Why buy a sailboat

It's nice to cast off the dock lines and set off on a trip without spending a ton on fuel, if you take advantage of the wind and use your sails. I understand that most people prefer to furl their sails and crank on the iron genoa when going to windward as tacking can be tedious and time consuming. But when sailing along on a beam reach, you never need to tack and you will be able to achieve really good speeds through the water.

Another feature of flying the sails is they help steady the boat as the waves are typically also going to be striking the hull on the beam. With the sails down, the vessel will begin to roll as it is repeatedly struck by waves on the beam. With the sails set, the vessel will fall into a groove and hold steady as it punches through the waves and rides steadily and comfortably towards your destination

While sailing on the Chesapeake, I came across and subsequently passed this fellow motoring along while being tossed around. 

He was motoring along when he could be sailing on a beam reach. We were under sail and passed him as he was being tossed around by the seas since he had no sails up to steady him Full story at www.riggingdoctor.com

Summer Cruise Day 2

We raised anchor in the early morning and made our way South towards South River where we were to meet up with my parents boat. 

This was the only day when we had a destination with a time set on it. We were to meet with them for the afternoon and raft overnight for us to set sail the following morning.

We made good time during the morning, arriving at the mouth of South River by 2pm. That's when the wind died and we slowly made our way towards the river. We were there for so long that the tide actually changed and we were just barely able to keep our position under sail. We were slowly sailing forward in water that was pushing us backwards. Around 4pm, after 2 hours of sitting, we decided that we needed to motor up the river.

While under full sail and with a little push from the motor, we began moving along at 1 to 2 knots over ground. We finally arrived at our destination around 8pm, 6 hours after reaching the river! Maddie and I agreed that we would have simply anchored outside of the river rather than fighting our way in if we did not have a meeting time set up already. 

We met up with with my dad at the mouth of Harness Creek and went in together. 

The electric motor was able to power us up the river to this point, but it was too much motoring for the small battery bank, we burned the batteries down to 42% while struggling up South River against the tide.

It was all worth it though, we anchored and my dad rafted up to us for the night. My sister and her boyfriend made a delicious dinner for us to prepare for our big departure.

While we were rafted, I plugged Wisdom into my dads generator to recharge the batteries. Our new departure time was "As soon as the batteries are recharged!" This ended up being a long time since we were plugged into an outlet on my dads boat, only charging at 15 amps AC.

While rafted the next morning, we got had the perfect opportunity for a photo op.

Yes, we are a family of dentists! 

My boat is Wisdom, because of the wisdom that I have acquired while living and working on her. The dinghy is Tooth, because then it turns the whole name into what I do for a living, pulling wisdom teeth. Eggstraction, my dads boat, is an Egg Harbor.

The question is, should we get another boat and name it Bloody, and put it all the way to the left?

Summer Cruise Day 1

We set out on a long sailing trip heading South. We have no set point to where we will arrive, simply sailing South for 2 weeks and then turning around and making our way back to Fells Point.

Our first day started rather un-eventfully, we took longer than expected to leave the pier, so that put us on a later start than planned, but it didn't matter because we had no time cards to punch! 

We left the Inner Harbor of Baltimore in very light winds heading out of the Patapsco River towards the Chesapeake Bay. The sun was getting low on the horizon as we approached the Key Bridge when a squall hit us. We had reefed the sails already as the clouds approaching looked ominous, but this was rather strong for our first day. 
 

I was up at the fore peak preparing to drop the anchor for the night when it hit. Maddie was at the helm on her 6th sailing trip, so when it hit, she was alone in the cockpit. I don't know what went through her mind as the wind picked up speed instantly heeling the boat over as the wind shifted onto our beam, but I don't think it was happy thoughts. The wind was ripping the tops of waves off and sending the water flying through the air as visibility was quickly diminishing.  Through all of the noise and confusion, she let out the mainsheet which righted the vessel instantly. I was very glad that she did this as I was clinging to the bow rail waiting for her to rectify the situation. What probably occurred in a few seconds felt like an eternity as I was holding on. 

In a few minutes, the squall passed and the seas flattened as the dead calm air hung over us. It was a bit nerve wracking to think this happened in our own back yard as we made our way to the ocean. I had only been crew on a sailboat for 4 days in the Atlantic from Key West, FL to Charleston, SC, and Maddie had only been sailing a few times in the Patapsco River. We didn't have a ton of practical experience between us, but we did have the will and knowledge to make the trip. 

We anchored for the night and slept well as we prepared for our next day of sailing.

Lazy days while under sail

Some days, everyone is full of energy. Other days, not so much!

We were sailing in the Southern part of the bay when Maddie felt like taking a nap. This video was taken while sailing along at 7kn under Jib and Main off of Hoopers Island.