Margate YC Raft Up on the Rhode River, Maryland

You should have been there! Perfect weather - just a little hot, 93 degrees F.  Randy and Pat from Homeward Bound declared "son, you sure look hot in those cool shades!". Ok, so that's not exactly the way it went. According to Randy and Pat it was perfect, “hot in the sun, cool in the shade”. Daisie Dog was there, looking cool in her best bandanna. The wind blew directly on the nose all the way down the bay, just like it always does when you're going someplace.

On the weekend, the Margate Yacht Club, not to be confused with the less selective Maryland Yacht Club, held the 2008 season annual raft up on the Rhode River, MD.

As soon as we set the anchor we were quick to join the rest of the gang in the water. Daisie was reluctant to get in at first, then after jumping from dinghy to dinghy, whimpering and barking, she threw caution to the wind and leapt on top of Michele, trying to walk on water to get to me.

A perfect Saturday evening, time for pot luck dinner under an almost full moon. Kate brought venison, marinated and cooked to perfection on the grill, Pat's Steak Salad was a hit and Michele's key lime pie was according to Trish "to die for", not a crumb left! Thanks Tim and Michele for hosting aboard Wayward Sun.

Sunday morning and we need to get moving to get back to work Monday. But first we need to take Bristol Rose to her new home at Ferry Point Marina.

We enjoyed sailing back home, Homeward Bound leading the way, Bristol Rose and Wayward Son sailing together until we started running with the wind and Wayward Sun flew her Spinnaker, pulling away from us. It's these moments I think we too need a brightly colored spinnaker. Still dreaming.

Our new marina is about 5 miles up the Magothy River on the entrance to Mill Creek. With assistance from Al, Paul, John and Elliot we got Bristol Rose into her new slip. Big boat in a small mill creek with shoals on each bank can get interesting when it comes to docking. With plenty of assistance, no problem.

We are still experimenting with our Blog, trying ideas. Let us know what you think.
Capt. Robert

Shannons Memorial Day 2008 Cruise

Late in May, with the help of Patrick whose boat, Annie Rose, is slipped at White Rocks, Bristol Rose sailed from Baltimore to Back Creek. Robert has arranged for Jay of Annapolis Rigging to fit the new Monitor windvane from Scanmar International. Robert and Patrick were able to sail as far as the Bay Bridges then with the wind from the South, not helping, the engine took over.

Our first sail of the season is a meet up with Dave and Adeena of Starshine, a 38' Shannon. They introduced us to Pete of Spell Bound, a 28' Shannon. The three Shannons anchored in the Little Choptank on Saturday night, along with a Beneteau, appropriately named "Shannon"! What are the odds?


Sunday we sailed/motored to Back Creek, Solomon's Island. Elliot and his friend Josh joined us for Elliot's 19th Birthday. We ate at the Captain's Table and next day after a brisk sail, Elliot and Josh drove back home and we bid farewell to Starshine. On Sunday evening we moved around to Mill Creek for a much quieter anchorage.


We spent most of the week slowly making our way back to Baltimore, dropping in at La Trappe and Rhode River. I was very pleased to have great weather and some relaxing sailing during the week - my long-awaited one week vacation after a full year's work! Australian workers don't know how lucky they are with four weeks annual leave after the first year of service!

Miss Daisie

Miss Daisie our Boat Dog loves to run

April Showers Bring May Flowers and To-dos

First things first.

You may be wondering why we are not posting about our adventures on Bristol Rose.

Bristol Rose is still winterized and in her slip in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. We are planning to take her sailing on the Memorial Day week-end. First we need to get our house in order.

Lots to do, the gardens are almost done and looking great. Then there is a long list of other household to-dos.

Bristol Rose Recruits New Crew - Monitor Windvane

“Shorthanded crews don’t steer offshore. Before we got our wind-vane, we had no self-steering on one passage after our electric pilot failed. That passage lasted three days - but it seemed like three weeks!” Beth Leonard, The Voyager’s Handbook. 

I can relate to Beth’s experience. Our first sailboat, Sandpiper was not fitted with self-steering and even on an 8 hr journey up the bay I found myself often looking for someone else to take the helm for a break.

“Many cruisers augment their steering with wind-vane self-steering. There is no question that the servo-pendulum type is the most effective. I would not consider any other type for offshore work” Nigel Calder’s Cruising Handbook. 

Bristol Rose is fitted with a top quality Simrad Robertson AP 22 Autopilot which works great.  The Autopilot is a drain on the 12 Volt power system and that is a concern on an ocean passage under sail. I wouldn't want to run the engine to compensate.

After some months of consideration I have ordered a Monitor Self Steering Windvane from Kopi from Scanmar International. Jay from Annapolis Rigging will fit it.

I selected Monitor for a number of reasons: 

1. The design is well proven, the first Monitor was made in 1975
2. The Monitor design seems to be the least intrusive, I really liked the Cape Horn but fitting it to a Shannon 43 looks difficult.
3. A number of Shannon 43's have Monitor Windvanes fitted, so I know it will work.

1. 
   

   

   Photo courtesy of Scanmar International
   
   

I can’t say I am overly excited about having a Windvane fitted to Bristol Rose. I love her classic lines and the wine-glass transom. Any windvane will change the way she looks, but then again Bristol Rose is a cruising sailboat and the design will accommodate a windvane. Having thought through the process of fitting a stainless steel contraption to the stern I am now looking forward to introducing myself to the Monitor over the summer. Who knows I may even weaken, like so many other cruisers, and give the new crew member a name.

How do the Cruising Thorn Birds Sail The Thorny Path South?

We've spent winter in North America reading cruising books. Cruising the Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean sure sounds like a dream come true.  So it might come as a surprise to hear that to reach paradise, cruisers heading south from the beautiful Bahamas must leave George Town (commonly known as Chicken Harbor) and sail the Thorny Path well beyond where the Snow Birds fly. Thorn Birds are no chickens. They pluck up the courage to leave safe harbour and push through the Thorny Path despite tales told by fellow cruisers, of certain seasickness and fright. 

What's there to be afraid of? Well.... there's the notourous Mona and Anegada Passages, more than 1000 miles to the Leeward Islands via the Bahamas. It's a battle all the way against the prevailing tradewinds and ocean currents, so popular folklore goes.

 

Unless the cruising Thorn Birds carefully plan a route and time departure when weather and sea conditions are optimal, they may wish they'd never left the safety of George Town. Bruce Van Sant, in his guide A Gentleman's Guide to Passages South, advises cruisers leaving George Town to head northeast to Conception Island via Long Island, then to Rum Cay and south-east to the Turks and Caicos. We've never sailed these waters. How can we be best prepared when we do? I've plotted wind and sea conditions according to NOAA bouys in the Bahamas and Caribbean, over the 45 day period from January 10 to February 24, 2008. There are some interesting observations for leaving the Bahamas:

• Wind blows ENE to SSE 58% of the time and averaged 12.8 kts, see chart above.
• Periodically the wind shifts South, around to the West then to the North before settling back East.
• If your course is SE to get to Mayaguana you will only get favourable wind condition for sailing 40% of the time.
• Factor in wind strength of less than 20 kts and height of waves of less than 8ft and swell direction, you find favourable conditions are now down to less than 1 day in 4.
• If I plan to motor east and look for less than 10 kts I will only find this 27% of the time.
• That trip NE to Conception Island - favourable conditions only 32% of the time.

The good news is that favourable conditions do exist for departing Chicken Harbor, George Town; the bad news is you have to wait and know when to leave. "Depart only when favorable conditions prevail and shall be sustained for a day longer than you need to make safe harbor"

More thorns along the coast of Hispaniola! "sailing to windward on this coast during full trades is flat out suicidal ".

By the time cruisers get to the Dominican Republic and have to head east, favourable conditions are now down to only 5% of the time. The trades are due East most of the time. "If you press on in 20 knt Trades and 5 to 8 foot seas in a 40 foot boat ... you are pleading for disaster to overtake you".

Van Sant and others use to advantage a night-time phenomenon when it is calm, up to 30 miles offshore (note the NOAA data is taken well off shore). This calm coupled with Katabatic Winds from the cooling mountains enable a boat to sail east by night, along the coast of the Dominican Republic.

We Have a Food Blog!

Check it out at BYOG & Tucker

Getting cold, time to curl up with a good book and a boat tour.

January 26 is Australia Day and today is the end of a cold week in Baltimore. I went down to the harbor to check on Bristol Rose. A thin layer of ice is on the water but none around Bristol Rose. One of the great features of Bristol Rose is the Espar diesel heater. It's so convenient and cosy in winter meaning we can still spend time aboard in comfort.


One place I always like to visit when at the marina is the laundry because at the Anchorage Marina fellow cruisers leave books and DVDs they want to swap. Trish calls it the Laundry Library. We get a great kick out of leaving a book we've enjoyed and then seeing that it has moved on to who knows where. We have found some real treasures left by others.

What are you reading?

On our blog you'll see we have set up a link to our Laundry Library page where friends can share recommendations for books, music, videos and blogs. Send us an email (click on Contact Us) if you'd like to recommend or share a book review of your own. 


Transit is an interesting wooden boat, built in England. She is one of our neighbours and it was a real treat to have a tour with owner, Jason. She is absolutely gorgeous below decks and has a wonderful history including a visit by Princess Margaret!