Bay Sailor: Day 5 and 6

The crew was anxious to get going this morning so they drove the boat down to the marina where the skippers meeting was held and picked me up with a cool circle around jump on the boat without stopping maneuver.

Well, the Rally organizers got it right with the hold for a day. The weather window for the trip out into the Atlantic and up to Delaware was worth the wait. It was fairly windy (20+ knots) with lumpy seas on the way out of the mouth of the bay but as the morning went on the wind and waves settled and we had some amazing stretches of 6+ knot sailing through the blue-green water.

There was lots of military traffic at the mouth of the Chesapeake - cruisers, hovercraft, fast experimental speedboats, and an aircraft carrier. Each broadcasts radio messages of varying levels of harm that will come to you if you get too close. The clear champion of the warning messages was the aircraft carrier which went directly to the deadly force warning. There was also military ship doing starboard circles around the Chesapeake lighthouse for hours as we went by. Fast Steve's theory is that someone in the wheel house messed up port and starboard so they got to careful learn what starboard means by going to starboard for a day or so.

There was also a lot of commercial traffic to doge which is only really tricky right at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel passages where everyone funnels together.

The Atlantic sailing was actually fairly easy. We sailed for the bulk of the first day and night. The wind was on the nose but strong so we could run long tacks fairly close to the wind. The waves are bigger than in the bay but further apart so the boat motion was fairly comfortable. Sean was at the wheel as we crossed into the Atlantic.

We actually cooked some good meals underway with jambalya for dinner and bacon and pancakes for breakfast. Cooking at the boat rocks around is not easy but Sean and Fast Steve got the hand of it quickly using the gimbaled stove that moves around with the waves.

The gimbaled cantaloupe was not quite as successful.

No one got seasick thought the country music at times had me on the edge of nausea. Sleeping is tricky - a lee cloth was needed in the center beds to keep you from falling out as the boat heels and bounces around. After a while though you get used to it and it is kind of a nice way to sleep. Somewhere between rocking in a hammock and riding a mechanical bull.

We traveled about 20 miles offshore and then gradually got closer to shore as the coast came further East. The sunset, sunrise, moon, and stars were amazing. There were several points in the trip where we were completely alone with no land or other ships in sight. The sailing was surprisingly easy and relaxing. No traffic, fish nets, crab pots, or shallow spots to worry about. As we went by Wallops in the middle of the night, there was a small rocket launch and we its contrail just to the west of the boat. We saw bats around the boat in the middle of the night, pelicans gliding along with the boat, and lots of dolphins all around us.

Morning was a touch cold.