Outboard maintenance

With it still being too cold to really get done what I need to on the boat, I figure it's a good time to do the season prep on the outboard. A couple of warmer days next week should allow for some work on the next boat project...

Australia & Props...

Well, I finally got the timing and got through to ARCO in Australia on a non holiday. The very helpful gentleman I talked to on the phone sounded like he might have had some nice libations yesterday to celebrate :-) The bearing for the winch will be here next week. In typical "no longer in business or production" style, the shipping will cost more than the part.

I also got a call from Martec Engineering who I sent our Martec folding prop in to be refurbed. Turns out it's probably the original prop from 1988 and has had electrolosys issues and needs to be replaced, not refurbed. So that budget item tripled- yikes! But at least it will be nice and new.

Australia Day

Leave it to me to call Australia on a national holiday... didn't realize until this morning why my dialing would have been going unanswered last night. I guess I wouldn't answer on the 4th of July, so I'll try again tonight.

Frustrating missing bearing in winch

So I'm putting the Barient 32 back together and discover I'm missing a bearing! I'm always very carefull about not losing parts when I'm working on winches- and it's an internal bearing, not one of the ones that falls in the water when you take a drum off- so I know that I didn't lose it, it wasn't there when I took it apart. So I've contacted ARCO in Aus to see how soon I can get one. Oh, the joys...

Winches- another project...

There's always another project when you own a boat, especially an older one. It's too cold to work on buffing or bottom painting, so I'm doing what I can indoors. Current project: Winches. The 2 primary winches in the cockpit are Barient 32 self tailers. These differ from the normal Barients in that the whole gear structure is a contained unit that is removable. So I took one off yesterday and brought it home.

Here is the gear unit and the drum.

The next step is getting the gear unit apart so the parts can be cleaned, lubed, and re-assembled.

On a winch this big and complicated, I clean it up in sections- that way there is less confusion in the jigsaw puzzle of getting it back together. Smaller winches don't have many identical parts, so it's less of an issue.

Some 2008 photos

This was the first leg of the local Double Handed Race... Sequoia is the big stick in the lower right. We finished 5th out of 14 in our class.
























This is another shot from the Double Handed Race. Aircraft shots are hard to get, thanks to the club for arranging it! (we're the lower boat)























And early Wed night "beercan" race. Sequoia is second from the left with the Red/Orange/Yellow spinnaker.





















Here's the finish of that early Wed night race- what a gorgeous night!

On the hard- and more maintenance...

Sequoia came out of the water in early December. There had been a steady stint of high pressure coupled with north winds that always push much of the depth out of our little creek, so we had to wait until just the right time to catch a south wind at high tide. The boat came out and looked good. The bottom paint has lasted two seasons and is just about gone- which is perfect. Only a light sand and repaint will keep it protected without all the buildup that we sanded off a couple of years ago. Hindsight on that project showed that spending the $$$$ on soda blasting would have been the better method.

We had a great season on the boat. We did some more casual racing with the club since the boat we crew on was racing less. We also did another Governor's cup race, but snagged a crab pot about 25 miles into the race and ended up DNF. We also took two weeklong cruises, one in the spring and one in the fall along with various weekenders.

Things have been pretty busy with the holidays, plus one of our pups has a terminal bone cancer and is not long for the world- so the boat has been sitting patiently on jacks. As always with any boat, especially an older boat (it's now been 20 since Sequoia was trailered out of the factory in CA), there is the constant maintenance list...

More reviews...

So after changing the oil, fuel filters, etc... wiring up the steaming/foredeck light, and a good thorough cleaning- I decided to install more of the LED stuff I've been experimenting with. A buddy of mine got a good deal on a new LED chart light and it is really nice- but it retails for over $200. I got a Nighthawk from www.doctorled.com (light in bottom picture) and wanted to see how it was. It's great! My only complaint is that it is kind of big, but its functionality and tiny power draw more than make up for it. Given that result, I also ordered replacement bulbs for my reading lights (bulb shown in top pictures) and was very impressed with them as well. Nice light, much warmer than the bulbs I put in my dome lights, and not badly priced (about $30 each) given that they will most likely outlast the boat. This company is going to have a dome light to match the ones on the boat (their current ones are a little small, but the bigger ones are coming out this summer) that I'm going to replace a couple of the more commonly used dome lights with those when they come out. I would suggest the Doctor LED products to anyone interested in making the move to this power saving light. I'm really looking fwd to being able to have a bunch of lights on with out draining the batteries that I need to run the fridge.

Getting ready for our annual week long cruise around the bay- boat's clean, dinghy is pretty much ready, fridge is packed, weather is supposed to be nice...

Shakedown Cruise

I got everything put on the mast- all new wiring, new LED anchor light (pictured left), all the hardware and sheaves and stuff, and all the new standing rigging--and left off a few things so they weren't damaged during the stepping of the mast such as the new Steaming/Foredeck light... but the wiring is all there. Then had to get all the gooseneck and other fittings, cleats, and hardware on- then got the boom on. It's got all it's upgraded internal rigging for outhaul and boom lift...
We went on a shakedown cruise over the weekend- and everything worked great. Got lots of nice compliments on the rigging and the paint job... only issue we had was that a friend had helped me take all the mast wiring apart in the boat (I have busbars right near the mast up in the headliner to make it easy) and I'm not sure where he put all the busbar screws-- oops. So I didn't have the wind instruments hooked up... I did have enough to hook up the anchor light--

Quick review of the OGM Led anchor light with Photodiode:

• Easy install- 2 wires (note that they are 20 ga wire--) that don't care about polarity.
• Will run on very low power- I made it work with 3 AA batteries in series... It only draws 0.2 amps. The old Perko draws 1.2 amps. In my constant fight with battery draw, this is going to be a great tool.
• Looks great- got great reviews from the people who saw it... very bright, white, light.
• It is advertised as having a rediculously long life- like 50,000 hrs- Which equates to about 6250 nights at anchor. Which equates to a little over 17 yrs if you are at anchor every night as a live aboard.
• Seems like a good purchase- just note that the photodiode means you have to test it at night!

I'm also looking into LED interior lighting- I got some 9 LED festoon bulbs for our current dome lights to see what that looked like. Not real pretty light, but quite bright in the dark. And they draw 1/10th of what the old ones did. I think I'm going to place them in strategic locations around the interior and have them available, but keep some regular bulbs for esthetics sake. Also trying a Dr. LED chart light (the Nighthawk- or whatever it's called)... we'll see how that goes. Purchased a small dehumidifier with a Peltier Motor as it's cooling method... it's supposed to pull up to 16oz of water per day. Which would be perfect for the boat.

Next couple of weeks will see basic seasonal maintenance- oil, trans, filters, winches, etc...

Felt good to be out sailing again.

getting there...

The mast is painted... it isn't perfect, but it looks good and is a million times better than it was. Add to that a good boom paint job and we're good. Also got the bottom painted and so we should be ready to go.

Boat gets splashed this week, cruising 36 hrs later (assuming all goes well).

Tomorrow the mast gets its new wiring, LED anchor light, and spreaders put back on. The boat gets a final wax job. I get a nap. It will be good to be back on the water.

I wonder if the genny is fixed yet... we have the old 140 that we can use, but I'd like to just have the 150 up. Hmmmmm...

Boom Paint

Done painting the boom, and it turned out great. Lighting is bad in the photo and doesn't do it justice... All that is left is the black stripe to show where max sail is allowed (doing today). Starting to strip the mast first thing tomorrow morning. I'll also have a chance to try out the new interior LED bulbs.


We got all the new stuff for the mast/boom ordered:

• New LED anchor light from OGM- I'll be sure to post about it...


• New steaming/foredeck light (old one was broken by the yard during mast unstep).


• New in mast wiring- electrical for lights, coax for VHF.


• New blocks for the boom to increase purchase on the outhaul.


• Tef Gel for re-attaching all the stuff to the mast/boom.

Should be a fun couple of weeks trying to get all this stuff done, but the weather looks like it is going to cooperate--

Mast Painting

Again, things have been a little nutty- and it was vacation time (cruising St. Vincent & the Grenadines for 2 weeks- with a weekend stop in Barbados to go see Mount Gay)-- so I've been neglecting the blog. But I have gotten into the mast strip/paint project! The mast was pulled right before the boat came out of the water last fall. It went fine other than the yard guys breaking the steaming/foredeck light with the crane strap-- not bad for pulling almost 60' of stick out.

I took the spreaders home to do some experimentation. I had gotten different ideas from different people. I ended up trying an aircraft stripper made for taking 2 part paints off of aluminum. Can't get much more specific than that, right?

As you can see, it took the paint right off. Trick is just to be patient and let it do it's work.

Then a little sanding, and voila- ready for etching and primer.

Then the same treatment for the boom...

There was a little corrosion around some of the original fixtures (the holes in the photo are for "T" track that gets adjustable cars for reef lines)

















But again, a little sanding and it's good as new. Note: important step that is not pictured here is etching- which is a pre-primer to help reduce corrosion and promote primer/paint adhesion.

















Then 3 coats of primer, and it's ready for paint!

















Next step is painting the boom and spreaders on bad weather days since I can do them indoors, and stripping, etching, priming and painting the mast. Doing the smaller parts first has kept the time loss due to learning curve down to a minimum.
Also, we've decided to replace all the wiring in the mast, the anchor light (with an LED unit), and of course the steaming/foredeck light that was broken in the mast unstep. We figure if we do it all now, we won't have to do it with the stick up!
S

Too Busy...

Between starting a new business, the holidays, and a loss in the family- things have been a little crazy. Sequoia is out of the water, with her mast out of the boat. The standing rigging needed replaced (some of it is original from 1988), and the paint on the mast is all but gone on most of it. So we decided we'd get it painted...
First, we got a quote from a company in Annapolis- $12,000.00 for new standing rig, lifelines, strip and repaint the mast... Nope.
Then we got a quote for just strip and repaint the mast from our new yard (and they are great, we've dealt with them before and are excited about our move)- $6,000 to strip and repaint... Nope.
Let's be honest here- $12k just isn't realistic for a boat that is almost 20 years old. The $6k would be better, but still more than we'd like to spend on something that doesn't make the boat go faster or more comfortable.
So with some good advice and some help from people in the "know", I'm going to do it myself via "roll & tip" after I sand off the little bit of paint that is left. It's been suggested to use a 2 part paint rather than the 1 part- since the durability should outweigh any application issues. This whole process has to wait until things warm up a little... So I'm hoping for a nice warm week in March.
In the mean time- I'm buffing out the gel coat, then polish and wax. It's kind of like the old joke, "I just flew in from St. Louis, and boy do my arms hurt."
Then, in my everlasting quest to reduce power draw on the battery bank, I'm changing light bulbs to LED's in the cabin dome lights. Also contemplating that move for the anchor light. Hoping to save at least 50% (I'd like to see 70%) of power draw on the lighting. They currently draw almost 1 amp per bulb that is on. Bulbs are a couple of dollars each- and will be a good test before moving to new LED fixtures down the road.

Also, we're always "shopping" for the next boat. We've decided to stop shopping and just take the things we like from other boats and make them happen on Sequoia and keep her for the long term. She's a great sailing boat, fast, and with a little smart design can be a very comfortable long term cruiser. I know that most readers don't really care, but I think that decision is going to have some major effects on how we deal with the boat over the next several years.
So, sorry for the long pause- let's get back to work--- those winches need a light clean & lube again...

Thoughts from Boat Show

Boat Show was fun, as always. We went on Thursday (VIP/media day) in order to miss the crowds and be able to get on the boats we wanted without waiting in line for an hour. Also a good day to get some shopping done (needed new foulies, went to the Musto tent and dropped a few $). As far as my impressions from the show-
The Esse 850 (top photo) stole the show. Hot rod race boat that can be sailed with a small crew for under $100,000.


Another notable was the Beneteau First 50 (second and third photos). I'm not a big fan of Beneteau in general... but this is a new idea. A roomy, comfortable, relatively inexpensive boat. Starts in the $400,000 range and tops out fully loaded nearing $600,000.





As you can see, the interior of the First 50 is pretty incredible for a boat in this price range. Really well done. It's roomy and would be extremely comfortable as a distance cruiser/liveaboard. Way to go, Beneteau- you finally got one right (as long as you quit calling this a race boat...).
Just don't ask for my comments about the new 10 R. Good grief.


Last, but not least, is my personal favorite pick for the show. The Open 5.70. What a great little boat! The costing involved with a new Melges 24 ($50k, just to get started) or comperable boats is a little more than I want to spend on a race boat of that size. If you buy used, the hulls get flexy and less competative in one-design over time. Here's a little 20 foot keelboat for less than $30k. Double rudder, sails with 2-3 bodies, huge cockpit, and a nice sailplan make this a winner in my book. Only issue is that the $30k would go a long way on Sequoia!

Annapolis Boat Show

Headed to the Annapolis Sailboat Show on Thurs-Fri for good shopping, planning and dreaming. See you there!

Started Rigging Business

I decided to start a running rigging business. If you are looking for great deals on line or halyards, tapered sheets, etc... just write in the comment section. Just as an example: 5/16ths halyard with a headboard shackle, whipping, and reaving splice retails for about $100 plus shipping, get it from me for $40 plus shipping. High Tech stuff (vectran, spectra) also available for performance boats.
So if you are looking for a set of light air tapered spin sheets, or a new halyard to replace that spin halyard that is all moldy and stiff, or want a new set of jib sheets, let me know.
S

J-29 North Americans

We went to the J-29 North American Championships as spectators on Sequoia. We had a great sail up to Oxford and made it in time for the last race on Friday. It blew pretty hard on Saturday so we stayed on shore and watched from the beach. Spinnaker in photo white with blue stripes is a local boat named Rhumb Punch that won the regatta. Congrats to them!
Windy trip back on Sunday with reduced sail. Fun weekend overall.
S

Fun Race

The club's annual Wed night fun race was entertaining. They had a theme this year: Fowl (foul). So we hung a big stuffed duck from the rig, cursed a blue streak at the race committee for check in, did the chicken dance, threw birdseed, passed out Old Crow and Wild Turkey and chicken nuggets, then flew 3 spinnakers. Drunk, kind of stupid, but still a good time.
S

Ernesto Update

We tied up for bigger winds than were predicted as Ernesto approached. It was a good thing- Ernesto was predicted to have 30-40mph winds, our dock neighbor saw 55kts blow by. Sequoia came out without a scratch.
Trick with tying up for this stuff is to make the lines as long as possible and use the smallest diameter that is appropriate so it will stretch more. As long as the boat can't rub on the pilings (but it should be close in all directions) you're set up for a surge. We always use extra springs and sometimes some very specific directional lines to keep her in a good spot in the slip.
Hopefully the hurricane season continues to be uneventful.
S

TS Ernesto...

We've been pretty lucky as far as the hurricane stuff goes for the past couple of years. We had survived Isabel with no damage several years ago after getting some really good advice about how to tie up a boat for a hurricane (thanks D!).

Ernesto is approaching as we speak (we're currently getting the first couple of serious bands through). We tied up the boat for up to about 50mph winds last night. I don't think we'll see anything more than that, and the surge shouldn't be too bad (although we did re-tie with it in mind). Should be an entertaining day/evening. We're supposed to race in Annapolis Race Week starting tomorrow... but the Benneteau is putting off until Sunday due to the conditions for the delivery up there. Assuming we survive without damage, I'll have a discussion about tie-ing up for a hurricane next week.

Upgrading Electrical...

I got this photo from our friends on Synergy that they took on their camera phone- of us in the mixed couples race working against a local J-29 that is extremely competative all along the east coast. They corrected over us because of the difference of our starting times, but we had kept in front of them for about 4 miles or so and this shot was us finishing in front of them. Just a cool thing to let us know that we are working in the right direction, and I'm guessing he didn't have 60 gallons of water or his grill on board:^) Not often you get a photo of your boat in front of this one at a finish...

Upcoming projects and events are getting scheduled: First, I'm upgrading the Alternator with a Balmar 621 series 80 amp and a 3 stage regulator to help our new batteries out. Along with that is the replacement of the tachometer that hasn't worked for a while.
We're going to do the Jack-Ass Regatta fun race on Wed (13th), then the Capt (my wife) is planning to race Sequoia in the club's annual fall women's series that next weekend (getting either a short haul bottom clean or a nice dive cleaning for this event), then we're going to Oxford to cheer on the above J-29 at their North American Championships http://www.j29class.net/index.htm.
I've gotten some nice compliments lately about this site, I appreciate it.

Mixed Couples Race

Our sailing club runs a "mixed couples" fun race every year where you can have one man and one woman crew. It allows for cruisers to mingle with racers and all have a good time. This year was no exception. It was a nice spinnaker run all the way up the 10 mile course. After which everyone rafted to Sequoia (15 boats on our anchor!) for race results and cocktails, then broke up into smaller rafts for the evening or some of the participants went home. Lots of fun, and one of the other racers actually got some Sequoia spinnaker shots... Other photo is of the "super raft".
Next planned activity is the Wednesday "Jack-Ass" race where we all motor around and the best theme/costumes or sailing show of skill. We placed 3rd last year with a full compliment of pirates and rum, 1st place won by sailing backwards down the course with their spinnaker full behind the boat. We have something special planned this year to compliment the pirate theme, let's just hope it works!
Then a week or so after that, we'll be headed off to be spectators for the J-29 North American Championships in Oxford, MD where we'll cheer on our friends on Rhumb Punch and any other club members who participate.

More Batteries...

We discovered a few more minor issues during the Governor's Cup- Batteries being prime among them... If you go back to the archives from January, I did some battery maintenance. Turns out it just prolonged the inevitable... The house bank bit the dust on the gov cup. So, a few "small boat units" later, the house bank is now 2 gel group 27's. When we do the new high output alternator, there will probably be a 3rd added, but this is good for now.
The other issue we had was the loss of our tack line on the spinnaker- it just blew up in the 25 kts of breeze. So I replaced that this week with 7/16ths Sta-set X. This is the same stuff they're using on 45 Ft cruisers for halyards, so I figure it will hold up.
Another of the fun races we do is this weekend-- the local club has a "mixed couples" race up the Patuxant River open to cruisers and racers alike. Should be a good time: lots of beer and rum and a few grills running.
Upcoming events include Annapolis Race Week on the 36.7

Governor's Cup

I have said before (and I'll say it again), we sail Sequoia primarily as a performance cruiser. Lots of furniture, usually full water tanks and 60 gallons of fuel. But every once in a while, we take her out racing. This year's Governor's Cup 70 mile race was one of those. Neither of the boats that we race on were doing Gov cup this year, so we threw together a top notch crew and did the race.
Wind was supposed to be really light out of the north, so we provisioned to be out there for a while. Turns out there was a small craft advisory, winds blowing up to 25 knots. Sequoia hit a new speed record with us on board at 10.5 knots and finished the race in 11 hrs 7 minutes. We ended up 19th out of 28 in our class, and midfleet overall PHRF. We felt good about it, safe the whole night, and always in control. Thanks to the super crew for great work!

Oxford Cruise...

July 28-30 we went to Oxford, MD with Synergy, Noon Somewhere, and Little Lattitudes. Getting there was a broad reach with winds blowing 18-20, then a nice thunderstorm blew in. Noon Somewhere saw winds approaching 50 knots during the storm.
We had a nice weekend, went to Lattitude 38 for dinner Saturday night and was surprised to meet the crew from Motu Iti! They joined us for dinner and drinks. Also got to try out the Sea Nettle Net pool that our little cruising flotilla has purchased as a group. Wow- it saved the weekend! Good Times. Total distance 54 nautical miles.

Racing in Newport

Just a side note away from Sequoia... In July I went to New York Yacht Club Race Week in Newport, RI to race on a Beneteau 36.7 for the class North American Championships. The sailing was fantastic, even though the class insists on playing bumper boats at full speed. Boat I was on placed 7th overall, with a bullet on the first day. That's why I've been away for a while... Boat I race on is sail #93266

Weeklong Cruise- Day 7

Sequoia Log:
27 May- Depart Onancock headed to Tangier Island. NW winds ended up on the nose most of the day. Sequoia and MI decided to try Reedville, VA instead. Close reach single fetch across the bay. Anchored on east side of Reedville peninsula. 35 nautical miles.

The anchoring options at Tangier Island were not appealing and the group decided to make a try for the marina at the island. The cruising guide gave depths of 5 ft at mean low tide, so Sequoia and Motu Iti (both draw 5'6") decided to push on to Reedville back on the western shore instead. We had a nice fetch across the bay and got in anchored and rafted with Motu Iti before dark. A little grilling and life was grand. The three other boats in the group reported a great time at Tangier. Headed for home tomorrow.
Photo is of part of the Reedville commercial fishing fleet.

Weeklong Cruise- Day 6

Sequoia Log:
26 May- Depart Cape Charles headed to Onancock. S winds 18-20 on the way out the channel, seas 2-4 feet. Winds made for more downwind run, which was unpleasant when thousands of flies swarmed the boat. Storm cell passed over on the way in to Onancock. 37 nautical miles.

Well, if we weren't impressed with being in Cape Charles as we spent the night- the flies as we left made it a sure thing we'd never go back. We were infested on the hull of the boat. They were everywhere. We destroyed a fly swatter as we killed hundreds of the little beasts. We called ahead to some friends meeting us in Onancock to get fly paper and fly swatters. Too bad, it would have been a great warm, sunny day otherwise. Onancock was nice. Cute little town, nice resteraunts, etc... Several of us had breakfast as a group at the spanish place in town, it was great. On to Tangier tomorrow...

Weeklong Cruise- Day 5

Sequoia Log:
25 May- Depart Put In Creek headed for Cape Charles, VA. S winds all day starting 12-15 kts, then building to 15-20 kts upon approach. Anchorage in cruising guide is now a marina. Dragged anchor in the harbor due to sandy bottom. Used marina instead. Marina full of fishing/crabbing vessels and slip queens. 21 nautical miles.

Another fun day of sailing... We had a great time on a close reach across the Chesapeake. We had been to Cape Charles before by car- cute little town. We will never return by boat... The anchorage that was listed in the cruising guide is now a marina-- and anchoring in the main harbor is not a great idea either with the sandy bottom, the concrete factory across the way, and the train barges going in and out. So we stayed at the marina, which was full of working boats that stunk and kept pumping diesel into the water from their quickly filling bilges and slip queens that had marine sanctuaries growing on them. Cape Charles gets the big red "X" in the log.
Photo is of the train barge on it's way out as we were coming in.

Weeklong Cruise- Day 4

Sequoia Log:
24 May- Depart Tides Inn headed for Mobjack Bay. NW-N winds made for lots of nice DDW out of the river. Saw Dolphins just off the Stingray Point coming out into the Bay. Attempted to anchor in Tabbs Creek, but couldn’t due to depth and crab pots. Anchored in Put In Creek instead. Nice anchorage- quiet (until we got there) and protected. 30.5 nautical miles.



Another fantastic day on the bay. We paraded out of the Tides and headed down to Mobjack Bay. The DDW was fun out of the Rappahannock River... Noon Somewhere put up their new kite, Synergy put up their kite, we can't go real deep with our kite- so we went wing-on-wing, and Motu-Iti did wing-on-wing as well. We don't get south on the bay very often, so seeing the dolphins a unique experience for Sequoia. The wind died as we got to Mobjack Bay, so we fired up the motor to get in. Both photos are Sequoia- second is passing Wolftrap Point light.
Day 5 is on to Cape Charles...

Weeklong Cruise- Day 3

Sequoia Log:
23 May- Depart Grog Island headed for Tides Inn in the Rappahannock. Tides Inn was nice--- great pool and facilities, nice dinner. 17.5 nautical miles.

If you haven't had the opportunity to go to the Tides Inn (www.tidesinn.com) on a cruise, do so! They have a nice facility for boaters, a beautiful pool, and a nice fine dining resteraunt. If we were to do it again, we'd anchor in one of the nearby creeks on the evening we arrived, then go to the Tides early the next day to enjoy the pool, biking, spa, etc... then have dinner in the resteraunt, stay the night and head out the next day. It was a welcome stop on our cruise.
We also felt like the slip fees were not unreasonable for the facilities that were available (extra long pumpout hose, water, electricity, etc...). They even gave us our own private dining area, which in retrospect was a great idea :^)

Weeklong Cruise- Day 2

Sequoia Log:
22 May- Depart Crisfield 11:00… Winds NW 10-18. Arrived Grog Island 16:00. Anchored with NS, Moto Itu, and Synergy. Beautiful island and anchorage. 27.7 nautical miles.

Grog Island (just inside Dymer Creek north of Windmill Pt) is the closest thing to the carribean that we have found in the Chesapeake Bay. It is a tiny little island that used to be part of the penninsula- but it is slowly erroding away. All it is missing is the beach bar. This is a great spot for doing some swimming when the water is warm. The shallows are all pretty easy to see from the surface- if it looks shallow, it is! This is definitely a spot that we will be returning to soon!

Weeklong Cruise- Day 1

Sequoia Log:
21 May- Depart 10:15 after taking on 32 gallons diesel and pump out. SW-S wind all day 13-17 kts. Anchored in Crisfield w/ Noon Somewhere 17:30. Cold front moved through between 22:00 and 02:00 with NW winds 30-40 kts. Reset anchor after drag due to 180* swing. 32 nautical miles.

We had a great first day of our trip... going upwind, but nothing outrageous. No horrible beating or anything. It was a wee bit chilly for the first day. Definitely a sweater and long pants day. Note for the future: we should have set and dug in a second anchor since we knew the wind was going to do a major shift. Sunset photo is at Crisfield.

Race Winner

Sequoia is set up as a cruising boat, since that's how she's used most often... but every once in a while we take down the dodger and take the dinghy motor off the rail and take her out racing for fun.

We decided to take her out for the club's "Double Handed" (2 people) race again this year to try to improve on a dismal (but fun) performance last year. Performance was much improved, Sequoia took the gun and the win in the non-spinnaker class! Lots of fun was had by all.

She goes back to cruising mode for our spring Bay cruise next week. I'll post upon our return.

S

Weekend Cruise...

15-16 April, 2006- Notes from Log:
4-15-06, 1200- left Marina. Headed NW up the Patuxant River. Light and puffy conditions early, storm appearing with front about 1500. Main alone for comfort of dogs on their first cruise. Both dogs did very well. Anchored in Rollins Cove with s/v Noon Somewhere rafting to us about 1700. Managed to miss the storm completely. Quiet evening at anchor. Returned 4-16-06. Total miles logged 16.
CM