Got out for a sail last night. 10+ knots blowing straight out of Winthrop Harbor. I set her up wing and wing figuring I'd get an idea of how balanced the helm post all my fudging around replacing the back stay. It was beautiful. If it wasn't for a cross current throwing her off a little I could have had my hands off the wheel entirely.
I kept that tack all the way to the President's Road, the main channel out of the city, then dropped off onto a reach out past the Deer Island Light with the rail down at hull speed.
I turned up the north channel on a broad reach following it out to the #7 buoy. The skyline was quite dramatic with the sun shining out past a localized line of dark storm clouds siting over Boston like a black halo. I felt like I could just keep going up the coast, but reality set in and I tacked back to the mouth of the harbor.
Then, of course, things got interesting. My plan was to essentially sail diagonally across the the President's Road, clearing the Deer Island Light, to Spectacle Island then a tack would give me a beautiful reach over to the mouth of Winthrop Harbor by the Airport. It was also planned to take me out of the way of a very large CG vessel coming up behind me. My plan course seemed ideal...then one of those damned high speed cat ferries cam flying up the channel towards me.
It proved to be the Provincetown/Boston one, the same one that buzzed me good last year. :cussing:
I fell off a few points, hoping to cut more directly across the channel, but it wasn't clear whether he would pass to bow or stern of me. Ultimately I decided, that although he would be unlikely to buzz me too close given the proximity of the CG vessel, that safety should always take priority, so I tacked deliberately out of his way, allowing him to blow by me at his usual 40 mph. That, unfortunately put me on course to cross the bow of the CG vessel, so I continued to wear until I was now sailing OUT of the harbor parallel to and past the CG vessel.
So much for my plan. It was getting quite dark, so I decided that the better part of valor was to run for port under power. There was a beautiful sunset over the airport contrasted by the dark cloud mass, which had slid to the south over Quincy. I picked up my mooring first attempt with just enough light remaining for me to read my mooring ball and confirm I was in the right place.
I kept that tack all the way to the President's Road, the main channel out of the city, then dropped off onto a reach out past the Deer Island Light with the rail down at hull speed.
I turned up the north channel on a broad reach following it out to the #7 buoy. The skyline was quite dramatic with the sun shining out past a localized line of dark storm clouds siting over Boston like a black halo. I felt like I could just keep going up the coast, but reality set in and I tacked back to the mouth of the harbor.
Then, of course, things got interesting. My plan was to essentially sail diagonally across the the President's Road, clearing the Deer Island Light, to Spectacle Island then a tack would give me a beautiful reach over to the mouth of Winthrop Harbor by the Airport. It was also planned to take me out of the way of a very large CG vessel coming up behind me. My plan course seemed ideal...then one of those damned high speed cat ferries cam flying up the channel towards me.
It proved to be the Provincetown/Boston one, the same one that buzzed me good last year. :cussing:I fell off a few points, hoping to cut more directly across the channel, but it wasn't clear whether he would pass to bow or stern of me. Ultimately I decided, that although he would be unlikely to buzz me too close given the proximity of the CG vessel, that safety should always take priority, so I tacked deliberately out of his way, allowing him to blow by me at his usual 40 mph. That, unfortunately put me on course to cross the bow of the CG vessel, so I continued to wear until I was now sailing OUT of the harbor parallel to and past the CG vessel.
So much for my plan. It was getting quite dark, so I decided that the better part of valor was to run for port under power. There was a beautiful sunset over the airport contrasted by the dark cloud mass, which had slid to the south over Quincy. I picked up my mooring first attempt with just enough light remaining for me to read my mooring ball and confirm I was in the right place.
