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THE COURSE BOARD A Publication of the Glenmar Sailing Association

Tod Herrick, Editor

www.glenmarsailing.org

VOL: 29 Number: 7

Mid-Summer

2010

Boat/US Group Mbr.

# GA 81715 S DSC GIN: 033801947

Glenmar Sailing Association General Meeting:

Middle River Yacht Club, Nanticoke Rd. Essex

Sept. 28, 2010 at 7pm.

Speaker!

Do you have a story to tell about an event from our past? Do you have a story to tell about an event from our past? Do you have a story to tell about an event from our past? Do you have a story to tell about an event from our past? Perhaps an interesting anecdote? I would like this column Perhaps an interesting anecdote? I would like this column Perhaps an interesting anecdote? I would like this column Perhaps an interesting anecdote? I would like this column will be a regular feature in the Course Board as there were will be a regular feature in the Course Board as there were will be a regular feature in the Course Board as there were will be a regular feature in the Course Board as there were many interesting adventures from our colorful past. How-many interesting adventures from our colorful past. How-many interesting adventures from our colorful past. How-many interesting adventures from our colorful past. How-ever, if there is no one to tell these stories, they will not be ever, if there is no one to tell these stories, they will not be ever, if there is no one to tell these stories, they will not be ever, if there is no one to tell these stories, they will not be told! It’s as simple as that! Submit a write up about a cruise, told! It’s as simple as that! Submit a write up about a cruise, told! It’s as simple as that! Submit a write up about a cruise, told! It’s as simple as that! Submit a write up about a cruise, a race, an interesting anecdote by sending it to me at: a race, an interesting anecdote by sending it to me at: a race, an interesting anecdote by sending it to me at: a race, an interesting anecdote by sending it to me at: gladrags@comcast.netgladrags@comcast.netgladrags@comcast.netgladrags@comcast.net. I will include it as soon as I can! . I will include it as soon as I can! . I will include it as soon as I can! . I will include it as soon as I can!

Glenmar SA

COMMODORE’S REPORT The 2010 edition of Northern Bay Race Week is in the record books. Both the racing and the party were great! By all accounts, everyone had a good time. Despite the economy, we had 33 entries, that is the same number of racers as last year and we picked-up a couple of new sponsors to help defray some of our expenses. New this year was a raffle for a couple of bottles of Mount Gay rum. This year we had 5 US Sailing race officers on the committee boat to run the races and they did an outstanding job. I had originally arranged for 2 of them, but they brought their friends because they like our event, our venue and they want to help race week grow to become the premiere event on the northern bay. I really like those guys and can’t thank them enough! The race results are posted on the GSA web site. But, I can thank the volunteers – so here goes: Dave Kozera – provided housing for the race committee. Drew Talbott – provided his Tartan 37 for RC and his Whaler as a mark boat. Bill Helf – skippered the RC boat for both days. Ryan Talbott – skippered the mark boat for both days. Blaine Linkous – provided and skippered a sec ond mark boat for Sunday. Lew Glazer – cook / assistant chef Wayne Weitzel – chef Bobby Weitzel – salad bar manager Ronny Waynick – photo boat driver Donna Little – photo boat assistant Sandy Huberfield - photographer Also, big thanks to our sponsors this year: J. Edward Cilumbrello – Certified Public Ac-countant

Latrobe Renovations – Gordon Latrobe D. W. Kozera, Inc. – Professional Engineers and Geologists Century Engineering – Tom Calvert Harkins Builders – Chuck McCann WBCM – Douglas Suess Chesapeake Contemporary Dentistry – Keith Moomaw Another big thanks to the Middle River Yacht Club for hosting the party and allowing the use of their docks for the visiting racers. Danny and Marcie Miller did a great job as bartenders and dock masters. Of course, something this big takes planning and there was a committee that worked hard to put this event to-gether. The committee members deserve a thank you too. Those members were:

Bob Little, John Latrobe, Chuck McCann, Dave Kozera, Gordon Latrobe, Danny Miller, Al Wirth, Paul Rybczynski, Brett Sorenson and George Culbertson.

Thanks to everyone involved and I apologize in advance if I have forgotten someone.

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Upcoming events:

• GSA Annual Corn Roast – July 31st – contact Tom Kreiner for details.

• Nick’s Fish House Cruise – August 21st – con-tact Danny Miller for details.

• Bay Jam Race – August 28th – contact the Georgetown Racing Fleet.

Here’s another story for you – the Race to Baltimore – July 10, 2010:

It was a Dark & Stormy morning, not that we had started drinking early, it was overcast with low, gray clouds scudding across the sky. The rain showers started shortly after we left Middle River. The showers came and went with the darker clouds. This pattern would continue throughout the day. We arrived at Baltimore Light well before the scheduled rendezvous thanks to a strong ebb that would last most of the race. Prior to the start, the wind was 12 to 14 knots from the northeast and the waves were 1 to 2 feet high. Great racing con-ditions for Kristany, an older IOR design.

The race committee posted a simple, three letter course, all with port roundings. With only 4 boats in the A2 class (6 had registered), the start should have been clean and simple, but I managed to bungle it, giving the fleet a 30 second lead. Larry Vazzano’s CS 40 - Wharf Rat won the start and reveled in the breeze and chop. The first mark was at the east end of the Brewerton Channel and was a good upwind leg slightly favoring the starboard tack. We passed the Melges 24 and the J105 in short order as they were struggling going upwind in the waves. We slowly gained on Wharf Rat and were pointing a little higher. When Wharf Rat tacked over, we easily crossed ahead of her and tacked onto port for a loose cover. All we had to do now was to stay between Wharf Rat and the mark. Our lead grew as we sailed to the weather mark.

The second mark of the course was a channel buoy near the north shore of the Patapsco. It would be a close reach as the wind direction was holding, but the speed was down a little. Up went the reaching spinna-ker and we started to see some good numbers and more separation from Wharf Rat. Watching the A1 boats ahead us, we noticed they were getting more breeze and taking down their spinnakers. The bow team was ready and when the new wind got to us, they raised the genoa and doused the reacher like pros. This breeze was from the northwest, a little stronger and puffier. The traveler was putting some miles on its little wheels. This leg had now become a beat to weather too.

We left the second mark to port and continued past Fort Carroll, under the Key bridge and up the Patapsco to-wards the finish. Wharf Rat was slowly gaining on us as we got closer to Fort McHenry. We had not seen the

(Continued from page 1) other 2 boats in a long time and thought that maybe they had retired. At Fort McHenry we did a couple of short tacks to get into the Northwest Branch and then could see the finish line. Another tack onto starboard and we could lay the finish.

BCYA’s shotgun is quite loud and brought smiles to our faces as we held off Wharf Rat until the end – now we could drink! We congratulated Larry and the crew on Wharf Rat, thanked the race committee and headed back up the bay to Middle River.

The successful crew on Kristany was: Stanley Kudzin-navigator/main, Gerry Hiller-primary trimmer, Todd Can-field-bow, Matt Targarona-pit, Andreas Steinhoff-bow, Christine Compton-trimmer, Jason Collins-grinder and me, as skipper. Glenn Harvey, Commodore

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up to speed. Alas, things did not quite work out that way but with about a quarter mile to go to the finish we still had a shot. We both got pushed down away form the finish line when the wind shifted to the right. Neither of us could not lay the finish mark after the shift and to make matters worse, there was a very pretty sailboat in front of both of us, lots of brightwork, big overhangs, all of that kind of stuff, with only one person on board and only a jib flying. We were both gain-ing on him and he was right in our way. Dan was trying to go above him, we were too far down and could not do the same so we tacked, we were a little close and I think I made the guy nervous because after that he got out of there. After we tacked we found ourselves headed for the finish line but Dan was still ahead of us, he tacked and crossed the line just a few sec-onds ahead of us. The boats were not over lapped but we were pretty close, it was a really fun Funex Race. After the race we rafted, had lunch and talked about a lot of things including our upcoming Corn Roast. Steve Weber of “Jess” fame was on Dan’s boat. He told me he thought he saw a barnacle on my bottom and suggested that might be why we were a little off the pace. I suggested he should get an eye exam, I was in the water less than week ago rubbing that bot-tom to a nice finish and saw no evidence of barnacles, then he told me he was kidding. So how was your Sunday afternoon? I know you are a Glenmar member if you are reading this, I wish you could have joined us. By the way, all of that tacking and stuff I just talked about, I was driving and releasing the working jib sheet, the lovely and talented main sheet trimmer was doing a lot of pulling and grinding for this race. I was starting to get the evil eye towards the end when I uttered the words, we have to tack. Ok, so I just told a tale of fun and adventure on Middle River, what could be better? Well truthfully, I think it could be bet-ter. I think we should break with tradition and move the Fu-nex Races out of the river. There are just too many power boats flying in and out of the river at very high speeds, creat-ing huge wakes and clearly getting really pissed off about these sailboats that can’t seem to make up their minds about which way they want to go. Wind shifts and tacking require changes in direction. Have you been on Middle River on a Sunday afternoon lately? It is a very popular and busy place. I hate to say it but I really think we need to move the Funex Races. My suggestion is that we start at GSA mark “4” over by Miami beach, go out to G1 and then end at Bowley’s. The start would be away from all of the Sunday traffic, we would probably have better air outside of the river and the finish would still lend itself to a raft after the race as we could just keep sailing to Strawberry Point. We could have two or three “standard” courses based on wind speed and direction. We would still do our pursuit start and hopefully have a fun time. I guess we should discuss this at our next meeting. So please come to the next Funex Race, We have one sched-uled for 10:30 AM on Saturday July 31 as we head to the corn roast and then our next Sunday afternoon is scheduled for August 8. I hope to see you soon at a Glenmar event. Paul Rybczynski

Vice Commodore’s Report You know, I feel I must apologize to you all. I have not been doing a good job of advertising our Funex Races this year and that is really a shame. Sunday July 18 was our Funex Race for July. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, not a hint of a storm or rain in the forecast for the day and best of all, the wind was blowing. Not a great wind, very shifty and inconsis-tent in velocity, but a wind none the less. The part I feel bad about is there were only two boats in the race. But, those two boats had a really fun time. We started at our appointed times and sailed the designated course. But to leave it there would not really tell the whole story. The two boats were Blonde Stranger, Dan and Marcy Miller’s new boat and Vitesse. Both are a little older, a little over built and heavier by todays standards, probably a little under can-vassed by today’s standards, and both are shoal draft. The race started at Wilson Point and went in the river towards Clarks Point. We had our usual poor start, Dan told me after the race that he felt his start was a little weak also so that was good for us. Remember, Funex races are pursuit starts so each boat starts at a different time. Vitesse is a little slower than Blond Stranger so we get a head start based on our rating and the length of the course, there are no corrections done to fin-ishing times at the end. It didn’t take long for Blond Stanger to catch Vitesse. I heard Dan’s bow wake but didn’t want to turn around. I asked Sara, is that Danny? She just shook her head. So he passed me and then I tacked in his wake after he tacked. But you know, when you are racing in the river, crazy things happen. Power boats going this way and that, sail boats with one person on board trying to sail with just a main and seeming to be a little deficient with their understanding of the rules of the road and of course, the craziest wind shifts you can imagine. Well as we were working our way upwind to-wards Clarks Pont, we got a crazy header so we tacked. But Dan did not have the same wind I had so he did not tack. He continued working his way up the river at the same angle he was sailing. But now I am headed right for the mark. And my wind held. We actually rounded the mark first, gotta love it. Then on the way out as we ran back towards Wilson Point, Dan had some bad luck and got caught in a hole and we had a little breeze so we put a little more time on him. Now once we got out into the river beyond Wilson Point the breeze fresh-ened a little bit and was much more steady so Blond Stranger Passed us again. Dan rounded Bowley’s about two minutes ahead of us, maybe a little more maybe a little less. Once around the mark, Blond Stranger took off. Dan put some time on us pretty fast. But the wind continued to wax and wane and shift all over the place. At one point just about opposite BYC, we were both on port tack headed for the Wilson Pont finish and then a huge header came in. Dan kept going, we tacked. I am guessing he was thinking the wind would come back. Af-ter we tacked again, we found ourselves headed right for the finish, Dan was off to the right over by Galloway point at the entrance for Frog Mortar Creek. He tacked which put him on starboard, we were on port. As the two boats came together, we were so close I had to duck him. He tacked on my wind-ward bow to take my breeze but I had some momentum and thought I might just get past him before his boat came back

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Rear Commodore’s Report:

Well, folks, here you have it, the long awaited Family Cruise Report! Read it from “cover to cover” to see if you might guess if

there is a winner of the coveted “Left Handed Golf Club Award” discernable within the body of the text. We do have some con-

tenders. We also have some contenders for the Shipley Award of Good Seamanship. But first; a letter from our sponsors…

Our next cruise will be to Nick’s Fish House on August 21, 2010. If you remember, last year Danny and Marcy ran this cruise and

it was very well attended. The only thing was that the weather forecast was horrid so most people ended up driving to the res-

taurant. 29 people attended but only 3 boats came! We had a great time and Danny was the perfect host, checking on every-

body to make sure that we were all enjoying ourselves. This year, the weather Gods have promised that they will make up for

last year’s poor weather and give us better weather! Here’s Danny’s announcement:

Hello fellow Glenmar members (cruisers and racers alike). On Aug 21 we will be cruising again to Nick's Fish House in the Balti-

more Yacht Basin at the North base of the Hanover Street Bridge. We will have free slips (some with electric) or free raft up to

the T piers.

Last year we had only 3 boats because of the weather forecast but had a total of 29 people for dinner.

The basic itinerary would be, start arriving around 3 or 4 PM, have a Happy Hour around 6 and then dinner around 7:30.

Please respond over the next several weeks so I can get a boat count with # of crew including the captain and also for

those coming by car please let me know that too.

Thanks members, Marcy and I are looking forward to seeing every one that can make it!

Dan Miller 410-444-6801

Our Labor Day Cruise will be led by Dave and Siobhan Fahrmeier:

We will be heading up to Turner Creek for Saturday where there is a nice place to walk the dogs and run the kids. We plan on

having a wine and cheese party aboard Down Home but with a twist! We are going to have a blind wine tasting. No, you don’t

have to have blindfolds on or anything, you just can’t know what kind of wine you will taste! We would like everyone who

wants to participate purchase two bottles of wine. Tell the clerk that you are going to a blind wine tasting and that you would

like to buy 2 bottles of varietal wine (1 red and 1 white) and give them a price range and ask them to select them for you. You

can ask them to choose dry or sweet if you prefer. Tell them that you CAN NOT know what bottles they have selected and that

they should put each in its own paper sack. Identify the white by putting a “W” on the outside of the bag. Pay for your pur-

chases and put them away from your curious eyes. At the party, we will sample each wine in turn and try to guess what kind of

wine it is (cabernet, etc). After everyone tastes and guesses, the sack is removed and the wine is revealed. No prizes, just for

fun and bragging rights! It can feel a bit intimidating if you think you are not the wine aficionado but it really is quite fun.

On Sunday, we head for Worton Creek where we will go inside if the weather is bad. We plan on some type of fun race from

Turner Creek to Worton and a kid event, perhaps a scavenger hunt. There will be more details to follow. Please RSVP to Siobhan

at: siobhane@verizon.com .

Now, to our eagerly awaited Family Cruise! The cruisers left their various ports on June 26 and headed to Eagle Cove off Gibson

Island. Eagle Cove is a lovely spot but it seems to be getting discovered by the others so it is not as empty of boats as it used to

be. Nevertheless, it is a great jumping off place for our cruise! Mandolin, Cariad, Champagne, Ka Pua, Frigate Connie, Hakuna

Matata, Antares, Orion's Child and Escapade joined us for our opening cocktail party aboard the Mandolin raft-up. As usual,

there was a great variety of good eats and drinks to satisfy every palate! There was also the requisite swimming and playing in

the warm water. There was a mishap when Donna from Champagne lost her favorite wine glass overboard. In the scurry to res-

cue it, Tom Brown leaned over the lifelines only to lose his reading glasses out of his pocket. Sure hope he could read his gps

the remainder of the trip!

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The next two days were forecast to be very windy, particularly Monday’s forecast for strong winds out of the SW which would

force the fleet to bash into strong and potentially dangerous seas. The weather forecast was constantly changing which caused

me to issue several conflicting alerts as I tried to be proactive. As it turned out, we continued to keep to our schedule and head

for Dunn Cove. Frigate Connie had to divert to Rock Creek due to a mechanical issue. Parker eventually rejoined the fleet on

Friday morning. Escapade was only out for the weekend and promised to meet up with us on our 2nd week. The sail down to

Dunn Cove was a beat as wind and waves built through the day. It was a fun sail with winds in the 10 – 18 knot range; just long

as we tacked down the Bay. Passing through Knapps Narrows, we were treated to some unique Chesapeake life, to put it

mildly! We passed by this derelict boat and wondered if any one was aboard. As if to answer the question a dirty and hairy

hand would push out through an open porthole to wave at the passers by. When he heard me hail the bridge, this man with

dirty, straggly hair popped up out of the companion way yelling “Mandolin Wind” and beating a stick on a hanging iron skillet!

It was a pleasant evening on the hook with some rafting and others hanging solo. Jess joined us late due to a demanding sched-

ule that kept Steve from getting his boat ready until late. We spent a bumpy night as the wind built and howled making us won-

der what we were in for on Monday!

We departed for Solomon’s early the next morning. Wind was forecast to gust to 20 knots out of the SW and waves would be in

the 3’ range. We were concerned about bashing into the waves as we passed Black Walnut Point and that, indeed was the

worst of it. Some boats chose to motor into the rough seas until James Island while others set sail and headed north towards

Sharps Island. The fleet was pretty much divided into 2 groups but once we reached the main Bay, the waters smoothed out

and it turned into a very nice sail south with diminishing winds. As usual, the winds intensified as we approached Drum Point

and were right on the nose!

The fleet made it in to Spring Cove Marina by early afternoon due to our early start. We were mostly grouped together which

made it nice. Mandolin was at one of the T-heads and Antares was being placed behind her. Jack Janos with his crew (Eric

Grefe) came up port- side-to without dock lines at the ready. They backed away as Captain Jack went to ready his lines. He was

overheard complaining to the dockhands that he wanted a starboard side lay-up. The dockhand asked him if he would like to

turn his boat around which he did, this time with dock lines at the ready!

We all hit the pool as the weather had turned hot. While the water in the pool was not very cool, it was refreshing none the

less! The underwater music was good, if the selection could be made to anything BUT country! However, there were some

downsides to underwater music; when the news came on; it was difficult to hear the end of a long story before coming up for

air! Transposition and Bad Medicine arrived as we were in the pool and joined us in the revelry of the moment. We enjoy stay-

ing at Spring Cove as they are very accommodating, even allowing the dogs to come into the pool area along with food and

drink.

In the afternoon, somehow many of the guys would disappear to Antares. As the cookout was supposed to be commencing, the

women wondered where the men had gone. They sent some of the guys off to look for us only to have them not return. Pretty

soon they came and found us sampling the painkillers aboard Antares. Hmmm. Yummy!

We gathered at the picnic grove for a group picnic with Glenmar supplying the charcoal and beverages. The group had a won-

derful evening as it had cooled off nicely. Blonde Stranger, Danny and Marcy’s new boat arrived just as the cookout was getting

underway. They chose to anchor out across the channel and join us by dink. However, after a long day of sailing, including get-

ting slammed by a storm off Calvert Cliffs, they felt that it was better to kick back and relax aboard before joining the group the

next day.

The next morning came way too early and came with the promise of cooler temperatures. Looking across the creek from the

marina, it was also apparent that Blonde Stranger was aground. In fact, she was hard aground! They could not haul her off the

mud and the tide was still falling. Jess came over to lend a hand and, tying a line to Blonde Stranger’s halyard, pulled her over

enough to get the keel off the bottom and free her at last.

The next day was spent exploring the town, visiting the West Marine and the health food store, taking bikes around and going

off to CD Café for dinner. The food continues to be amazing and it was a delightful time!

Wednesday morning had us shoving off for Battle Creek, up the Patuxent River. The winds were light and fluky so most ended

up motoring even though they gave sailing a valiant try. We anchored, making several 3 boat raftups in a nice open cove. Once

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secure, we set off in a flotilla of dinghies with the kids in kayaks in search of the Cyprus swamps rumored to be upstream. We

traveled upstream, snaking through grass and reeds reminiscent of “The African Queen’s” progress. We eventually got to the

point where it became too shallow for our dinghies and we didn’t want to wade due to the visual image of Humphrey Bogart

covered in leeches! It was a great excursion none the less and the kids did a great job paddling their kayaks up to us! It really

was a backwater experience. We then hurried back to the boats as it was well past cocktail hour with the nightly visiting in each

other’s cockpits, eating hors d’oeuvres and sharing of stories! It was a wonderful evening!

Several of the guys awoke way too early to go out and set some crab traps. They were out for several hours and caught 16 large

crabs which made for a great lunch for that particular raftup! Later, Ka Pua was seen dropping some bug repellant overboard.

They went to retrieve it with a crab net, only to lose the net itself overboard! After this comedy of errors, Ka Pua was able re-

trieve their errant items. This creek was so pretty, we delayed leaving until 3:00 when we finally up anchored and headed for

Island Creek, just down river.

Island Creek was pretty, but just not quite as pretty as Battle (Battle has to be my favorite of the trip). We heard from Parker

who was back from having his mechanical problems addressed in Rock Creek. He planned to meet us at Sotterley Plantation the

next morning. We anchored off Broomes Island and dinghied in to Stoney’s Restaurant whom we clearly overwhelmed due to

our numbers! The poor guy at the tiki hut bar couldn’t keep up with the orders but the restaurant did a great job of preparing

our meals! The portions were great and everything tasted delicious!

The next morning came with the wind Gods blowing lots of wind from the North creating some concern about our planned ex-

cursion to Sotterley Plantation. We decided to take 2 big boats over to the Plantation where we would have to anchor and din-

ghy in to shore. The rest of the boats were to remain back at the Island Creek anchorage for our return. We loaded every one

up on Mandolin and Orion’s Child and motored across the river to the Plantation where we anchored in the river. The holding

was good and secure but Tom Brown decided to remain back to watch the boats just in case. Steve Weber ferried us all over to

the shore using 2 inflatable boats with 1 motor. It truly made for a comical sight! He made several trips to get the 18 of us over

safely (despite my fear that I was going to get wrapped around a piling en-route). The tour of the Plantation was fantastic! We

had a marvelous picnic lunch on the back veranda overlooking the beautiful Patuxent and then toured the Plantation house

which was undergoing restoration, the beautiful flowers in the garden as well as the slave quarters and other buildings on the

property. Then it was time to head back to the boats where we up anchored and returned to Island Creek. By this time, the

wind had died which meant that it was time to go to Vera’s on St. Leonard Creek!

There was a noticeable difference in traveling up the creek this year from the last official visit several years ago. The creek was

no longer quiet and peaceful but filled with speeding pwc’s and powerboats. Vera’s White Sands stood out on it’s promontory

all repaired with new docks and façade. Inside, all of Vera’s Polynesian Treasures were gone, the place was opened up to one

big room with 2 bars, a dance floor and a table area. The gorgeous view was still ever present! We ate dinner there and the

food and service was adequate. Not stellar but adequate. Vera’s has become your typical powerboat / biker bar with loud music

and summertime party events where the booze flows. Vera would be rollin’ around in her grave if she could see it. The new

owners have put gobs of money into the facility and they are in the middle of renovating Vera’s house (you remember – the

pink palace with minarets?). I do hope they are successful but their lack of organization might tell another story. Despite being

a holiday weekend, Vera’s was surprisingly no where near full.

We spent another night anchored off Vera’s so we could crab and just play around. We had quite a successful day crabbing,

catching some 42 large meaty crabs. Norm ate the largest one, measuring 7.5 inches! Later that day, Ka Pua went to Vera’s for a

pump-out. They were, apparently, quite in need! When Norm went to connect the hose, he experienced blow-by and had his

back covered with the nasty stuff! A shower and clean clothes were in order, sir!

We had quite the party that night but just before we were to enjoy those crabs, I hear Tom Brown yelling for my help. He was

on the raftup that was just ahead of our raftup. But I look and see that his is on the raftup that was upstream from that one

which was now downstream and approaching us! I jumped in my dink, fired up the motor and sped off to the drifting raftup.

Norm also came to the moving raftup while Greg, Anne, Donna, and Linda remained on Mandolin’s raft to keep watch. After

tying up to Jess, I went aboard the anchor boat Blonde Stranger to help Tom who was paying out rode to stop the raft from

moving. It seems that Danny and Steve (Jess) were off crabbing. Marcy was down below reading and Parker was down below

his boat (the 3rd. boat in the raft). Danny and Steve were making waves trying to get back to their raft when they had noticed

it missing. Tom had heard a bumping sound and poked his head up to see the raft bumping his boat as it passed by. He jumped

aboard the raft and tried to help stabilize it and it appeared to stop just behind the other raftup. We had the 2 other boats peel

off and Tom and I re-anchored Blonde Stranger with Marcy at the helm backing her down. Marcy made a limoncello drink for

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me which somehow made it just right! Then it was back to Mandolin’s raftup where we enjoyed steamed crabs with lots of Old

Bay, Sangria and corn on the cob! Just the way I like them!

The next day brought a return of the heat as we headed back to Solomon’s. Blonde Stranger left to head to home waters. This

time we went to Calvert Marina’s floating docks. This marina is a working class type of facility and is spread out on the penin-

sula formed between Mill and Back Creeks. The pool was very refreshing but everything was a long walk to get to. Jess, Trans-

position and Bad Medicine left in the afternoon for home waters having other commitments. We had a Piñata Bash as a kid

event and Corrine took honors of bashing the tiki piñata apart! It was quite fun! We had a group cookout and then went to our

pier where we were treated to a fantastic fireworks display! Jeff and Lara had come to visit aboard the bachelor boat (Antares)

and the kids were thrilled because now they had someone to play Dread Pirate with! Jeff retook his championship from Olivia in

this big grudge match and all had fun! Orion’s Child departed for their home port early the next morning.

We took off bright and early the next morning, heading off to the Little Choptank. We had discussed among the group changing

our destination from Hudson Creek to Fishing Creek (1 creek beyond) since most of us had been to Hudson Creek several times.

Unfortunately, there was some confusion and Frigate Connie ended up going to Hudson Creek and meeting up with Down

Home and Sirius who had come down to join us. Escapade joined us in Fishing Creek which was very pretty with a nice long

shallow beach for walking the dogs and the people. Unfortunately, our crabbers had little luck catching any sea spiders!

We left early Tuesday morning for the Mears Yacht Haven in Oxford as the day was going to be extremely hot and the group

wanted to soak in the pool! It was a long, hot motor but we thankfully tied up and made a bee line for the pool and the shaded

tables that were great for snacking and general relaxing. Sirius decided to head north for cooler waters and did not join us at

the marina. Down Home experienced engine trouble and had to be towed up from the Little Choptank by TowBoat/US. Thank-

ful for that unlimited towing policy! They spent the hot afternoon bleeding and changing filters and got her going again. They

then spent the night at anchor, catching the cooling breezes off shore. The next day, they discovered that the problem had re-

surfaced and puzzled, they returned to the mechanic at Oxford Boatyard to see if they could get to the bottom of what the

problem was with their fuel supply. It seems that the problem was with the fuel. Lack of fuel, to be specific. Down Home was

out of fuel. A chagrinned Captain Dave wondered how that happened.

We spent 2 nights at the marina and on the second night, we had a great group dinner at Latitude 38 who came to pick us up,

taking 3 trips to get all 18 of us. The food and service was excellent and Norm Flowers regaled the group with his rendition of

Elmer Fudd singing Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire.” It was quite touching!

The next morning had us setting sail for the Rhode River via Knapps Narrows. Escapade headed south towards Solomon’s as

they were just beginning their 2 week vacation. It was a light air sail to the Narrows but pleasant, none the less. There was lots

of traffic in the Narrows and it was a challenge getting through the bridge. On the Bay side, Mandolin discovered that the chan-

nel is shoaling by the R4 mark when she got pushed off to the side by an oncoming powerboat. We bumped but were able to

free ourselves. The rest of the sail was a down wind run in lumpy seas. Champagne put up her chute and flew up the Bay. We

anchored on the other side of High Island which sadly is no more. It is merely a shoal that is awash at low tide. It really is a hoot

seeing people and dogs run across the shallows of High Island making it look like they are walking on water! Very biblical! We

had a racer come and join us this year! Brett and Terri Sorrensen of Kokomo Express sailed down and joined us just at happy

hour. I’d have to say excellent timing! They joined Mandolin’s raft and we had a lovely time! They promise to join us for more

cruises, especially if they don’t conflict with other races (don’t worry; they are not changing their racing colors!).

Friday had us going to slips at Annapolis. Some of us were at Annapolis City Marina while others were at the Yacht Basin. We

had a great time walking the streets, perusing the shops and going out to dinner at Maria’s. With the next day bringing wet

weather to the Bay, the group decided to stay put and enjoy another day in town. We went to Chick and Ruth’s (“Chicken

Ruth”) deli for breakfast but missed the pledge. I’ve seen it before, it’s quite a hoot! We all missed the pilgrimage to Fawcett’s

who has move out of their waterfront building. It was horrible seeing that empty building just sitting there!

On Sunday, it was time to head for home waters! We had a light upwind beat back up the Bay, saddened that the vacation was

coming to an end. We had many lovely days and nights with a great group of people and enjoyed everyone’s company. The

sailing could have been better, the days cooler but the camaraderie was top notch!

Tod Herrick, Rear Commodore

(Continued from page 6)

8

For Sale: Used Delta FastSet Anchor in excellent condition!

35lb. Galvanized-Manganese,

35'–52'L Boat, 32"L x 14-1/4"W x 13-1/2"H

Only $125.00!

Contact: Tod Herrick at

gladrags@comcast.net or

(717) 507-6184

Bonus: 11’7” chain!

SAILING GARAGE SALE I have an interesting collection of used sails from the different boats that I have owned. 1. Medium weight Stay Sail from "New Streaker" Luff 25' x 16' x LP 15.7 2. Large No. 3 Genoa Luff 41'3" x 22' 7" x LP 20'3" 3. Main Sail No. 603 Luff 29' 6" x 10'3" on foot, with slug slides 4. Large Heavy Main Sail by North Sails 33' x 12'6" with brass slides call George Culbertson cell phone 410-382-9532

Shipley Award of Good Seamanship

As previously announced, the Cruisers are developing this

perpetual award to recognize the help that people on the

cruise provide to others and or the club that is over and

above the call of duty, as it were. To be eligible to win this

award, you must have participated on a cruise and done

something that people will recognize as outstanding duty to

another cruiser, the cruising fleet, or to the club as a whole.

Someone seeing this action should send a nomination to the

Rear Commodore detailing the reason for the nomination.

The Rear Commodore will compile this list and broadcast it

to the cruisers for a vote. The Rear Commodore will break all

ties. The recipient with the highest number of votes will win

the award and hold it until a new recipient is selected. To be

eligible to vote, you must have participated on at least 1

cruise during the year of the nomination.

Now that we are halfway through our season, I would like to

remind you of this and request nominations to be sent to me

at: gladrags@comcast.net

The following boats have participated in a cruising event in

2010. Since I am not infallible, if I have inadvertently omitted

your boat, please contact me and I will rectify.

Mandolin Orion’s Child

Cariad / Cutter Hawk Down Home

Frigate Connie Painkiller

Antares Champagne

Ka Pua Sirius

Escapade Transposition

Bad Medicine Hakuna Matata

Jess Kokoma Express

Blonde Stranger Good Winds

Aurora Tipsey

Yare Spirit

Member-at-Large Report Greetings Glenmar, September seems like a long way out in the future, but if your summer is going anything like mine is, it's going FAST. Given that, I wanted to go ahead and officially announce our speaker for the September GSA Meeting. On Tuesday, September 28th, the President of Weems & Plath, Peter Trogdon, will be doing a presentation on the His-tory of Navigation. Mr. Trogdon has made navigation and navigation instrumentation a passion in his life and he is very excited to share his information with us. We would like to have as many people as possible join us for this special evening. Please help spread the word around. Also, we would like to have you RSVP if you will be attend-ing this event. This will help us know how many people to expect. So mark your calendars for Tuesday, September 28th at 7 PM at Middle River Yacht Club. Hope you all can join us! Tom Kreiner

Looking to Crew Name: Tanner Zeisel e-Mail: rtzeisel@comcast.net Phone(1): 443 844 1877 Phone(2): 410 687 3409 Message: I am 18 years old, occasionally sail a Laser and a sailboard. I want to learn more about racing and crewing. I am athletic and would be a good winch monkey. I can drive to your dock. Thanks for your consideration. Tanner Z.

9

STORM TRYSAIL CLUB CHESAPEAKE STATION

PRESENTS

JUNIOR SAILORS SAFETY AT SEA

TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 0830-1730

at ANNAPOLIS YACHT CLUB Butler Bldg – Sailing Center

Ages 11 to 18

INTRO. TO BIG BOAT RACING

0830-0930 = short movie on Man Overboard Prevention and Recovery

1000-1530 = ON THE WATER PRACTICE

35 TO 42 FOOT BOATS 1. LIFE RAFT inflation demonstration

2. practice handling big boat gear 3. man overboard recovery drills 4. short race with drills learned

FEE: $25.00 includes Logo Tee Shirts, light brkfst, box lunch,

Pizza party, prizes, raffle

COMPLETED FORMS by email or snail mail due by AUGUST 12, louiseburke@verizon.net 410.268.9382

Louise Burke 3326 Shore Dr. Annapolis Md. 21403

10

STORM TRYSAIL CLUB CHESAPEAKE STATION SAFETY AT SEA, JUNIOR SAILORS 11 TO 18 YRS OLD

TUESDAY August 17, 2010 at AYC, Butler Bldg-Sailing Center 0830-1730 Fee: $25.00 ea. for brkfst, lunch, pizza party, prizes and Tee Shirt

0830-0900 SIGN IN, PICKUP NAMETAGS, T-Shirt, hot chocolate, juice, donuts.

IMPORTANT - SHOES NO SHOES WITH BLACK SOLES AS THEY MARK UP THE DECKS. WEAR EITHER BOAT SHOES, SNEAKERS, RUNNING SHOES.

DO NOT WEAR SANDALS OR FLIP FLOPS – NOT ALLOWED on Big Boats

******************************************************************************** ALL STUDENTS WILL HAVE THEIR OWN LIFE JACKETS WITH THEM AND WILL HAVE THEM ON FROM THE TIME THEY REACH THE BOAT PIER UNTIL THEY LEAVE THE BOAT PIER AT THE END OF THE TRAINING DAY. Bring foul weather gear, Hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, If medication is required please notify your boat skipper

0900 – 0930 MOVIE ON MAN OVERBOARD PREVENTION AND RECOVERY 1000 Life Raft demonstration at the pier. All must have life jackets on 1030 pickup lunch and water and go to your assigned boats where your instructors will complete the following: SAFE HANDLING OF GEAR ON 35-45 FOOT BOATS WINCHES LINE HANDLING SAIL HANDLING SETTING, TRIMMING, TAKEDOWNS TACKING, GYBING, REEFING SPINNAKER HANDLING SAFETY ON DECK re: LOADED LINES, LIFE LINES, SAFETY HARNESS OR LIFE JACKET, BOOM POSITION (DUCK, HIT THE DECK), etc. MAN OVERBOARD DRILLS STUDENTS: ALL DAY MUST HAVE LIFE JACKETS ON AND CORRECT SHOES Drills, tacking, gibing, reefing, sail handling and Man Overboard Drills will be performed early followed by a short race back to the pier (weather permitting). A number of tacking, gibing and Man Overboard drills must be performed (per race committee instructions on VHF radio) before crossing the finish line. 1630 = PIZZA PARTY. Recap of the day and student comments will be taken. We will have computer pictures to see of your practices and race and will also email them to you. Prizes for race winner and a raffle of life jackets 1700-1730 = student pickup at Butler Bldg Severn Ave. Eastport.

11

Luna’s Passage “Down East”

John Martin, and his wife Anne, will be taking their Pearson-35 Yawl "Luna" on a year-long cruise up the New England coast.

Departure date is June 10th

. They have started a blog named "Luna Cruise" to document their progress and adventures. It is an

"invite only" blog, and I have joined it so I can relay info to the GSA membership. If you want to join directly, contact John at

either: annejohnmartin@verizon.net or john.martinp35@gmail.com

Installment 1:

How wonderful to hear from you, dear family and friends! Thank you for staying in touch.

We've spent over and hour tonight trying to do the blog but we keep losing it... perhaps too many photos we're trying to in-

clude?

The first 24 hours were more than exciting with sick crew and heavy winds...the forecasters really goofed. Its amazing how

adrenaline can keep one going when necessary. The last part was beautifully boring with clear, sunny sky. Luna’s engine

worked perfectly bringing us into great salt pond at 6 am today. Got crew to the high speed ferry for a 9 am departure, walked

back to our dinghy, motored to our mooring where the wind was howling and crashed until 4. Did laundry after discovering

there's no Laundromat on this island, had leftovers (guys didn't eat much so there's lots of good food on board) and now it's

time for more sleep.

What did I fix for the ocean leg? A whole chicken done in the pressure cooker, grilled marinated flank steak, grilled mari-

nated chicken breasts, broccoli salad, pasta/bean salad, tabbouleh, lots of fresh raw cut-up veggies, hard boiled eggs and that's

all I can remember.

Installment 2:

Hello! we've been in Newport since Monday afternoon on an anchor off of the Ida Lewis Y.C. Today we learned all about Ida

Lewis, a famous, courageous light keeper back in the 1800's who saved at least 38 lives.

Annapolis boasts of being the sailing capital of the world but clearly, Newport takes the prize. Luna is dwarfed by almost every

yacht in this harbor. In addition to getting laundry done and some minor repairs completed, we visited the museum of yachting

on the grounds of the Fort Adams State Park. We enjoyed the displays but enjoyed even more seeing the coronet undergoing

complete hull restoration.

We are awaiting some important mail we hope will arrive tomorrow and then plan on sailing into Westport, MA where John

and his family spent their summers prior to 1955. We hope his sister, Emmie, will be able to join us there for a visit.

(Continued on page 12)

12

Installment 3:

Arrived in Westport, MA, Friday afternoon after some lovely sailing in the Atlantic for a bit. Approach was somewhat stressful

as there were new marks not found on our charts or on the gps but luckily another sailboat entered shortly before us leading

the way. Westport harbor doesn't allow anchoring; we were directed to take up a transient mooring far, far away from town

but in a beautiful spot where we could watch shorebirds, local boat traffic and folks enjoying the low tide treasures. A full moon

rose in the east and provided a lovely moon streak across the waters (see photo) before disappearing behind the clouds.

On Saturday morning, John and I dinghied ashore to the 70 year old Tripp’s boatyard where John's sister, Emmie, joined us. We

took advantage of the car to visit the Martin's old summer house, the eighteenth century whaling village of Westport Point and,

by dinghy, the beautiful salt marshes and islands throughout the harbor. It was great fun to hear so many of their childhood

memories. We treated ourselves to a late lunch on the deck of the only restaurant in town, and then took the launch out to

Luna so Emmie could see our floating home. The handsome young launch driver took us on a side trip to view a small Portu-

guese man-of-war. Quite a rare sight. We napped for a bit before heading back to town where Emmie departed for her 85 mile

trip back to Lexington. Thank you, Emmie, for your special visit.

John and I were treated to not one but two fireworks displays for our Saturday night entertainment.

Today we'd hoped to go to Cuttyhunk but fog has kept us here in Westport. It’s been a relaxing day with our books and a long

walk on beautiful horse neck beach (the photo attached was when we were approaching Westport and could actually see the

shoreline). John grilled for the first time tonight but I kept checking to be sure I could see him from the galley. The fog is truly

incredible.

13

Installment 4:

Hello from Padanaram...isn't that a neat sounding name? The cruise guide promised us a quaint village with good provisioning

which is why we got up on Monday morning at 5 am to beat the small craft warnings which were to go into effect at 8 am for

the next 2 days. The fog had lifted and there were no grocery stores or much of anything except beautiful natural surroundings

in Westport. The run from Westport to Padanaram was a mere 15 miles so we figured we could beat it. By the time we came

into the harbor here, we were seeing 18 knots and the seas were building to uncomfortable heights and the southwester kept

at it all day long. Seas built to 10 feet and winds clocked near 30 but we were safely on a New Bedford Yacht Club mooring

surrounded by John's favorite vintage yachts, Concordia 41’s...real wooden beauties built back in the 50's and 60's in Germany.

The mooring fees are steep but include launch service from 8 am to 10 pm and the club is beautiful. The best part of our visit

here, though, has been the launch driver, John, who, when we explained we needed to get groceries, apologized that all the

convenience stores and lovely markets touted in the cruising guide are no longer in business BUT, he'd give us the keys to his

truck and directions to the huge, modern stop and shop about 5 miles from the Y.C. He wouldn't take a penny from us...what a

totally unexpected surprise up here in New England!

So on Monday we went grocery shopping and today we spent cleaning Luna’s cabin, fixing a leaking rudder post stuffing box,

walking the quiet streets admiring the historical residences and reading our books. Tomorrow we head for Onset, Mass.

Installment 5:

Hello from onset!

Dropped our mooring yesterday morning just before 9 am and headed out into a much friendlier looking buzzards bay. The

predicted northwester was actually a southwester which built upwards of 19 knots by the time we turned into Onset around 2

pm. Sailing up here is indeed challenging and I find myself longing for our usually calmer Chesapeake where currents are be-

nign and shoals are soft and forgiving...there are rocks everywhere up here!!!

Once secure on a relatively inexpensive mooring, a friendly young marina staffer came out to deliver block ice and do a pump

out which we badly needed (free service here in Mass....Chesapeake Bay should take note). We walked into the Victorian era

beach town after dinner to catch a free summer concert at the town's park band shell. The "groovy afternoon" band w/a Janice

Joplin sound alike took us back into the 60s and 70s rather than the 1800s.

Today, after filling all our water tanks and getting even more ice, we took a long walk to the Mass Maritime Academy at Taylor

Point where we'd hoped to tour the TS Kennedy training ship but, alas, she's in a N.Y. dry dock. Met up w/a friendly, retired

couple on their way to New Brunswick who offered many helpful tips along with some horror tales of adventures they've ex-

perienced. We hope to be leaving with them tomorrow morning to transit Cape Cod Canal, notorious for its 4-6 knot max cur-

rents. From there we'll head to Wellfleet and a visit with friends.

Wishing you a happy, fun-filled 4th!

14

Installment 6:

Hi from Provincetown, Mass!

Our trip from Onset through the Cape Cod Canal was fun. We were accompanied by our friends on Pradel for just a bit...their

boat is much bigger and faster but we kept in radio contact and hope to meet up with them in Maine. Our top speed in the ca-

nal was 8.4 knots over the ground ...a record for Luna! (see attached photo of gps)

Once out on Cape Cod Bay, we were met with 18-20 knot southwest winds making it one of our best sails so far. We arrived in

Wellfleet around 3 pm where our friends Catharine and Fred were there to greet us at the town dock. For the next few days we

enjoyed their company along with some of Fred’s old Philadelphia friends, eating wonderful food, drinking good wine, walk-

ing, biking, sailing, touring Wellfleet, Truro and P-town and, of course, catching up on our respective lives. What fun! Anne

could have stayed another week and had hoped to spend time with some other Baltimore friends but schedules didn't mesh

and John wants to continue our northward progress.

We left Wellfleet and its challenging 5 mile long channel for Provincetown. No wind...just a boring motor to the busy, sharply

contrasting, "edgy" town at the tip of the cape. We hooked a mooring, went to shore and caught some of the local sights and

sounds of this crowded touristy place. We also made reservations for a dune ride, something highly recommended by John's

sister and our Wellfleet friends and something I’ve been wanting to do ever since reading an article about the dune shacks that

were first built back in the 30's by artists.

We’re in a heat wave here so our family and friends back in Baltimore who are complaining...try 88 degrees and no fan much

less air conditioning. The bright spot is the water temp which is 69 degrees....worth every bit of those first few minutes getting

used to it. John just can't fathom the idea! Every once in awhile the breeze comes up and we get relief but mostly it's just HOT.

We did the tour this morning and it was wonderful. they don't use dune buggies anymore but instead air conditioned

SUV’s...yes, we were in an SUV, but it was great fun...the dunes are absolutely beautiful...we're going to put our name on the

waiting list to stay in one of these remote, primitive shacks for a week and hope we're still alive when the national park system

calls us. We did boat-keeping chores the rest of the afternoon. Lunita was growing a beard and Luna was pretty disgusting as

well...she's still encrusted with salt but looks much better. It gave us an excuse to get wet, too. We’ve met some more sailors,

all friendly, with whom we hope to see in Scituate where we head tomorrow.

Hope you enjoyed the holiday and that for those of you on the east coast, cooler weather will come your/our way soon.

15

Sailboat Slip for Rent:

Private residence—off Middleborough Rd. Up to 35’ sailboat slip w/ 6’mlw.

Pier has electric & water.

Call Dick at (410) 780-3480

Keep your eyes peeled in

the next issue where we

will present Luna’s arrival

Down East!

16

did, however, tolerate our inquisition and helped us look for

things that we both knew had to exist – such as “Where are

the batteries?” Other than that, we picked up a brochure

and moved on. Later in the afternoon, we returned and I am

told that I met the builder, although neither he nor I recall

the meeting.

The next several months were spent deciding that in fact the

Quest 33 was to be the choice. That decision was not defini-

tive until some time in January of 2001, at which time I called

the builder and (from his perspective – out of the blue) in-

formed him that for the right price we would like to buy one.

Clearly this meant that Barrett Holby would first have to

build one, since the boat is not a production boat, and none

are built on speculation. By early February we had agreed

on a price (less than a J105) and a delivery date of July 15,

2001 – FOB Bristol, RI., with commissioning for a coastal

cruise included. My plan was to go to Bristol with crew,

spend a day or so sailing in Narragansett Bay and then sail

down the coast to Baltimore.

There were several things that I had to do before the trip.

First and most important, was to acquire sails. New sail

boats almost never come with sails. After a few calls, North

Sails in Annapolis had a salesman, Jonathan Bartlett, who

had sailed the boat before and new exactly what sails to

build. His confidence and personal knowledge of the boat

and its builder caused me to go with North. Later I learned

that Jonathan and Barrett had teamed up previously to win

races in Annapolis, and Key West. Besides sails, I also had to

collect up and mail numerous commissioning items, none of

which are included, such as the instrument packages. Know-

ing that time was of the essence, I managed to get every-

thing done by July 1. Clearly, I didn’t understand boat build-

ing. As with many construction projects, it runs on its own

timetable and certain little details didn’t exactly go my way.

For example, on the first fiberglass lay up, the hull release

agents didn’t. As a consequence, the first hull had to be

scraped out of the mold, the mold cleaned and a second one

laid up. That was about a 6 week delay. Other, lesser delays,

did occur but without further excruciating detail, suffice it to

say that things were satisfactorily worked out and the boat

was ready for the Newport Boat show on Sept 13-16, 2001. I

became the proud owner of Hull No. 5, named “Bad Medi-

cine”. At the time, I made drugs for a living, hence the name

Bad Medicine. It is also the name of a Bon Jovi song. You

can look up the lyrics online. Susan and I journeyed to New-

port, sought out the boat at the show, and got our first look

at the new boat. As new owners, we were very pleased and

spent a whole day going over the boat in great detail, dis-

cussing the design with Roger Martin, trading racing stories

with Barrett Holby, and proudly showing off the boat to any-

one who stopped to look.

At this point, actually the night before leaving Balti-

more for the boat show, something bad happened. I con-

(Continued on page 17)

Upcoming General

Meetings

September 28, 2010: Middle River

Yacht Club. 7pm. Speaker! See Mem-

ber-at-Large Report for info. Please

RSVP to Tom Kreiner.

The Beginning of

Bad Medicine By Narlin Beaty

Many of you have heard parts

of a story, which here I will

detail in whole. The story is

about a Quest 33 sailboat, its

acquisition and subsequent

transport from Newport RI to

Baltimore MD in the fall of

2001. From 1986 through the 2001 season, I sailed a 1977

Pearson 30 named Gray Dawn. Produced in Portsmouth RI

between 1971 and 1981, the Pearson was a tremendously

successful IOR design, but the time did come for another

boat.

I first viewed the Quest 33 (a Roger Martin design) at the

October 2000 Annapolis boat show. There were only a hand-

ful of racer/cruisers there and I was shopping. I stopped to

look at the Quest and was rather taken by the cut away stern

and wide open cockpit. Susan (my wife) and I had been look-

ing mostly at the J105 and were using that for comparison.

To our surprise and delight, the Quest 33 had headroom be-

low and an enormous playpen (sleeping area) under the

cockpit. The engine is under the steps (a Yanmar diesel

2GM20F – 18hp, used in 80% of the production boats this

size) and has a “sail drive” which causes it to take up space of

about 8 cubic ft (2 x 2 x 2). For those unfamiliar with sail

drive technology, it replaces the long shaft and leaky stuffing

box with a radical right angle design that goes straight down

through the boat slightly behind the engine, thus hanging the

propeller directly behind the fin keel. The savings in space

inside the boat is phenomenal. Just think how much space

you would have if there was no need for an engine compart-

ment!

We spent about an hour going through the boat at the show,

comparing every detail to both our Pearson and to the J105 –

the previous hours work. During that time, the builder

(Barrett Holby of Holby Marine) was conspicuously absent,

and the show attendant new very little about the boat. He

17

tracted the childhood disease known as whooping cough or

to health professionals, pertussis. By the time Susan and I

returned home on Sunday following the show, I was seriously

ill and calling my doctor. On seeing me, he took about 2 min-

utes to make a diagnosis and then a few days to get it con-

firmed by the Maryland Health Dept. Little did I appreciate

that this is a serious disease and that I was about to enter a

three week period in which I would be about as sick as I have

ever been in this life. Actually, one coughs infrequently,

maybe 10 times a day. Unfortunately, each session ends

with gagging, severe lack of breath, and often oral purging

events.

The following weekend we were to return to Bristol,

RI with a crew and accompanied by Barrett Holby begin the

journey down the coast to Baltimore. I asked my doctor if it

would be OK to “take a short cruise from Newport RI to Balti-

more?” He said it would be fine, that I wouldn’t get any

worse than I was already and that I was just beyond the con-

tagious stage anyway. I’m not sure if he considered death as

a worse condition or not. In any event, he may not have to-

tally understood the word “cruise”.

On Saturday, Sept 22, Tory Gibb, Ed John, Susan,

and I loaded into a rented car (too small to hold our gear)

and set out for Bristol. I was too sick to drive and Susan took

the wheel. The plan was to arrive in Bristol, find the boat,

get a good nights sleep and set out the next morning. It’s a

10 hour drive from Baltimore to Bristol. On arriving in Bris-

tol, we found the boat to discover that it was pitching wildly

along side a dock with high winds and rough breaking waves.

Fortunately I had purchased some greatly oversized bumpers

and these were in place and serving well to protect the hull

from actual damaging contact. Scuffing was another issue

entirely. Sleeping aboard in this condition was not looking

like a very easy prospect. We were unloading gear when the

phone rang (there is no escaping pocket telephones) and

Barrett Holby welcomed us to Rhode Island, suggested we

all get some celebratory dinner, and suggested that we de-

part imminently to take advantage of the tide. I declined the

food, but the crew was hungry, and probably grateful to es-

cape my diseased state. While they were away I checked

various systems on the boat. One of these was found to be

lacking. Barrett had neglected to connect 12V power to any

of the instruments. While we were carrying one of the best

marine instrument packages that money can buy, and it was

nicely installed with respect to placement, and antenna wir-

ing, and detectors and probes, it just wasn’t the same with-

out 12V power connections. Some things about boat build-

ers I may never understand. On returning from dinner,

about 11 PM, we were ready to cast off. Baltimore here we

come.

My first official duty was to go to sleep. Barrett

would get us out of Narragansett Bay and I would take the

leg from the mouth of the Bay to Block Island. Since we had

5 people on board, we would use a rotation schedule of 4

hours on and 6 hours off with a new person coming on every

2 hours. Work it out for yourself. I slept well. Waking up

hurt. The coughing and lack of breathing was always particu-

larly difficult after having been asleep. I awoke to a beautiful

moonlit night and fresh breeze. We had the mainsail up and

an easy reaching breeze making for a comfortable Atlantic

cruise. George (the autohelm) had already taken over the

helm and all was well with the world. Navigation was by

charts and handheld GPS, of which we had three, and an

ample supply of batteries. The Garmin GPS units never

failed.

The trip to Block Island was uneventful. There may

have been two ships. We were grateful for George since

compass steering at sea is not fun. The winds continued to

be favorable and the temperature was pleasant throughout

the Atlantic part of the voyage. By the time we made the

New York ship channels, we were all commenting on the

extreme lack of ships. We had come upon an occasional

fisherman and two ships at anchor about 15 miles out but no

ships headed into or out of New York. Of course, This was

Sept 22, eleven days after 9.11 and we supposed that lower

NY was closed. Later, we were to greatly understand the

consequences to our trip of that closing.

The remainder of the trip down the Atlantic is

blurry. The next thing I can remember, was Monday early

afternoon coming into Cape May. If you have never come

into Cape May from the Ocean side, it is narrow and you

really need to trust the navigation. At the time, we had very

competent GPS data and no worries whatever. When the

chart said a mark was to be, it was. However, once into

Cape May we realized that the newest chart of the inside

was not good enough. Marks were everywhere and none of

them seemed to correspond to anything on our chart. I be-

gan to fret about the lack of a depth sounder and Barrett said

he didn’t install it because it would be worse to know just

how shallow it really was. Such talk didn’t console me much.

Be it dumb luck or superior seamanship, we didn’t touch bot-

tom and did find our way into the Cape May canal. There

was talk about laying over for the night and getting a good

meal. It would have been easy to tie up to any of several

marinas with empty slips and t-heads that time of year.

However, the weather was truly phenomenal. Very few

clouds were evident and a building breeze looked like it

would carry us up the bay on a run. The decision was to go

with the wind, since usually one is looking at a beat up the

Delaware in very narrow channels. We didn’t look at the

tides, but given the time it takes, the tide was going to be

both good and bad somewhere. As we were passing under

the bridges in the canal, I learned that the mast height was

51 feet off the water. Cool! The bridge height was 52 feet at

mean low tide. All we had to do was avoid a light pole that

hung down from the middle of the bridges. A bit of careful

steering and all clear.

18

For the next several hours and into the evening the

wind began to build for real. I took the helm and Barrett

navigated. What started as a broad reach gradually turned

into a dead down run. Funniest thing though, the Quest 33 is

not designed for a run. The spreaders are swept back, so you

really can’t let the main out all the way. If you try to steer

dead down (forget by the lee) with the main out as far as it

will go without being damaged by the spreaders, the boat is

constantly threatening to jibe. Consequently, we were not

quite able to sail a rum line. Now, the lower Delaware is not

all that narrow. So many minutes to a few hours went by

before it became critical that we jibe. Meanwhile the wind

had built to at least 18 knots, based on my knowledge of

whitecaps, and we were surfing. I need to learn how to slow

down just a little, since the boat can easily out run the

waves. Indeed at one point, I charged straight down the face

of a wave and buried the nose all the way back to the mast. I

have heard of the dangers of pitch pole in high winds and

heavy seas. I think I would know how to do it now.

Anyway, there was a definite need to jibe to avoid

shallow water and with the heavy wind and wave, the crew

and especially the guest builder were becoming apprehen-

sive about the situation. The boat only weighs 6000 pounds

and the sail area as flown on that particular day was 694 sq

ft. For those who understand ratios, the Sail Area/Disp. was

an actual 33.6 (as opposed to the 24.5 for the official calcula-

tion.). In plain English, we were grossly overpowered. Ed

John (on foredeck) and Susan (on main) are regular crew who

have been with me for several years. I yelled chicken jibe

and they knew instantly what was about to happen, and in-

stantly it did. We came up to the wind and turned 270 de-

grees before you could catch your breath. Only Barrett was

caught by surprise. Either he hadn’t heard the term before,

or had forgotten about the maneuver. On Gray Dawn, a

relatively tippy boat, we have been doing these for years

when not racing.

For the next few hours as dark came on, we contin-

ued up the Delaware, well aware of increasing ship traffic

going both ways. On average we would never be out of sight

of a ship and would be passed by one every 5 to 10 minutes.

Such action continued up and to the point that we anchored

– but I’ll get to that later. With the navigable waters becom-

ing ever more narrow and ships/tugs/barges underway in

both directions, we tuned the radio (yeah, he got 12V to one

item) to Ch 16. Ships immediately contacted us and shortly

asked us to go to Ch 13 and just stay there. Their problem

(not my problem) seemed to be that they considered me to

be in the middle of the only navigable water. On looking at

the charts, we reluctantly agreed, but weren’t thrilled by the

amount of water we were going to get to sail in. These chan-

nels are truly narrow for sharing between a long line of ships

passing in both directions and a sailing vessel that also needs

the depth. The ship captains were nice enough, but unwilling

to share in a manner that would have left us comfortable.

They got the road and we got whatever was left over. Such

action led to many chicken jibes and a few real jibes. All of

the ship traffic that we didn’t see around New York was

plainly evident in the Delaware, headed to Philadelphia, Bal-

timore and points south.

The wind continued to build through out the eve-

ning and after a double shift on the helm, I decided to get

some rest. Tory took the helm and we reduced sail in two

ways. First we used a roller furler to pull in the jib and sec-

ondly, we took a double reef in the main. That made the

boat much easier to control and with a slight shift in the

wind, or more likely the Delaware Bay, we were able to just

about follow the rum line. If not pleasant, life was at least

bearable – as it started to rain.

Something you need to know about a Quest 33. It

sails not unlike a 470, i.e. a big sailing dinghy. If the jib isn’t

up, there can be difficulty getting the boat to point anywhere

and it gets hung in sterns very easily when pointed into the

wind. But we were going down wind. Yes, that is except for

the few moments during a chicken jibe, which is actually a

tack where the nose must be put right through the wind.

Another factor to consider is that as the rain comes on and

the temperature begins to drop precipitously, a very ex-

hausted crew gets lazy and ignores some of the seamanlike

duties of cleaning up lines and tying up loose sail hung under

the boom from a reef.

I couldn’t have been asleep for very long before an

alarmed ship captain over the radio caused me to perk up.

He was not at all happy with our position and suggested in

extremely frank language that we turn away and do so im-

mediately. In the region of the bay east of the nuclear power

plant there are a few turns in the channel and he seemed to

think we were in his immediate path. Seconds later, I felt us

doing a chicken jibe, followed by much yelling and anguish

on deck. The ship captain again requested that we move to

the edge of the channel and the activity on our deck in-

creased in decibels. At that point all hand on deck was called

and I quickly found myself needed on deck but coughing like I

was about to die. Either the natural tendency of the boat to

get in sterns, or the fouled main sail and accompanying

sheets, or who knows what SNAFU had led to the boat not

completing the jibe and more or less coming to a dead stop.

By and by, there was wind – easily 40 knots in gusts and pelt-

ing rain to assure its notice.

Barrett wisely decided to start the engine, but it

wouldn’t start. After several tries and a few choice phrases,

Ed John explained that the boom vang line was tight over the

side of the boat and he had concluded that since we weren’t

anchored that it must be fouled in the prop. I took the helm

and with Tory’s help on main we began to get control of the

boat. The oncoming ship captain, of course, was frantic but

not wavering from his charted course. As soon as we had

way, I jibed, for real this time, and Barrett raced down to

begin some serious navigation. As it turned out, he has won

19

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prizes for quick and accurate navigation and within seconds

he was able to not only know where we were, but to call out

compass headings that would permit us to get out of the

channel without grounding and find suitable water to an-

chor. He also radioed the ship captain to tell him that we

were under control and would be leaving the channel.

Meanwhile, I was either freezing or coughing to my death.

After a few minutes of extremely slow progress, considering

the wind speed, we found a place to anchor very near to the

nuclear power plant and tossed in the floating anchor. Actu-

ally, it’s a Fortress model 13S, appropriately sized for the

boat but so light that if the boat is moving in a current the

anchor may skim the surface for a bit before going under.

Whether, we anchored, or just dragged slowly is not

material. The important part is that we more or less

stopped. The storm was really pretty bad. You might re-

member it as the night of the College Park tornado.

“A car carrying two young female students (sisters) was

hurled several hundred yards and over a high-rise 8 story

dormitory. The ladies were sadly killed. The nearby buildings

took damage to windows, doors, trim, and roof and showed

marks of where airborne missiles struck the buildings but did

not punch through. The tornado was rated F3 at this point

(Max winds 175 to 200 mph) and was believed to have two

vortices.’

Aside: Up to this point, I wrote this story in late 2001. From

here on it is recent, 2010, recollection and is smoothed over

by the passage of time.

That engine was going to be needed to get through the

Chesapeake Delaware Canal. Barrett Holby was thinking that

he would have to go into the water and try to free up the

prop, but instead, Ed John went into the cold water right

away. The current was very strong and he found it tough to

swim or maneuver. After about 10 minutes of searching for

the wrapped line with no positive result he had given up and

come back to the stern for help getting aboard. Just at that

moment, he stepped onto a line that turned out to be the

one fouling the prop. It was fouled between the prop and

rudder which may help with explaining why we couldn’t just

follow it down from the deck? Although at this time, it

makes little sense as to why there was difficulty. Perhaps

you had to be there. With a little more effort, it was loos-

ened and we were able to start the engine. We wisely chose

to stay put at anchor for about an hour and let the weather

blow through. I went back to bed and mostly (gratefully)

missed the rest of the trip. I do recall that I was steering as

we came out of the canal and that there was an issue about a

lower range light that caused us to wake Barrett for addi-

tional navigation. We felt really bad about waking him be-

cause he had been up continuously since the night before.

The boat came on into Baltimore safely. Barrett and

some of his guys cleaned it up and brought it to the Annapo-

lis boat show. On the return trip from the show, I wisely

chose to not go. While I didn’t die, there were moments

when I wished I had. Susan and Tory and Barrett returned

the boat to Baltimore on Monday night after the show. I

guess none of them had experience sailing into the bright

lights and found that too many lights were as bad as too few.

I heard that more than a little conversation transpired as

they sorted out range lights, channel lights, land based lights

and ship traffic.

20

GLENMAR SAILING ASSOCIATION PO BOX 202 PHOENIX, MD 21131