Lighthouse at Fort Monroe
And now for something completely different...
Yesterday's forecast was for rain & thunderstorms so we decided to stay put at Old Point Comfort and get ahead on some things.
Today's forecast was for beautiful weather & some nice wind.
Yesterday's reality was no rain, blue skies, and nice breeze.
Today's reality is 15-25kt winds, 3-4 foot seas on the Bay.
How do we know the true sea height? We tried to leave this morning. Got outside of OPC doing 6kt, made our turn and promptly slowed to 2kt. At that speed it would take 18 hours to get to Yorktown. We were taking spray into the dodger and cockpit. We made a 180 degree turn, put up the jib, and shot up to 7.5kt and actually hit 8.2 which is a new record for us. The old girl had some life in her.
I went below and checked tides and currents to make sure I wasn't googly, sure enough, tide and surrent were supposed to be with us... wind driven has an amazing effect here, evidentaly. We made another 180, deciding to give it another try, went from 7's to 2's again.
So we turned around (again), put up the jib (again), shot up speed (again), cut the engine and sailed back to Old Point Comfort entrance. Rolled the jib in, re-anchored, and here I am telling you this tale.
We'll try again tomorrow. I charted a different course and cut 6 miles off, turning earlier, probably into the wind (haha.)
Oh yeah, during the first slog outward, an enormous cabin cruiser passed us close, gave us a stern wake and our gas can for the dinghy did it's own 180 degree turn, upside down. The vent broke, we both smelled gasoline. I haven't checked yet how much we lost, I just got dried off and decided to have a sit-down and a cup of tea.
Such is the cruising life.
The gods do not subtract from a man's life the days that were spent sailng.
(At least I'll get this day back again someday...) | 