Talking to the Wind

October is a perfect month to sail and it has been a great for me this year. New places, new challenges and good friends.

I drove back to Mathews yesterday morning, picked up Annie at Winter Harbor and met my friend Frog at the county ramp at Put In Creek. We rigged, launched and headed south down the 'mighty' East River toward Mobjack Bay. I pressed Frog into service at the helm while I piddled around on deck and below. With a soft NW breeze we worked well against the incoming tide. Making the point at Mobjack village we headed west on a reach. A beautiful, crisp day.

Frog at the helm

The tide slacked as we tacked across the Mobjack and up the North River. I was thinking our friend Jim Brown lived on Blackwater Creek.  Jim is the designer of Sea Runner trimarans that many built and sailed bluewater in the 70s and 80s mostly. We had seen Jim a couple weeks back and I wanted to see Scrimshaw that has brought the four Browns from California to North, Virginia over 30 years ago.

We ran out of wind as we snaked up Blackwater and I sculled us over to dock where a man offered a mooring. We accepted, had pasta that Frog packed and turned in early. Frog set up in the cockpit (without the tent to sleep under the stars) and I crawled into my warren down below. I awoke this morning and found Frog deep in his sleeping bag that was pretty much soaked on the outside with heavy dew. We dried up a bit and had a breakfast of granola bars and bananas.

Morning fog on the creek

Note: Frog remembered that Jim lived on the East River! Oh well maybe a visit next time when I have more time.

We headed south with an outgoing tide and downwind run. It was another beautiful cool day.  A reach across the north reach of the Mobjack and short tacks up the East River luckily with an incoming tide. Frog talked to wind as we tacked and it seemed to respond. We hauled out and I took Annie to our friends Denise and Van's house to store off Pepper Cove. I decided this new home will be better for the winter. Maybe we will go back to Winter Harbor Haven again for a stay sometime...

Blue Sky Days

A deadrise workboat on the East River

Pink going, yellow returning. 36 miles

From Norfolk to Moon

Saturday I drove to Norfolk, Virginia. My friend Steve picked me up at the town dock in Spartina. We sailed along the Elizabeth River and passed by ships and shipyards on our way to the docks where schooners had arrived from Baltimore. After a lot of looking around and a nice lunch on the Virginia we headed back out for more sailing. Steve's friend Scott joined us on quite a beautiful, cool day and after back on shore I headed north around 4.

Spartina

Up close

Schooner rigging

Pride of Baltimore

It was late afternoon by the time I reached Annie at Winter Harbor. The sunset was outstanding. Slept well onboard at the marina and rigged early in the still morning.

Loaded and launched, we reached out toward Wolf Trap Light. Tacking north on a slow downwind run brought us to Hole in the Wall at the southeast end of Gwynns Island. A series of zig-zagging markers led to a swing bridge and a stop to pick up some gas. I by chance met a fellow named Tom working on his boat and he invited me to his cabin for dinner. I accepted and backtracked until reaching Billups Creek where I tied up. Nice conversation and baked puppy drum. I asked what we were near and he said the village of Moon. And by the way... his boat is named Eclipse. Seems an appropriate choice.

Woke early, put on the lights and headed back up the creek at 530. The sun came up as I reached the bay. There was a stiff 20 knot wind on the nose so I went to engine power. The dodger sure came in handy as we plowed into the chop. Annie's sharp bow split the waves well and I got back to Winter Harbor ahead of the approaching rain. Glad not to have a truck full of wet canvas again!

Wolf Trap Light

Sunrise

Yellow heading north and blue returning. 30.8 miles.

Painting Schooners?

My friend Steve has invited me to join him for a sail on Spartina this weekend. The Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race finishes in Portsmouth, VA and we will hopefully be able to get up close. 

I have been painting recently in my new studio in Richmond. There may be an opportunity this weekend to sketch for a pen & wash or two, and get some ideas for large maritime paintings. 

On the quay, Lekeitio, Basque Country, Spain

A Day and a Night on the East River

Autumn is in the air and the NOAA forecast a cold front on its way to the Chesapeake. I picked up Annie at Winter Harbor and headed for Put In Creek on the nearby East River. It seemed prudent with no local knowledge to stay in an area with a plenty of protected north shore coves instead of the more vulnerable Rappahannock River. It had already picked up from the SW ahead of the front as I launched at the county ramp. It always makes for  slow put-in when singlehanded and the wind is blowing into the launch slip. Extra line here and there and a bit of head scratching.

We explored the ins and outs of the river and made way into the northern end of Mobjack Bay. Late in the afternoon we headed back north and stopped in at the small Compass Marina at the village of Mobjack. I tied up for a short time and nice folks gave me directions to an anchorage further back upriver. The front passed without an appreciable increase in wind but the temperature steadily dropped. At sundown I dropped anchor, snapped these pictures and readied for the night.

It rained in the night. I awoke and sailed in the morning gray. More rain, colder. The sails started to dry and I decided to hauled out. As I was within ten minutes of being packed, it poured. Everything soaked and cold.

Annie is back at Winter Harbor under wraps and I am drying out canvas in the basement in Richmond. It is great to be in 'the sailin' way' again.

A well planned cruise begins

My friend Steve, his shipmate Bruce and Spartina are beginning their fall sail up the northern Chesapeake, down the Delaware River and maybe beyond. It is sure to be a great adventure that you can follow it on this site. And stay tuned to the Log of Spartina for the play-by-play on their return.

Favorites

Spain and Portugal have rich maritime histories. Traditional boats and harbors rim the countries' coasts. I enjoyed documenting them. Here are a some of my favorites shots...

On the beach at Nerja near Malaga 

Bermeo in the Basque Country

Lekeitio, Spain

Cudillero, Spain

San Sebastian

Cudillero, Spain

Aviero, Portugal

Malaga, Spain

Cudillero, Spain

Aviero

Nazare, Portugal

Nazare

By the Bay of Biscay, Llanes, Spain

Hunting a New Home Port

Eleanor and I drove over to Mathews County, Virginia to meet our friend Frog from St. Augustine. He spends a couple of months a year in Mathews enjoying autumn on the Chesapeake Bay and knew people and places that might be helpful in finding a place to keep Annie. We have rented an apartment in Richmond for the year with no place for boat storage.

We drove all around the county and settled on Winter Harbor Haven Marina for its price, boat ramp and proximity to the Bay. After our search Frog took us by canoe to a private beach for a swim. He is quite the host.

 We will be moving Annie in a couple of weeks from North Carolina. Back in the water again!

... if you are interested in our Iberian trip check out artaventure.blogspot.com   The Blog Archive (left column) will help you navigate from the beginning in April

Mathews County, Virginia

Winter Harbor Haven Marina

An alternative boat ramp

An early possible storage in the trees at Denise's house

Frog's Autumn Palace at Denise's

Cormorants drying out

Low tide

A Pending Move

We returned from Spain and Portugal in mid-July. The 10 week trip was quite an adventure, traveling 4500 miles by car and camping on the beaches, the mountains and the plain (not much rain). I found Annie in good shape on our return and we are in the midst of moving to Richmond, Virginia for the next year. My friend Frog is working on a safe place to store Annie on the Chesapeake about an hour and a half from our new place in the Richmond Fan.

A bit of sailing on the Bay is in the near future. I can't wait!

Vagabonding...

We are in North Carolina preparing for our extended camping trip to Europe. We got a couple of full price offers the first week of showing our house and left St. Augustine with a pending contract. Filled both vehicles with what we felt were necessary for the next year, hitched up Annie and made a slow caravan north. Annie is behind our friends' house near my father's place and we are off to explore the maritime world on the 'other side of the pond'.

What Do You Do When You're Not Sailing?

A thousand answers. Most likely working or staring out the window at the snow falling. Maybe absorbed in building your next boat, fulfilling another's plan for you or asleep dreaming about wind and waves. Or just sitting around the docks with dry pants telling a previously told sailing story. Well, for the most part, any of those could be me at times.


Lately I have continued to ready the house for putting on the market and whacking my finger with an xacto  knife while multitasking... not quite my forte lately. Eleanor and I, with a lot of help from Terry and others, have made good progress. Both bathrooms have been gutted and remodeled and there is a new floor in the sunroom and lots of fresh paint. We have tickets to Spain, a new tent and plan to leave the end of April after taking Annie and a pile of unstored belongings to my Dad's in NC. Although there is much to do we are forging ahead.

construction zone

If you are reading this (posting once in 6 weeks = blog in coma) and get the chance... check out Annie on the cover of the latest issue of Small Craft Advisor. A nice article by my friend Bill Jacobs. At a Barnes & Noble near you!

In the Transition

I ran Annie's outboard in a big bucket yesterday. That is the most attention she has got since December.  We have been busy organizing and cleaning our house pending our next life move. That means a lot of small decisions, pitching unneeded 'stuff ', a big yard sale, and trips to storage. And as soon as it seems like it should be over, we start again. More of the same. I am amazed (and don't take that as a cliche) that we have collected so much over the years. For the most part it is going away... going to friends, strangers, good causes and the dump.

I look forward to seeing the world through new eyes and in some ways that is starting to happen. Annie is a simple being. Every piece of line has a purpose... whether to directly position a sail, hold you fast or wait in a designated place to be ready when needed. That unencumbered, clear, and simple design is our personal goal as well. Onward.

Eleanor sorts through her studio

From drawer to storage bin