Those of you who watch my SPOT several times a day (as a few have admitted doing) as a form of vicarious cruising will be glad to have something to watch again.
I backed out of the slip that was my home for over two weeks just before dawn and and resumed my trip south leaving behind a wonderful group of friends. The wind was cold and it was a wet slog out to the bay under power. Once I turned the corner, things got drier but not a lot warmer with the wind blowing unbroken over the open water.
I sailed under jib alone until the course became a dead run against the tide. The desire to be comfortably warm at anchor overcame my desire to save diesel fuel so I motorsailed the rest of the day.
I saw my first Pelicans so the lands to the south beckon.
It's amazing how things work out sometimes. I was feeling a bit blue yesterday about leaving my friends and heading down what is a pretty lonely waterway by this time of year. I originally was going to leave Portland in company with a few other boats but left before them and hoped I would meet them along the way. I had to leave Port Washington, New York to make the East River run just an hour before they pulled in so that I could pick up crew. They arrived in Solomons about the same time I did but have been on the other side of the harbor so we didn't got together. I figured they would be about to Beaufort by now.
I emailed Mike yesterday afternoon to see where they were and they are still in Solomons! Not only that but their plans were to depart early tomorrow morning, exactly as I had already planned.
So, I move straight from life doing things with friends ashore to a floating community in progress south. How about my luck?
I am taking a night off though. I anchored out instead of going into the difficult Waterman's Wharf slip for a faster start in the morning and am going to enjoy eating alone and a night at anchor for the first time in what seems like a long time. The light promises a beautiful sunset and the weather report a calm day tomorrow. Life is good.
I backed out of the slip that was my home for over two weeks just before dawn and and resumed my trip south leaving behind a wonderful group of friends. The wind was cold and it was a wet slog out to the bay under power. Once I turned the corner, things got drier but not a lot warmer with the wind blowing unbroken over the open water.
I sailed under jib alone until the course became a dead run against the tide. The desire to be comfortably warm at anchor overcame my desire to save diesel fuel so I motorsailed the rest of the day.
I saw my first Pelicans so the lands to the south beckon.
It's amazing how things work out sometimes. I was feeling a bit blue yesterday about leaving my friends and heading down what is a pretty lonely waterway by this time of year. I originally was going to leave Portland in company with a few other boats but left before them and hoped I would meet them along the way. I had to leave Port Washington, New York to make the East River run just an hour before they pulled in so that I could pick up crew. They arrived in Solomons about the same time I did but have been on the other side of the harbor so we didn't got together. I figured they would be about to Beaufort by now.
I emailed Mike yesterday afternoon to see where they were and they are still in Solomons! Not only that but their plans were to depart early tomorrow morning, exactly as I had already planned.
So, I move straight from life doing things with friends ashore to a floating community in progress south. How about my luck?
I am taking a night off though. I anchored out instead of going into the difficult Waterman's Wharf slip for a faster start in the morning and am going to enjoy eating alone and a night at anchor for the first time in what seems like a long time. The light promises a beautiful sunset and the weather report a calm day tomorrow. Life is good.
