[Rhodes22-list] Thank Goodness for Furling Sails

[Leland]

Chris,

You're certainly getting a lot of experience on the high seas.  You should
have named your boat "No Fear."  Looking forward to pictures and story.

Lee



cowie wrote:
> 
> Lee:
> 
> I made my first overnight sail Friday and Saturday and enjoyed some of the
> same weather you probably experienced on Saturday.  I had been planing
> this overnight trip for some time and was discouraged when the weather
> report was calling for a weak front to pass thru the area Friday bringing
> unsettled air with the possibility of thunderstorms Friday followed by
> high pressure Saturday.  I felt that I could make a run across the bay
> before the storms hit and anchor in St. Michael's safely.  Everything went
> fine Friday until my wife called to say that 60 mph damaging winds, hail
> and rain were racing thru washington DC and headed my way.  I was lucky to
> have the storms skirt by either side of me Friday night.  the wind blew
> pretty steady during the evening and I got an early start to head for home
> Saturday.  With a light wind on my nose I motored up the Miles River
> toward Eastern Bay, pop top and bimini up.  Pretty soon the wind picked up
> and I quickly lowered the pop top and stowed the bimini.  By the time I
> shut off the outboard and deployed sail it was blowing a good 14 kts with
> building seas.  I lowered the boom, full main, furled genoa sheeted inside
> the stays.  After tacking up Eastern Bay I had a nice broad reach with a
> straight line across the bay back to Herrington Harbor.  Full sail, center
> board up, running like hell, I recorded 6.7 kts while surfing across the
> bay.  My speed was generally about 5kts but kept running up and down with
> the wave action, felt like riding a bronco.  Usually I would turn around
> and go back to the dock with this much wind and wave action but this time
> was committed to making the return trip across the bay.  I am exploring a
> few options on how to post images and text to better document and share
> the trip and hope to have an update to the list soon.
> 
> 
> 
> Leland wrote:
>> 
>> Weather forecast called for 6 mph winds, blue skies, and mild summer
>> temperatures.  My wife likes to sail with the bimini up and yesterday
>> seemed like the perfect day for an afternoon sail and picnic lunch.
>> 
>> Starting out winds were a little higher at about 7 knots with less than a
>> foot of chop; for about 15 minutes.  In an hour the wind was up to 14
>> knots with some of the worst chop I've been in.  I had taken in the sails
>> but had to put the poptop down because the cabin was getting soaked.  The
>> waves were moving us at slightly over 3 knots with no sails and the motor
>> down.
>> 
>> We could have doused the sails on a regular boat but there was no way I
>> would have hassled with putting them away in that chop.  Other small
>> sailboats would have been safe in those conditions but we wouldn't have
>> mentally felt as safe.  My wife said it was comparable to a kiddy
>> rollercoaster which was actually true--safe and fun.  The fun got old and
>> we eventually went in.
>> 
>> So glad we have a Rhodes.
>> 
>> Lee
>> 1986 Rhodes22  At Ease
>> Kent Island, MD
>> 
> 
> 

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