Last Saturday’s forecast looked great – bright sun, 69 degrees on the water, and the promise of good wind in the afternoon.  Now that I had decided I was going to take advantage of all wind conditions short of a small craft advisory, I was raring to go.

We settled in on Pegu Club and proceeded to wait.  The promised wind wasn’t arriving (it was under 5 knots), so I hung out on the foredeck with my Kindle.  Just when I was starting to fret that the wind would never arrive, it started stirring.  We prepped the boat, cast off the lines, and headed out.  Little did we know that we were going to have one of our best sails ever on Fishers Island Sound. Continue reading “What a sail!” →

Yesterday was a sad day – the marina e-mailed to tell us that Pegu Club is out of the water for the season.  The only good thing about it is that I don’t have to check the hurricane forecast any more.

The last few weeks of our season was a bit of a disappointment.  After we spent the weekend in Rochester I took Monday off and we headed down to the boat.  The winds were scheduled to be frisky – approximately 15-18 mph – but after all of the windy experience we gained on our vacation we weren’t concerned. It’s funny.  At the beginning of the season 10 mph made us apprehensive.  🙂  There’s no doubt that we’ve gained a lot of confidence during this season.

When we got to the marina Jeff noted that there were an awful lot of whitecaps out on the Sound, but we decided to head out and simply turn around if necessary.  As we were getting ready to cast off the line Tom and Carolyn (from the O’Day that I went on earlier in the summer) arrived at their boat to go for a sail.  We exchanged hellos and started motoring out, waving at Sheldon and Nancy (fellow sailors on a nearby mooring) as we went by.  They were hanging out in their cockpit, relaxing.

As we neared the entrance to the Sound and began leaving the protection of our cove, the waves started picking up.  A lot.  As we kept going it was getting more and more “entertaining.”  They were approximately 2-3 feet, right on the nose, and around 2.5 seconds apart.  It wasn’t the height that was the problem – it was the set.  If they had been 5 or 6 seconds apart it would have been fine.  Instead we started bobbing up and down, the outboard cavitating regularly, and between the cavitation and the wind the boat started getting shoved towards the lee shore (and the rocks).  Jeff and I quickly agreed that it was time to “Run away!” in the words of Monty Python, so I turned the throttle up hard and we were able to turn around and motor back.  We passed Sheldon and Nancy who waved, grinning widely, and motioned for us to come over for drinks once we had the boat squared away.  Tom and Carolyn were still at their mooring when we returned – I think they were waiting to see if we high-tailed it back or not – and we gave them a report.  They wisely decided to stay on the mooring and do boat projects instead.

When we arrived at Sheldon and Nancy’s boat, Sheldon said that the wind had been blowing 20+ all weekend. Ahhh – that explained it.  We’ve discovered that when the conditions are like that for a few days, it takes a day or so for the Sound to settle down.  Sheldon said that as they watched us motor out they looked at each other and said, “They’ll be back.”  Honestly, if we had known that it had been so windy all weekend we likely wouldn’t have bothered going down to the marina on Monday at all, but then we would have missed having a lovely visit hanging out with Sheldon and Nancy and getting better acquainted.  Any time on any boat is a good time, even if we aren’t sailing.

The following weekend Dad and Nikki were in town.  We had all been looking forward to going for a sail together, but Saturday was rainy on the shoreline.  A check of Sunday’s forecast showed that the north wind that had been steadily blowing for a few days was going to clock around, which meant that it was going to die for several hours as is typical.  Unfortunately, it was going to die during the afternoon when it would be “warmer” (mid-50’s).  Morning temperatures were going to be in the low 40’s, and while Dad and Nikki were troupers in being game for temperatures in the 50’s, the 40’s were pushing it.  So no sailing.  The four of us ended up in Boston instead, where we took a Duck tour, so we ended up spending some time on the water after all!

The weekend after Dad and Nikki’s visit was our last chance for a sail.  But once again, mother nature wouldn’t cooperate.  Saturday had wind in the 20’s and Sunday had equally high wind combined with a small craft advisory.  You know what that meant for Monday – whitecaps and 2 second sets for the waves.  So Monday was a no go.  We ended up down at the marina taking down the sails and the boom so the yard guys could haul her, and although we weren’t sailing it was still nice to spend one last day on the water.  We even saw a submarine coming back into New London!  This was our second submarine sighting of the season, and I was just as excited the second time around.

Eventually it was time to say goodbye to Pegu Club as we motored away on the dink, but I told her not to worry – we would see her next weekend on the hard.  As Jeff says, the sailing season has come to an end, but the working on the boat season is just beginning!

Last weekend we departed from our usual routine of driving down to the boat on Saturday after Jeff gets out of work, and we went on Friday (after the shop closed) instead.  This was because the marina was holding it’s annual “Ladies Night” with the Customer Appreciation party the following night.  

Chatting at Ladies Night with our mooring neighbors, they mentioned that they were going for a sail the next day (Saturday).  Since I was simply going to be hanging out on the boat all day while Jeff was at work, i brazenly invited myself along.  It’s actually not as bad as it sounds.  A retired couple with a 24′ O’Day, we’ve been friendly with them since the beginning of last season.  They’ve previously stated that they are always happy to have extra people along on their sails, so I took them at their word for this occasion. 

Saturday morning the dinghy outboard still wasn’t working so we rowed in and dropped it off with the mechanics (we learned our lesson after the big outboard debacle at the beginning of the season).  After Jeff went off to work I proceeded to row back to the boat.  It was a long, zig-zagging process – it was only my second time ever rowing a boat – but I told myself there was no other way to get better at it.

I headed out with our mooring neighbors around 11:30 a.m. for what they had said would be a “short sail.”  Winds were at around 10 knots and it was a glorious day.  More Chamber of Commerce weather.  It was fun to simply be a passenger and not have to worry about rocks, depth, etc.  I had never sailed so close to the New London Ledge Lighthouse before, and really wished that I had brought my camera.  They had a neat tiller tamer that I was able to see in action (it’s on our must-have list now), and a handheld GPS which was convenient (we use our iPad for a chart plotter).  However, while I liked their boat, it confirmed for me that I really love ours.  

Their O’Day is the same size as ours but it’s about half the weight.  While this means that the O’Day is faster (relatively speaking – we are talking about 5-6 knots after all), it felt a lot different when taking waves.  The O’Day “hits” the waves.  The Bristol coasts along on them.  Like stomping your foot on a tile floor as opposed to carpet.   Anyway, it helped to let me know that we are on the right track in the characteristics that we’re looking for in the “big boat” – heavy with a full keel.  Slow, but forgiving.

Our planned “short sail” resulted in returning to the mooring ball six hours later!  I didn’t mind in the slightest.  Being on a sailboat is my favorite place to be, and it was really sweet to see how much they loved sailing around on their boat.  We got back just in time for me to row back to the docks and meet Jeff for the customer appreciation party.

Saturday was glorious.  Sunday was a reminder that the weather in New England is fickle, and no two days sailing on Long Island Sound are alike.  It was still warm but the winds were up to about 15 knots.  The chop wasn’t particularly bad in our marina, however, so Jeff and I fought off some laziness and decided to head out for a sail.  

Wow!  We were quickly reminded that our marina is fairly protected. Winds were at 15 knots with gusts up to 20, and there were 2-3 foot waves with whitecaps on the Sound.  This was not what we were planning on (nor what our various weather and wind apps had predicted), but it was good practice for our upcoming vacation.  We have had mild conditions for almost every sail this season, and it’s unlikely that will occur while we’re out cruising every day for two weeks.  This was a good refresher course in how to sail in “friskier” conditions.  

Jeff and I basically sailed around, tacking a few times (failed on the first one when I wasn’t aggressive enough with our turn and the waves pushed us back), and shaking off the cobwebs.  The chop reminded me a bit of our trip to Block Island last September, and while I’d rather not have a repeat of those conditions, it was nice to have that experience to draw upon and boost our confidence.  After about an hour it started to sprinkle and we called it a sail.

Back at the marina the weather rapidly improved (typical New England – if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute), and we enjoyed hanging out in the cockpit drinking cocktails, eating snacks, and finally firing up the grill for hotdogs for dinner.  Another successful weekend on the Pegu Club.