the trigger on an anchor upgrade.  We'll give you more on that later when it gets installed.

Sunday morning, I woke up and headed down to get a day of sailing in.  The weather delivered the promised 7 to 10 kts of wind, but I had to motor out to the middle of the bay to get it.  Still, I got a nice hour or so of calm sailing (3.5 kts of boat speed from 7.0 kts of wind).  

It was a bit unusual in that I never started the AC despite it being a hot day.  I only carried the bedding and a new long Seas The Day pillow.  As soon as I arrived I began untying the dock lines, and as soon as I tied up, I closed up and headed home.  I got my solid 4 hours in, but I think I spent a total of 4.25 hours at the marina.

June 2021 Vacation - Days 7 to 10 - Back to Rock Hall (and home for a day)

(Please note that all the photos from my vacation can be found here.)

On Thursday, I woke up early and shoved off right at 8:00 AM.  Storms were predicted for early afternoon and my one radar app suggested the could begin over Baltimore around Noon.  Since it was predicted to be a 3 hour trip, I didn't want to take any chances and wanted to be tied up by 11:00 AM.

It's a pretty easy shot across the bay and under the bridge to Rock Hall.

A quick glance back at the Annapolis Yacht Club

I did take a quick look up Ego Alley, 
but I didn't want to spend the time going there.

A last glance back at Annapolis

There was no wind and the bay was smooth. 
A few other boats were making similar runs.

About mid-way between the bridge and the entrance to Swan Creek, I encountered this weird series of waves.  They were larger than the rest... looked almost like a bow wave (but no ships nearby), and nothing visible on the chart.  Very odd.

Approaching Gratitude Marina and the entrance to Swan Creek
(almost home)

Back and tied up by 10:30 AM
(just as the dark clouds were approaching)

I tied up, got the electrical and other stuff sorted out and removed garbage, laundry and overnight essentials and headed north.  I had promised to meet up with some friends from work at Auburn Road Winery for the evening.

Later, I went home, did laundry, talked for a long time with Vicky and wrote up this blog update.  I may head back down tomorrow morning or wait until Saturday (depending on how unstable the weather is).

Right now 'tain't looking too good....
(Saturday might be better)

I stayed at home on Thursday night, determined to never enter the office room since I'm on vacation.  One interesting thing about being on land after 6 days on the boat is my brain was still in movement mode.  My brain interpreted any motion as "on the water" and the rooms swayed back and forth (no, it was not the wine... having to drive, I was extremely careful).

I was going to head back right after waking up, but decided with bad weather anticipated all day, that I would make some breakfast first (my spam and egg scramble).

I left around 1:00 PM, expecting the rain to dissipate at 3:00 or so, but when I arrived, it was still cold and rainy.  I had intended to clean the boat a bit, but still being in vacation mode, I got lazy and just relaxed.

I did make reservations at Osprey Point for dinner.  (I was going to save this treat for my last night out, but I learned via an email that the restaurant would be closed tomorrow night for an event.)  I had their Wagyu Sirloin Au Poivre and a key lime tart.  Expensive, but worth it.

Wagyu Sirloin Au Poivre

Key Lime Tart

There are no plans for tomorrow... I may go up the Chester River (I'm not going to Baltimore with the violence issues), I may just go anchor out somewhere (less likely... I'm still not confident in my anchor set up as the dealer supplied), or may just go out for a day of sailing/motoring as appropriate.  The last is most likely as I'm aware after a day on land that my body is just physically tired, and the ability to head home early on Sunday and just rest, may help my Monday productivity a lot.

On Saturday, I woke up and realized I was tired.  The heat wave had indeed broken, and temps were back in the low 70s in the morning.  But there was no wind.  I made a hearty breakfast and went about researching my options for improving my anchor system.

My issues with the anchor supplied as part of the dealer's "Safety kit" is two-fold.  First, the anchor is too light.  It's a Delta plow style and I'm sure it's the minimum size for Seas The Day.  Also, the rode (the chain/rope line that holds the anchor) only has 15' of chain (most recommend at least a boat length of chain - 42 feet in this case).  The dealer-supplied is fine for a "lunch hook", and it has held two of the three times I have used it, but it did drag once while out in the bay.

I buttonholed Wade (the service guy at Gratitude Marina) the other day and he used calipers to measure my chain links on the current system (at 5/16") because I couldn't find any stampings on the Chainwheel.  Today of course, I found the stamp confirming his measurement (also confirmed by the details in the manual).

I can just make out a 5/16" stamp on the windlass chainwheel

So with all this, I'm leaning towards a Mantus M1 65 lbs anchor for better setting and holding power.  To save some money, I'll get a length of chain (75 or 100 feet) and get Wade to splice it using the existing nylon rode.  I'll explain more at a later time... I still haven't pulled the trigger.

Right around Noon, I went over to the pool bar for one of their incredible cheeseburgers, then headed out to Gratitude for fuel and a pump-out.

Leaving Gratitude Marina

It was very flat and light winds (6 to 8 kts).  I did see some sails out, so once at the #3 buoy, I pulled out the sails.  It was a relaxing time cruising along at 4kts from an 8 kt wind. 

But then it died.  I got maybe an hour of sailing in... the rest was motoring.

Enjoying the gentle sail.

I sailed out to the east channel and then turned around.  With the wind aft of the beam, it suddenly was hot (mid-80s by now), so I sailed a bit and then pulled them in and motored back.  Once heading north past Rock Hall, I did see Shardana out sailing and grabbed a couple of frames, but I only had my iPhone, so we're really pushing the pixels with these two.

After tying up, I saw Frank out washing down Silver Eagle which motivated me to get out and scrub down Seas The Day.  Later, after a nice long WeChat video chat with Vicky, I headed out to fill the water tanks as the sun set.

Tomorrow looks like a loss... with morning wind lighter than it was today.  So I expect to awake, do breakfast and then pack up the boat and head home.

Which is exactly what I did... woke up, had a simple bagel with cream cheese for breakfast and then I went about cleaning Seas The Day to make her ready for Father's Day weekend.  I was home before Noon... vacation accomplished!

Summary of Osprey Point/Home costs:

Auburn Road Winery - $35

Popeye's - $6

Osprey Point Restaurant - $109

Osprey Point Oasis Pool Bar - $17

Gratitude Marina (Fuel & Pump Out) - $77

Tip for dock boy @ Gratitude - $5

Total - $249 (3.5 days)

Total Costs for the Vacation:

Provisioning - $125 (considering I ate out a lot and brought half back with me)
2 days in Saint Michaels - $638
1 day in Herring Bay - $209
2 days in Annapolis - $395
3.5 days back in Rock Hall - $249

Grand Total - $1,616!