Author: jeromejcondon

With just a little while left before I take a flight home, we set our sIghts on a sail into Annapolis to get some warranty work done. Up early, it was a beautiful morning. Unfortunately, the winds only allowed us the sail part way. We had to motor for the first leg.

We sailed into get a new windvane put on since the old one had been acting strangely. It was the second one in 18 months since the lightening strike. For that reason Ian and I replaced all of the wires leading up to the windvane. We had to have the marine electrician install the actual windvane to certify our work for insurance. Yantina has lithium ion batteries which needed a new heat sensor, we were able to get this done as well while we were in Annapolis. Curiously, the batteries were from Holland, a replacement was installed in Antigua under warranty, but Ian still had to return the original battery to Holland. It had been sitting on the boat for 4 months. It is very difficult to get shipping for a 80KG battery back to Holland because lithium ion is considered hazardous. After much conversation we were able to get the American distributor to take the battery for us. That was a big relief. That was quite the international transaction!!

The sail back to the South River was great! 16-22kts winds most of the way. We had to tack against the wind, but even by going out of our way it took us a half hour less time to sail back than it did to mother there in the morning! Given the strong wind there were sailboats, sailboard and all manner of sailing craft out on the bay in the afternoon.

The picture above is the culmination of 3 days straight of work laying wires up the mast and installing LED lights on the spreaders. They sure turned out nice!

We have settled into a rhythm here of getting projects accomplished, making list of new projects and what supplies we need. We do find time to get the boat out on the bay to sail. I do hear that the boating season is starting to open up in Chicago and I have booked my flight to head back. In the meantime, I still get to enjoy this for the rest of the week!

While we have been in Maryland, we used the Ocean Cruising Clubs Port Officer Westbrook Murphy for an address to deliver packages and general help in locating groceries and supplies. He has been invaluable. We aren’t the only cruisers Westbrook is looking after, boats from around the east coast and Caribbean have stopped in to get some help and share a story or two. The cruising community really is a tight knit community of interesting people.

Our little inlet is cozy, probably less than a hundred acres in size. It provides us good shelter from the wind action and wind. We now are getting better at setting the anchor first time in the Chesapeake mud. We have gone out on the South River and the bay a few times when the winds are right to go for a sail.

Summer is definitely in full swing here. The power boat crowd is everywhere. Social distancing is become less noticeable on weekends, boats are rafted up as people get back to socializing. They still wear masks at the store and out shopping, but not so much when out at the beach or on the water.

We continue to get a least a couple of packages per day and continue maintenance and our casual refit. So far the wind instruments and wires leading from the cockpit to mask have all been replaced. Connections for depth, boat speed sensors have been redone. We fed three new leads up the mast bring new cables up the mast in the future (this was obviously easier said then done!). It has a great opportunity to be a part of all of the refit maintenance to expand my knowledge of how the boat works.

Since we have gotten to Annapolis, we done a walking tour of the downtown and did some general sight seeing. Ian intends to put the boat ‘on the hard’(take it out of the water) and return to the UK. He is concerned that if he leaves the boat here regulations around travel for the virus may prevent him from returning when he wants to. We are hoping he can fly to the UK at the end of June so we are preparing Yantina for a summer at a boatyard on Solomon Island, Maryland.

Our major activity has been to put together a list of things that need to get done on the boat before Ian leaves. The biggest concern is that the boat suffered a lightening strike about 18 months age and after replacing some of the electronic components things still don’t work properly. We have decided to replace everything including the wires inside the mast that go to the midpoint and the top. Ian convinced me that going up the mast was important for my education and I was assigned to go up to the midpoint to fix/replace the foredeck light. It was pretty exhilarating to be hoisted up way above the boat. The view was awesome. I wasn’t scared so much unnerved by being that far off the ground. You may be belted in, but it is hard work with two hands when you instinctively want to hold on with one!

After a day of outlining the projects that need to be done and figuring out what components and supplies need to ordered, we decided to change locations. We sailed down to South River off the west side of Chesapeake Bay and found a quiet inlet to put the boat. There is a Ocean Cruising Club member in this inlet and he has agreed to be our address for shipping components and supplies for our various projects. The sail down was great, winds started out at 12kts and built to 22kts over the course of our 5 hour sail. It was great to get back out on the water. As for right now now it is back to work. We just fixed one of the loos (bathroom) and next is replacing electronic instruments!

We are now safely at anchor just outside the harbor in Annapolis. I have to admit it is a truly special boating destination. Sailboat are everywhere as well as power boat or anything that floats for that matter. We had some provisioning to do so we took the dinghy up one of the inlets as far we could go and came up through someone’s backyard and walked to the grocery store. It is a great town to get around by boat. The sights from the water were great. Boats, houses, scenic shores, you name it.

Today we took the dinghy into the city dock in the center of town just to sight see on foot. There were quite a few people around. Unlike the Carolinas, masks were worn in all shops. It nice to get in a walk and stretch your legs and I have to admit the town has an east coast sailing vibe which I obviously enjoy!

I should digress at this point about Americans verses English in the Ian’s eyes. He is having a bit of an issue with everyone saying hello to him, they say hello on the street, wave from boats. He was asking, “What is wrong with you Americans, everyone is waving and saying hello?” At one point he was floored when a woman said hi to us on the street, “She is alone and just said hi to two blokes walking down the street, that would never happen in the UK.” I think he has come full circle now because moments ago, he exclaimed, “Hey that couple didn’t wave back?” To which I retorted, “They may know your English and don’t want to.”

We got underway from Solomons at about 6:30am. We are expecting the winds to start from the south allowing us to begin the day on a run. The prediction was to have the wind direction shift by early afternoon to from the west and then from the north by 3pm or so. This would have us tacking against the wind or motoring in the afternoon unless we stop for the night by 1-ish. Three things conspired to change our day from the orignal plan.

First, our anchorage was uncomfortably close to the channel the night before. In order to draw attention to the boat so no one would run into it over night, we left deck lights on. This draw bugs to the boat over night which had to be cleaned and polished out of everything. This task Ian took on with zeal, making the cockpit spotless over the course 3 or 4 hours. While he was doing that, he left me in charge of sailing the boat. I with the favorable winds we had to start with I pushed to get the most distance out of them expecting things to change and work against us later. For the first several hours we averaged 8kts on strong winds behind us and a 1.5 2kts tidal current in our favor!

Second, The wind shift to west came 3 or 4 hours later then expected. By the time the winds shifted to the west I had already passed our planned anchorage for the night. Since we were further along, the charts showed less places to stop for the night that would work for us between Eastern Bay and Annapolis. I guess I can take the credit over-sailing our destination.

Lastly, It was such a nice that what’s a few more tacks into wind on a beautiful day! We decide to go all the way to Annapolis. This put us 2-3 days ahead of schedule. Seriously though after staying on Chesapeake Bay all Saturday I can understand why people love to cruise this area. There were hundreds of boats out, sailboats, fishing boats even pontoons. It just a beautiful day to out on the water!

We arrived at Annapolis before sunset. The bugle played over the Naval Academy as we put the flag away. It was nice to sit at the mouth of Annapolis Harbor and watch the parade of boat return from a day on the Bay!

We got going early at 7 this morning. We were scheduled to have winds from the south carrying us up the bay at a nice 5-6kts speed in 8-10 kts of wind speed. That is really efficient sailing in such a light breeze! This all started when Ian asked, “Do you fancy hanging the Blue Machine?” This is the asymmetric headsail which acts as spinnaker for us. It is a hassle to get up and flying, but once its up, it is pretty awesome. Not only were we faster than the other sailboats around us, ( Let’s face it whenever there are 2 or more sailboats together it’s a race!) We did look a lot cooler as well.

While we were sailing along, we came across the above yellow “special purpose buoy”. After checking the charts and doing some research we came to find out that this particular buoy signifies the edge of a “Aerial Gunnery Targeting Zone designated for practice. Good to know!

We got into Solomon Island late afternoon. It looks like a great place to hangout if the virus was not an issue. After anchoring as best we could in the mucky bottom that doesn’t hold anchor sets very well (We did get some tips from other sailors on anchoring in the mud, the consensus is just put out more chain. Not very confidence building).

We did visit a few boat yards looking for a place for Yantina to haul put and sit on the hard while Ian returns to the UK. He may use one here in Solomon Island.

This morning we were up and out early with rain in the forecast. We figured we could knock off quite a chunk of the 45 miles we wanted to cover before getting wet. As it was we had a great day on it the wind came around to our back and strengthened the 20kts. We put up the pole and roared along at 8+kts going “wing & wing” with the main sail to port and the jib to starboard! It was a great of sailing.

We were able make it to all way to our anchorage before the rain started. Unfortunately, the hard bottom that makes up a good portion of the Chesapeake Bay would not allow our anchor to set easily. After 6 tries, we broke out a second anchor. We got a decent set between the two of them, but by then we were soaked. Of well another lesson in what makes sailing so hard.

Foggy start to the morning, we had having an issue with the engine starting to run the generator. Worked on that early morning. Patrick headed out for Nashville, Ian and I will go on to Annapolis. We had to figure out an address for Lyft to come pick up Patrick and then take the dinghy ashore in someone’s back yard and walk up on to the street. Fortunately, the house was for sale and the dog next door appeared to be afraid of us. It was interesting looking for a street to tell the driver where to pick him up?

After Patrick left, we raised the sails and had a nice trip into Matthews, VA. A nice little town with lots retirees hanging around. We came ashore in the dinghy, parked it at someone’s pier and snuck through their yard ( this is becoming a theme) to the street and walked into town. After a little walk around town and some grocery shopping it was back to the boat. We spent the night at a beautiful anchorage a ways up a river for shelter from the bay.

Yesterday started foggy and the weather became progressively warmer and better as we sailed around Hampton and north. We tacked our way across the bay at 3 to 5 knots. As we approached a lighthouse in the middle of the Bay, a coast guard boat was dropping off a guy. Near as we could tell on the internet, people work 4 – 5 day shifts working 24 hours on location by themselves in the lighthouse.

The above boats passed us going really fast, so fast it hard to get a picture. Using the binoculars they appeared the dressed in Navy Seal type uniforms. It most have been a training exercise. Curious that neither boat came up on radar?

We finished the day by giving Yantina a good washing to get the salt and grime off the decks. She is now sparkling clean!