Heading South, then North

The weather forecast for the Upper Chesapeake Bay for Saturday, October 29 was for southwest winds at 5 to 10 knots. For several days before, while we were fixing our water leak issue, there had been small craft advisories with winds of 20 knots from the south. Although the wind had now abated, we were left with steep, 5-foot choppy seas dead on the the nose. 

Our destination was Duns Cove though Knapps Narrows. It took the better part of 6 hours of plowing into the short, steep waves with apparent winds of 15 knots to get there. The short video shows but four seconds of the trip - replay it for 6 hours straight for a fuller experience of the rollercoaster ride! We decided from here on, like many before us, that we will not sail to weather if we can help it.

Sailing to Weather

Rosalind behaved extremely well and other than having to hold on, the trip went well. The cockpit enclosure provided great protection from the spray, which at times went from the bow all the way to the stern of the boat.

At the entrance of Knapps Narrows we ran aground. We had touched bottom many years before in our previous boat so we knew that the water was limited; however, new shoaling (poorly marked) resulted in us getting stuck in mud this time. For the first time in 20 plus years of boating on the Bay we called for a tow. We were able to get ourselves unstuck with our engine before the tow arrived and learned a valuable lesson about having a dinghy ready for kedging when coastal sailing. A rolled up dingy on deck takes valuable time to inflate and get ready.

Once unstuck, we turned around and motorsailed across the Bay to Herring Bay, which offered protection from southwesterly winds without losing any southing. Crossing the Bay took less than an hour and a half and with the jib unfurled, we averaged 6 knots. 

We anchored, had a nice dinner, were treated to a pretty sunset, and then turned on our anchor light. Our anemometer recorded gusts to 20 knots and I kept anchor watch until 1 am. While i was on anchor watch, a powerboat (~45 ft, 14 m) doing at least to 20 knots passed within 150 ft (45 m) of us with no running lights. Yikes!

Sunset at Herring Bay, Maryland

The next morning we looked at the weather. The forecast called for southerly light winds and thunderstorms late in the day before the return of favorable northerlies. We decided to go back to Galesville (only three hours away) and wait for a good weather window to head south again.

Before departing for Galesville, I inspected the engine room and discovered that the aft engine mounts were loose and would not tighten when I put a wrench to them.  This is a problem needing immediate attention! Over the next weeks we will post more about this but here is the short version:  We are back in Galesville where we will remove the engine, rework the engine bed, have new engine brackets made, and reinstall the engine. We are hoping that the weather will hold and if everything goes according to (the new) plan we should be heading south sometime in December. 

It’s been a busy two weeks. Overall Rosalind is working extremely well and most of the systems are performing extremely well. We have been very pleased with our cabin heater, fridge, solar panels, energy balance and battery charging system, water system (including hot water), toilet, anchoring system and roller furler. After having spend almost two weeks onboard we find Rosalind very comfortable to live on and are very pleased with how the overall refurbishment has come together. The shakedown(s) have identified a few key issues that we have to address and many good decisions we made along the way. 

We will keep you posted on the engine room progress. 

Thank you for following us,

Alex and Cheryl