If you read the final update to my last post, you know that I finally met up with the group of boats from Portland that I originally planned to travel in company with. We joined up leaving Solomons and sailed down to Ingram Bay where we anchored inside Sandy Point. This is as nice a place as I know in the Chesapeake for a group such as this to anchor. Lots of room and scenic. Just don't plan to stop when the wind is blowing NE from the direction of the huge Menhaden processing plant in Reedsville.
I enjoyed a beer with Mike and Hank and we all then went back to our respective boats planning for an early departure.
I decided to leave a bit ahead of the fleet this morning so as to save fuel and stay drier by running slower until they caught up with me. I was just about a mile from the turn south at the channel entrance when I got a text from Mike saying that one of the boats had an engine problem so they were all returning to Solomons. This confirms some thoughts I had about the logistics of large fleet operations in Portland.
So, I'm alone again. However, not long after, I got another text from Buck420 who I will be getting together with in Hampton.
There was quite a bit more wind than forecast the night before and a lumpy sea. Strider pitched hard enough that the engine blew about half a quart of oil out of the dipstick, first time there has been any significant loss since all the dipstick adventures. It's no longer a concern. I just pull the oil pad out of the drain pan and top up the oil.
Conditions steadily improved until of New Point Comfort a slight course change and some backing of the wind let me set the sails and enjoy a very pleasant, 13 nm., sail that took me all the way to anchor in Poquoson River without starting the engine again.
I just had a visitor who deserves a thread all of its own so check back after I've gone up to sit in the cockpit and enjoy the sunset.
Oh, "Bad Luck Bay"? You may remember that it was in Ingram Bay, anchored almost in that same spot, that I woke up in the morning to find all the engine oil in the drip pan. That was the beginning of all the engine adventures. Steering during the long tow to Solomons and cleaning up the mess were probably the main cause of all the back problems which followed.
Let's hope the problem that took the Portland fleet all the way back to Solomons has an easier resolution.
I enjoyed a beer with Mike and Hank and we all then went back to our respective boats planning for an early departure.
I decided to leave a bit ahead of the fleet this morning so as to save fuel and stay drier by running slower until they caught up with me. I was just about a mile from the turn south at the channel entrance when I got a text from Mike saying that one of the boats had an engine problem so they were all returning to Solomons. This confirms some thoughts I had about the logistics of large fleet operations in Portland.
So, I'm alone again. However, not long after, I got another text from Buck420 who I will be getting together with in Hampton.
There was quite a bit more wind than forecast the night before and a lumpy sea. Strider pitched hard enough that the engine blew about half a quart of oil out of the dipstick, first time there has been any significant loss since all the dipstick adventures. It's no longer a concern. I just pull the oil pad out of the drain pan and top up the oil.
Conditions steadily improved until of New Point Comfort a slight course change and some backing of the wind let me set the sails and enjoy a very pleasant, 13 nm., sail that took me all the way to anchor in Poquoson River without starting the engine again.
I just had a visitor who deserves a thread all of its own so check back after I've gone up to sit in the cockpit and enjoy the sunset.
Oh, "Bad Luck Bay"? You may remember that it was in Ingram Bay, anchored almost in that same spot, that I woke up in the morning to find all the engine oil in the drip pan. That was the beginning of all the engine adventures. Steering during the long tow to Solomons and cleaning up the mess were probably the main cause of all the back problems which followed.
Let's hope the problem that took the Portland fleet all the way back to Solomons has an easier resolution.
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