the course board - Glenmar Sailing Association

THE
COURSE BOARD
A Publication of the Glenmar Sailing Association
Tod Herrick, Editor
www.glenmarsailing.org
Glenmar SA
VOL: 33
Number: 6
June
2014
Boat/US
Group Mbr.
# GA 81715 S
DSC GIN:
033801947
June Membership Meeting
BOWLEYS POT LUCK / COOKOUT—JUNE 20, 2014
theboatsthatraftedwithus,Whale-Dave&JanJonah,Dissertation-BobandCheriWitman,andFrigate
Connie-ParkerHallam&HarrietDeutschallofwhom
weresowonderfultoourgirls.
LookforwardtoseeingyouallatthepicnicatBowleysonthe20th,
SandraAllen
Commodore
CommodoreReport
ForMemorialDayWeekendIinvitedGSAmembers
tobringnieces,nephews,grandchildrentospend
timewiththemontheirboats.Whenweleftourslip,
wehadonlyheardfromtwoboats.So,youcanimagineoursurprise,whenelevenboatsshowedup!The
weatherwaswonderful,nottoohot,but,warm
enoughforthekidstogointhewater.Webrought
ourthreeyoungestgrandchildren,Elaina,10,Allison,
9andIsabella,7.TheylovedthebeachatWorton
Creek,andspentalotoftimeinthewaterandcollectingrocks.IhadchosenWorton,becauseitis
close,childrengetboredwhenthedestinationstake
toolongtogetto.
Weanchoredontheoutside,sothekids,andpeople
withdogs,couldtakeadvantageofthebeach.Two
boatschosetoanchorinthecreek,but,theothers
stayedoutside.Therewerethreerafts,oftheeeach.
Saturdaynight25peoplecametoDragonLadyfora
cocktailparty,agoodtimeseemedtobehadbyall.I
apologizefornotprovidingbeverages.Didnotknow
thatIhadabudgetwithwhichtopayforsuchthings.
Itwillnothappenagain.
OnSundaymorning,threeboatsdecidedtogodown
toSwanCreekandtwohadtogohomeduetofamily
commitments.Sincetherewasnowind,andwe
thoughtitmightbetoocrowdedonaholidayweekend,sixboatsstayedatWorton.Thatnightthere
were10peopleatthecocktailpartyonDragonLady,
and,again,agoodtimewashadbyall.OnMonday,
weallheadedbacktoourhomeports.Toouramazement,thethreegirlswantedtostaylonger.They
evensaidtheywanttodothisboatthingagain!
Guessthiscruisewasasuccess,withtheadultsand
thechildren.Manythankstoallthatcame,itwasyou
thatmadethisweekendsogreat.Aspecialthanksto
Do you have something you want to sell?
Do you want to invite whom ever to a particular anchorage for an impromptu party?
Do you want to issue an immediate alert or
warning to the club?
You CAN and should do all that and more.
Simply send a message to
[email protected]
and the message will instantly be sent to all
members of Glenmar. It’s that easy! Try it
today.
1
RearCommodore’sReport
ViceCommodoreReport
We have another new member, making it a total of six for the
year. Please welcome Mike and Barb Warner to
Glenmar. Mike and Barb sail a Hunter 37, Happy Days, that
they slip in Dark Head Creek. They reside in White Marsh
when not sailing and their favorite destinations are Stillpond
and St Micheals.
June is here and the living is easy, here in the “land of pleasant living”. Well, not exactly. Too much stuff to do and too
little time to do it.
The Commodore led a very nice cruise to Worton Creek that
was just the right combination of laid back relaxation and welcoming season opener for the cruisers. I apologize for what
was a communications issue that resulted in no Glenmar beverages. It didn’t seem to hamper the evening party as everyone
seemed to be enjoying themselves. We had a wonderful sail to
Worton and a great sail back which was a surprise as the
winds were projected to be light and on out nose. I love it
when NOAA is wrong that way!
There are several club events on the calendar for June that I
am aware of: PHRF raft-up on the 13th; the monthly meeting
is going to be at Bowleys on the 20th; dock party at Markley's
on the 21st, followed by Kevin Irwin's cruise; and finally
Northern Bay Race Week on the 28th and 29th. Many opportunities to get out with the club.
I had mentioned that I would present an option for fireworks
and the Family Cruise so here it is! On Friday, July 4, we
will meet at the bight on Mill Creek, just through the entrance
channel where I have been told we can view Annapolis’ spectacular fireworks. Mandolin will be the raft boat and will host
a fireworks cocktail party. Please bring appropriate appetizers
and while the club will provide some beverages, it might be
the time to bring a favorite drink concoction designed to jazz
things up to share with the group!
Tonight we will be sailing in the Black Cat and then tomorrow, Terri and I will be off to Baltimore Light to race in the
PSA Moonlight Regatta in the double-handed event. With a
course length of 25 nm and a wind forecast of 5 kts or less, I
think it will be the Moonlight to Sunrise Regatta. I will let
you know next month how it went.
Brett Sorensen,
Vice Commodore
Regarding the Family Cruise, I have been hearing that there
is shoaling at Knapps Narrows around the R4. I checked the
tide charts and see that high tide is at 10:55am and low tide is
at 5:11pm which means that we would be transiting the Narrows on a falling tide. We are scheduled to go from Mill
Creek to Dun Cove, a trip of 24nm with a time of 4 3/4hrs at 5
knots. If we leave Mill Creek on Saturday and head to Rhode
River and then go to Hudson Creek on Sunday we could avoid
the Narrows completely. What do you say? What I don’t want
to do is jamb someone up who is planning on coming to the
Family Cruise starting Saturday and has obligations that keep
them from joining us on Friday. If this is you, please let me
know at the earliest occasion at [email protected] !
Additionally, regarding the Family Cruise, how many people
are interested in visiting St. Mary’s while we are staying at the
Corinthian Yacht Club? If we have interest I will make sure
we have a car available for the excursion. Please let me know
that as well.
On July 21, Kevin Irwin is hosting a family fun day event at
Markleys Marina and kicking off his Backyard Cruise. For
information and to let him know you are coming (as well as
telling him you have arrived), please call him at (410) 3714714. Bring a friend!
Please see the cruising schedule in this issue of the Course
Board and see you out on the water!
Tod Herrick,
Rear Commodore
2
Portsmouth Fleet - May Acvity.
place) as I beat back to the reaching mark, now
well behind Sam Jackson in the lead boat.
The calendar works-out beaufully to provide 5
monthly series of 4 race dates, each. And, May
marked the start of racing season for the Portsmouth
fleet boats. The first race in May was a pracce
race. Just a warm-up, for the official start of racing,
planned for the following week. However, poor
weather and cold water precluded any racing, so the
racing for the pracce race was cancelled. Similarly,
the following week, there was a tremendous rainfall
just the day before, and with so much potenal for
debris in the water, it was decided to cancel this
race, also. The third race date followed suit with the
first two. There was a certainty for lightning, and
rainy weather, and I couldn't make the racing that
night. Given that my one boat comprised half the
racing fleet, and I didn't want to hand over any
points to Sam Jackson, who certainly would be racing, it was mutually decided between the two skippers, and the R/C, that the racing for that evening
should be cancelled, as well.
The wind connued to build during that race, and by
the end of the race, it was blowing nearly 20. And,
just a;er we crossed the finish line, the rest of the
wind arrived, blowing a solid 26Kn, with higher
gusts. Fortunately (and, miraculously) no one capsized. Following the "big blow' the air died and we
took a tow from the R/C back to the dock. The first
actual race to count was in-the-bag.
The following week, the last evening of the May series, saw much more manageable condions. Threatening weather, but the wind was wonderful, and we were able to get two races in for the
evening, with no drama.
And, so marked the racing for the Portsmouth fleet
in May, Only two boats parcipated, but more are
on the way. The race results are available on the
Glenmar Sailing website. Incredibly, the coveted
First Capsize trophy is sll available. So, there is sll
opportunity to pick up some mantle hardware with
that one. Some of the other changes to the racing
also seem to be working well, especially the use of
the 3-minute sequence and the sound starng system. I'm sll working on opmizing the race tracking app, too. So, things look very promising for a
great June Series. (We've actually already had the
first race of the June series, sailing two races, with 5
boats on the line. And, three more boats are imminent.)
Finally, we get to the first evening where we can
even just put the boats into the water, and it's howling. Whitecaps in Back River. But, the wind direcon
is pushing water into the ramp at Rocky Point, So,
two boats maneuver their trailers down the launch
ramp, and onto the water we go. It feels good to be
on the water, but the wind is blowing hard, and peril
of a capsize is constant. The air dies down a bit,
white caps disappear, and the race commi3ee starts
the race. A "standard course", which means the first
lap includes a reaching mark, with the second lap is a
W/L course. Unfortunately, during the pre-race
warm-ups, I failed to noce that the R/C had set a
Reaching mark. And, further aggravang my error, I
failed to realize that the race commi3ee had not
hoisted the "W" flag, which would have confirmed
that there was no Reaching mark. I was well beyond
the lay line for the Reaching mark before my mistake
is revealed, and instantly go from first to last (2nd
So, the water is great, and the weather is beauful. It's me to get your boat down to Rocky Point
for some great sailing and racing, and some good fun
together.
Bill Lammeree
Fleet Captain, Portsmouth
3
Member-at-Large Report
Upcoming Cruise Events
It is our busy season with Glenmar. Racing
has started, the pot luck supper was a success, a great turnout and weather for the
Memorial Day cruise, and there is more to
come.
So you say you want to cruise? Do we have the venue for
you! We have so much stuff going on that you might have
trouble choosing between them. I have the solution: come out
for all cruises! See, that was easy! You will find that this will
have been a hugely enjoyable summer on the water!
The pot luck supper had a new format this
year. We moved the event to Bowleys and invited sailors berthed there to join us for supper
and conversation. Thank you all who participated. There were numerous dishes to choose
from, each one rivaling the next, and if you
had a notion for dessert, there was a chocolate cake to die for. We had three new memberships as a result of our potluck. Two signed
up that night, and one membership mailed in a
few days later.
The Irwins are coordinating a family fun day at Markleys
Marina on June 21 (See Back Yard Cruise article). They plan
on barbecuing and providing experience to try your hand at
sailing or rowing various boats. This would be a great opportunity to grab a non-sailing friend or some children and expose them to this avocation that we know as sailing, cruising
or simply boating! When you get to Markley,s simply call
Kevin on his cell at (410) 371-4714 or look for Typsy anchored off the docks. This is open to all Glenmar members
and friends. Come by land or by sea to enjoy.
Fun with Boating Event (June 21, 2014):
Back Yard / Gunkhole Cruise (June 22-27, 2014):
Kevin Irwin has organized a local cruise to Stillpond and
Worton starting June 22 and returning June 27. It is hoped
that our racing friends will come along and provision has
been made for them to return to port for the Wednesday night
races. This cruise is local enough so you can have the flexibility to join for the portion that you can.
Next on Glenmar’s list is the picnic meeting at
Bowleys. This will be on a Friday, June 20th.
Bring your dinner to grill. Glenmar will provide
beer, wine, water, charcoal, and paper products. As with all Glenmar events, the weather
has agreed to cooperate and provide us with a
cool clear evening. If you have an article to
sell, now is the time. Bring your yard sale
items to the cookout. We will have a corner set
up for selling.
Ahoy all sailors of keel boats, small boats, kayaks, canoes
and rubber duckies.
We’re planning a fun gathering at Markley’s Marina, Saturday, June 21st for all Glenmar members and friends. Markley’s has graciously given us the use of the floating piers,
the picnic area, and parking for all day and through the night.
For those who wish to spend the night. Non-boat owners or
crew members are more than welcome to attend. By having
such a variety of boats, individuals will be able to intermingle
and possibly try out sailing or rowing boats of interest.
Mark your calendars for Saturday July 26th for
our annual CORN ROAST at Worton Creek.
Sailing, roasted corn, beer and a beach. What
could be better?
June 21st is the kickoff for a lay back gunkholing cruise.
Sunday, June 22nd a short sail to Stillpond. The next day on
Monday, June 23rd, we’ll have a lay-day for sleeping in, crabbing, fishing, dinghy sailing and just plain socializing and
enjoying finger foods; that are created in the galleys of small
boats as well as big boats.
Siobhan Fahrmeier
Member-at-Large
Tuesday, June 24th, we’ll stow the anchor and sail off to
Worton’s Creek, we will possibly be able to have a tour of
the World War II PT boat which is being restored.
Wednesday, June 25th, sail back to Middle River, so that the
racing boats and crew can participate in Wednesday night
races.
(Continued on page 5)
4
(Continued from page 4)
The rest of the fleet can poll for suggestions for anchoring for the night and then hear who would like to sail for the rest of the
week.
Family Cruise:
All plans have been set and we just need YOU! We plan on visiting Tangier Island; Onancock with it’s charming restaurants,
galleries and farmers market; St. Mary’s; and much much more! Block out July 4 – July 20 for one of the best cruises of all time.
Day
1 / Sat
Leg
7/5
Home Port to Mill Creek (off
Miles
19.5
Comments
Ra;-up; Cocktail party
Cantlers)
2 / Sun
7/6
Mill Creek – Dun Cove
24
3 / Mon
7/7
Dun Cove – Solomon’s.
30.3
4 / Tue
7/8
Solomons Layover Day
5 / Wed
7/9
Solomons - Crisfield
40.1
Somers Cove Marina
6 / Thur
7/10
Chrisfield - Pocomoke
36
Cyprus trees??
7 / Fri
7/11
Pocomoke - Onancock
26.7
Marina or anchor
8 / Sat
7/12
Onancock Layover Day
9 / Sun
7/13
Onancock – Mill Cr. (off Great
Spring Cove Marina
Spring Cove Marina Reprovision Group
Cookout
Dinner ashore
dinner ashore Farmer’s Market Reprovision
28.7
Wicomico)
10 / Mon 7/14
Mill Creek – Smith Creek
Marina Stay at Corinthian Yacht Club
11 / Tues 7/15
Smith Creek Layover Day
35.7
Marina Visit St. Mary’s City by car service
Reprovision
12 / Wed 7/16
Smith - Solomon
32.4
Marina or Anchor
13 / Thur 7/17
Solomon – Hudson Cr.
25
14 / Fri
7/18
Hudson – Harness Cr.
32
15 / Sat
7/19
Harness Cr. - Annapolis
11.2
16 / Sun
7/20
Annapolis – Home Port
Marina Dinner ashore
Corn Roast:
Worton Creek. July 26, 2014. Need I say more?
Grandkids Cruise (August 2-3, 2014):
Tom and Meg of Aurora are leading this cruise August 2 – 3, 2014 with a focus on the little kids (and those who are little kid at
heart)! Bring grandkids, nieces, nephews and their friends for kid centered activities. The littlest fleet will go to Worton to keep
the travel down to leave more time for splashing and funning.
Labor Day Weekend Cruise (August 30-September 1, 2014):
The Fahrmeiers aboard Down Home will lead this cruise. Look for more information later as things get developed.
(Continued on page 6)
5
(Continued from page 5)
Maryland Historical Land Cruise (September 7, 2014):
Jump in your land yacht and navigate your way to the Maryland Historical Society on Sunday, September 7 at 12:00 noon where
our own Dick Gelfond, docent at the Society, will talk about Maryland’s role in the War of 1812. This talk will be informative as
well as entertaining and provide an important backdrop for the upcoming Sailabration events. After the presentation, we will
make our way to a local restaurant for lunch before heading home.
Sailabration Cruise (September 13-22, 2014):
Starting September 13, we will make our way by sea to the Anchorage Marina so we can take part in the Sailabration Event in
Baltimore.
Date / Day
Desnaon
Comments
1) Saturday
9/13/14 Anchorage Marina
Eat in Fells Point??
2) Sunday
9/14/14 Anchorage Marina
Board Mandolin for excursion to water off Ft. McHenry
to view Blue Angel Show. Bring Appezers.
3) Monday
9/15/14 Anchorage Marina
Enjoy Fesval on your own
4) Tuesday
9/16/14 Rock Creek
Depart marina by 8:00am to anchor off Ft. McHenry to
view Parade of Ships. Then proceed to Rock Creek to
anchor for night.
5) Wednesday
9/17/14
Worton Creek
Sail to Worton Creek. Ra;-ups
6) Thursday
9/18/14
Turner Creek
Sail to Turner Creek
7) Friday
9/19/14 Georgetown
Get marina or anchor out. Eat at Ki3y Knight House
Restaurant
8) Saturday
9/20/14 Churn Creek
Anchor in creek off Sll Pond. Nice Beach for walking.
9) Sunday
9/21/14 Home Port
Commodore’s Cruise (October 3-5, 2014):
Past Commodore, Glenn Harvey takes us up to the top of the Bay where the racers join Havre De Grace Yacht Club in a friendly
competition while the cruisers enjoy shopping and kicking back in a town named one of the best small towns in America. There
is even a huge feast to be enjoyed by all!
Rock Hall Festival (October 11-12, 2014):
This year, Rock Hall is having their tremendously popular festival in October. I know they did this because of my conflict on the
September date with a family event in Lake George, NY. Richard Allen, of Dragon Lady, will lead this cruise so look out for
more information as time gets closer.
When is enough? Well, this is it. We have a huge year of cruising ahead of us with lots of opportunity to get on the water. If you
can’t do it all, do what you can. Join cruises mid-stream if you have to or leave them when you must, its ok! We are just happy to
have you along. However, you need to inform the cruise captains of your plans. The cruise captains are responsible for making
sure that the cruise goes off as planned and safely. Our cruise captain’s responsibility includes maintaining a radio watch until all
boats are accounted for, canceling or rescheduling cruises due to weather or unseen events, and representing our club to the public. The captain can only do so with your cooperation so your responsibility is to inform the cruise captain of your plans to attend
and cancelations as need be. The club looks bad if boats on the cruise do not show up to marinas as scheduled. It causes undo
anguish for the cruise captain if a boat thought to be on the cruise does not show up at a particular anchorage. I can’t express it
enough. It’s respect for others as well as safety concern so please communicate with your cruise captain. Can’t locate them?
Look it up in your roster or contact me at (717) 507-6184 if you must.
Tod Herrick, Rear Commodore
6
OFUM "UltraMarathon, 64mi. Expedion Style Race
- Lammerus Maximus & Lammerus Prime
My son, "Jake", & I did the Watertribe Expedion race, winning the overall for the course that we raced. We did the
64mile "Ultra-Marathon". It took us 12hr - 59min 10sec. There was another concurrent race this year, also. The 210mi "Challenge" race. (" 'Too much me, let's
pass on that this year. But, maybe next year...... ") Our race,
64 miles starng at Matapeake State Park, on the West side
of Kent Island, a few miles South of the Bay bridges is
a circumnavigaon of Eastern Neck, Wye, and Kent Islands.
Sunday morning, 7am, the "START" horn sounds, and the
race begins with a LeMans-style start by dragging the boats
down the beach from the high water line into 15 - 20+Kn NW
winds and angrily agitated water. Beang northward,
L.Maximus trapezing connuously and holding the boat
down in the water, esmang the overhead clearance and
finding the necessary 30; clearance under the Rt. 50 and Rt.
301 Bay Bridges. More ght beang, atomized spray, and
hundreds of gallons of water raging over the boat as the narrow hulls pierce each oncoming wave, more submarine than
sailboat. 'Rounding over Love Point, easing the sails ever so
slightly, and then a blazing fast reach, surfing across 4;
waves. A quick transit across the mouth of the Chester River,
and then aiming to the (VERY!) low bridge at Eastern Neck
Island. An extra high de means only hiTng the bo3om a
few mes as we approach the bridge. (All the while, hoping
we don't snap-off a rudder. Or, two!) Arriving at the shallow
lagoon, we drop the mast. Then paddle into a fierce and
unexpected current to get under the available 4; of bridge
clearance. It took us 4 tries and too much energy to finally
paddle up to the bridge to where we could hang onto the
overhead bridge ra;ers and pull ourselves thru. On the other side, we re-step the mast while standing in a foot of water
and 6 inches of slimy, sucking mud. Then, head down the
Chester River towards Kent Narrows Bridge, ignorant of an
impossibly fast southbound current at the Narrows, where
we very nearly lost the boat.
POT LUCK PICNIC
At BOWLEY’S MARINA
Friday June 20th at Bowley’s Gazebo # 2 at
6: PM
Glenmar is having yet another potluck dinner at
Bowleys Marina, only this time it will be at Gazebo
# 2 near the volleyball pit at the southwest corner of
the marina. This is an open invitation to all sailors so
if you know any non members at Bowleys by all
means drag them along, kicking and screaming if
necessary.
Glenmar will supply soft drinks paper products and
plasticware. But more importantly we will have the
grills stocked with glowing coals so BRING
MEAT!! Everything tastes better on the grill.
But if meat isn't your thing please bring a dish to
share, Main course, vegetable, or dessert, it is up to
you.
More about this and other adventures from the remaining
40+ miles of racing, in the next "Coarse Board".
Most of all lets have FUN and promote Glenmar.
Lammerus Prime,
Lammerus Maximus.
7
Story of Interest
October 2012. Atlantic Highlands, NJ. A 1982 Bristol 40, “Remedios” is hauled out of the water in an effort to avoid the damaging winds and tides of Hurricane Sandy. Unfortunately, the tidal surge is 4 feet higher than predicted, and Remedios floats off
of her jack stands. Her owners, Dr. Chris Quinn, an Optometrist, and his wife Susan, are devastated. They spend a week looking
for her and finally find her lying on her side in some guy’s back yard about a mile away from where they left her.
Because of the position she was in and the layout of the property where Remedios was found, it was determined that a truck
would be unable to get back to her in such a way to load her up and haul her away. Seeing no other choice, Dr. Quinn called a
marine salvage company, who showed up with a crane and lifting bags to try and refloat her into the river. In a bad twist of fate,
Remedios was dropped by the crane, resulting in a totaled hull and broken mast.
Unwilling to give up on her, the Quinns decided to have her rebuilt and refurbished. They hired Hinckley Yacht Yard in Oxford,
Maryland to do the work, which was finally completed in September 2013, and Remedios wintered on Maryland’s Eastern
Shore.
Two weeks ago, the Quinns eagerly jumped aboard in Oxford to begin the voyage home – back to Atlantic Highlands. They
made it to the Bohemian, and their exhaust manifold went up in the middle of a series of bad thunderstorms (reportedly having
65kt gusts), and they had to be towed up the Bohemian to have engine work. With their daughter’s graduation from medical
school looming, the Quinn’s ran out of time and were unable to finish the trip North.
Enter Tod Herrick and I, Capt. Corey Mitchell. For those who don’t know, I have carried a 50 ton Master’s license for the last
four years. I have done a lot of different things with it, from Skipjacks to water taxis, but my favorite thing to do are boat deliveries. I stumbled across this delivery opportunity a few weeks ago and bid on it. As luck and fate would have it, I had the winning
bid.
The Hinckley Yacht Yard really did a wonderful job with this boat. She is a gorgeous boat with very classic lines. She has brand
new Awlgrip on the deck, a brand new rig, and a crispy mainsail. I was very excited to have an opportunity to sail on her, although I should have known it would be interesting when my crew cancelled the afternoon before we were supposed to leave.
Thank goodness Tod decided to retire a year ago, because a quick phone call was all it took to get him to sign on.
After dropping a car at BWI’s Amtrak station, my lovely girlfriend drove Tod and me up to the Bohemia River Yacht Basin on
Tuesday evening. After downing pizza and stowing all of our groceries, we departed for the C&D canal in order to catch the
2100 tide change in the canal. I wish I knew how big the propeller was, because at 1000 rpm’s on the tachometer, the little 37hp
Westerbeke pushed this 18,000 pound boat along at about 7 kts. An impressive lightning show and bright red radar suggested to
us that we should tie up at the Chesapeake Inn to let the storm pass. Of course, the storm never materialized, so on we went. As
we approached the eastern breakwater entrance to the canal, we were buzzed by a search and rescue helicopter, and greeted by
fire, police, and Coast Guard boats, which were all very focused on the jetty on the North side of the canal.
It was approaching 0100 hrs, and the tide in the Delaware was to turn Wednesday morning at 0400. We dropped an anchor off of
Reedy Point and slept for two hours. A 0400 Sécurité revealed that a fireboat had sunk off the jetty, and only her antennas remained visible.
(Continued on page 9)
8
(Continued from page 8)
Around 0500, we both decided a cup of coffee would perfectly accent this nice morning. Down below I went, while Tod stayed at
the helm. I could not, for the life of me, find any pots or pans. I called the boat owner at 7am, and, after consulting with his wife,
it was determined that there were indeed no pots or pans aboard. No worries – Cape May was only a few hours away and we had
sandwich stuff to get us there. Of course, we were already tired – we had to hand steer, since the oversized propeller and antiquated autopilot made motoring with the autohelm close to impossible.
We pulled into Cape May about 1230 Wednesday afternoon, and took on fuel at the South Jersey marina. I asked the manager if I
could leave the boat tied up at his fuel dock while I walked to the grocery store to get pots and pans. Being anxious to get us off
his dock due to the incoming fishing fleet for a tournament, he offered to drive me there and back to save time. Deciding I better
check the stove first, I did just that. Of course, it didn’t work. Off to the store to get a rotisserie chicken and a box of donuts for
the rest of the trip. I think I spent the next leg pondering how I could get my now-unusable groceries home on the Amtrak, along
with our sea bags, and my laptop bag.
Frustrated and now in a bit more of a hurry to get home, we left the fuel dock and decided to bypass our original plan of anchoring in the harbor to await the morning tide, opting instead to keep pressing on. We had an uneventful motor to Atlantic Highlands, managing to sail for only about 45 minutes.
Atlantic Highlands is inside of Sandy Hook – I believe it is the only marina there, to starboard as you enter the basin. We arrived
there at about 0800 Thursday morning, and got our slip assignment from the owner. Of course, the piers were not numbered, so
we had to do several circles before the marina office and fuel dock opened, to figure out which pier was which. We had a 10 knot
breeze pushing us farther down the dock, and an unfavorable current as well. I have always been told that the quality of one’s
docking is inversely proportionate to the size of the audience – and boy did we prove that adage wrong. No one was watching,
but we did not have a very good landing. Finally, a nice gentleman appeared on the boat in the slip windward to us and was able
to catch a line to help us into the slip.
As we were tidying up, after being questioned by marina security, Mrs. Quinn appeared to take us to the train station. Delivering
an old boat with no pots and pans, no stove, no autopilot, and an unreliable GPS (we lost our position fix quite regularly for 5-10
minutes at a time), I was a bit surprised to see Mrs. Quinn driving a Lexus SUV. Apologizing for being soaking wet from the
rain, she told us not to worry because this was her “utility” vehicle and that it was old anyway.
All things considered, this was a great trip. I was a bit frustrated at the lack of functioning equipment, and I think Tod was as
well. Being raised as a cruiser, I think it is challenging sometimes to switch from cruising mode to delivery mode. This trip
taught me not to make assumptions about anything, and from now on I will have to ask about provisions and cooking equipment.
I just hope that Tod wasn’t totally scared off and will sail with me again.
Editor Note: I would be pleased to sail with Corey again.
9
10
11
PHOENIX, MD 21131
PO BOX 202
GLENMAR SAILING ASSOCIATION
Classified Ad Rates
Members: Free
Non-Members:
$15/mo or $25/3 mos.