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Bay Yacht Club hosted a cruise the Charlie Butt's Light House in Lydia Ann Channel Sat. Nov. 10, 2007. It was a great chance to try out some of the new systems.
I rigged up a bridle for the dingy out of old Stay-Set X genoa line. I cut it in half and knotted it 2/3rds the way down. It worked very well. It acted as it's own safety line and was easy to adjust underway. The dingy rode well even at hull speed in a good chop.
Sat. am was magnificent--clear, cool, and breezy. I set the new 130% roller-fulled genoa from Trent BcBride at Banks Sails. White Pepper just took off. The sail is beautiful and quite powerful--probably too much for CC Bay. I am sure it will be appreciated in the lighter breezes offshore and in the Chesapeake.
We got to the Light House just as lunch was being served. I threw out the new Rocna anchor and new shiny rode with 100' of chain. As advertised it bit hard within a few feet and stuck fast.
The afternoon was exquisite, the company good, the lighthouse wonderful as usual, but everybody left by 4 pm. Now it was time to change anchorages. I could not get the windless to engage. This was due to a failure to read the instructions--all 6 lines of them. The current was rippling and the sun going down fast. I had to lift the anchor and chain by hand which was no easy feat. It would have been impossible without Jan maneuvering the boat right over the anchor. I was determined not to stay in Lydia Ann all night. We set out for Mud Island with Jim and Jo Ann Robertson on Brigadoon.
Just after the sun set at 5;30 pm, I got the anchor down again and again it bit hard. I am starting to believe all the hype about the Rocna. By this time it was blowing hard, but we never moved an inch. Mud Island is one of the best anchorage in the area, but only available in a SE wind. I learned that I need a mid-ship cleat, maybe on the toe rail, to secure the dink for boarding.
The next morning we explored Mud Island by dingy and beach combed--something I had never been able to do without a dingy. The day was one of those amazing S. Texas winter days--sunny, cool and breezy--like San Diego is all year long. We did not get away until noon and had to creep home in the dark. At first the GPS guided us down the intracoastal waterway with survey like accuracy. Passing under the Kennedy Causeway bridge somehow gave the GPS a headache, and now it showed the ICW running across dry land. Worse still two of the large green day markers were not lit. It was a very tension filled last few miles. I was nauseated by the time we finally tied up at 9 pm. Jan bought a 3 million candle power 'Q-beam' flash light Monday morning. In this part of the world the 'Q-beam' in known as Cajun radar, and I will never sail without it.
We learned a lot and have more to learn, but the next time White Pepper leaves the slip it will be for good.
I rigged up a bridle for the dingy out of old Stay-Set X genoa line. I cut it in half and knotted it 2/3rds the way down. It worked very well. It acted as it's own safety line and was easy to adjust underway. The dingy rode well even at hull speed in a good chop.
Sat. am was magnificent--clear, cool, and breezy. I set the new 130% roller-fulled genoa from Trent BcBride at Banks Sails. White Pepper just took off. The sail is beautiful and quite powerful--probably too much for CC Bay. I am sure it will be appreciated in the lighter breezes offshore and in the Chesapeake.
We got to the Light House just as lunch was being served. I threw out the new Rocna anchor and new shiny rode with 100' of chain. As advertised it bit hard within a few feet and stuck fast.
The afternoon was exquisite, the company good, the lighthouse wonderful as usual, but everybody left by 4 pm. Now it was time to change anchorages. I could not get the windless to engage. This was due to a failure to read the instructions--all 6 lines of them. The current was rippling and the sun going down fast. I had to lift the anchor and chain by hand which was no easy feat. It would have been impossible without Jan maneuvering the boat right over the anchor. I was determined not to stay in Lydia Ann all night. We set out for Mud Island with Jim and Jo Ann Robertson on Brigadoon.
Just after the sun set at 5;30 pm, I got the anchor down again and again it bit hard. I am starting to believe all the hype about the Rocna. By this time it was blowing hard, but we never moved an inch. Mud Island is one of the best anchorage in the area, but only available in a SE wind. I learned that I need a mid-ship cleat, maybe on the toe rail, to secure the dink for boarding.
The next morning we explored Mud Island by dingy and beach combed--something I had never been able to do without a dingy. The day was one of those amazing S. Texas winter days--sunny, cool and breezy--like San Diego is all year long. We did not get away until noon and had to creep home in the dark. At first the GPS guided us down the intracoastal waterway with survey like accuracy. Passing under the Kennedy Causeway bridge somehow gave the GPS a headache, and now it showed the ICW running across dry land. Worse still two of the large green day markers were not lit. It was a very tension filled last few miles. I was nauseated by the time we finally tied up at 9 pm. Jan bought a 3 million candle power 'Q-beam' flash light Monday morning. In this part of the world the 'Q-beam' in known as Cajun radar, and I will never sail without it.
We learned a lot and have more to learn, but the next time White Pepper leaves the slip it will be for good.
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