RESPITE is heading north.

[M. R. Bober]

She left Sunny Lancaster last night--under the command of her new owner--heading towards New York. So if you she her, say "hi" to Mal and his crew.

Mitchell Bober
Sunny Lancaster, (where we still have enough CDs to keep the area beautiful) VA

[Russell]

Any idea where they will be tonight? I am enroute to Deltaville right now, will be anchoring in Fishing Bay tonight.

[M. R. Bober]

Any idea where they will be tonight? I am enroute to Deltaville right now, will be anchoring in Fishing Bay tonight.

They were north of Deltaville when they left Sunny Lancaster, last night. Their original plan called for 5 days of motor-sailing to get to her new home berth as quickly as possible.

I suppose that they are currently a bit south of--formerly Sunny--Annapolis.

Where will you be heading after Fishing Bay?

Mitchell Bober
Sunny Lancaster, (on the good side of the Rappahannock River) VA

[Cathy Monaghan]

Hopefully they haven't left the Chesapeake or they're hunkered down in Atlantic City. The weather's been nasty. It rained Monday thru Wednesday with gusty winds. It was sunny yesterday but the winds were 30 kts out of the north and NOT pleasant off the NJ coast. Today it's better with winds at 20 kts out of the SSW but the seas are still rough. Hope they have enough time to wait for a decent weather window.


Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[Russell]

Any idea where they will be tonight? I am enroute to Deltaville right now, will be anchoring in Fishing Bay tonight.

They were north of Deltaville when they left Sunny Lancaster, last night. Their original plan called for 5 days of motor-sailing to get to her new home berth as quickly as possible.

I suppose that they are currently a bit south of--formerly Sunny--Annapolis.

Where will you be heading after Fishing Bay?

Mitchell Bober
Sunny Lancaster, (on the good side of the Rappahannock River) VA

Ah, seems I didnt know where Lancaster was, thought it was furthur south.

After Deltaville I was going to go up the Potomac, but the NW winds tommorow are not going to make that fun. So I think I might take advantage of those winds to pop over to Crisfield to visit some friends and wait for good winds to go up the Potomac.

[North Branch]

Russel,

If you have time, stop by Onancock, VA on the Eastern Shore. A sheltered harbor and walkable town. A nice sail from Deltaville on a NW breeze and a good stopover on the way to Crisfield.

Jim

[M. R. Bober]

Russel,

If you have time, stop by Onancock, VA on the Eastern Shore. A sheltered harbor and walkable town. A nice sail from Deltaville on a NW breeze and a good stopover on the way to Crisfield.

Jim

I agree with Jim. Onancock is a fine destination, especially from Sunny Lancaster.

Mitchell Bober
Sunny Lancaster, (dc al fine) VA

[Russell]

Russel,

If you have time, stop by Onancock, VA on the Eastern Shore. A sheltered harbor and walkable town. A nice sail from Deltaville on a NW breeze and a good stopover on the way to Crisfield.

Jim

Maybe another time, I had already told my friends in Crisfield I was coming.

[M. R. Bober]

I received an e-mail this AM. Her Captain reported "nice trip."

Mitchell Bober
Sunny Lancaster, (Where somebody ought to be sailing, right now.) VA

[Queen Elvis]

Wow - there's a whole post dedicated to my journey. It seems that Respite is quite famous, and deservedly so.

So here's my version of events....

Sad to say, the engine got a lot of work, but it did it's job admirably. Never missed a beat in 30+ hours of turning.

After leaving Mitchell and Susan at 9 pm Thursday, we motored through the calm night without issues. Friday morning, the main went up to help out the motor. Then, when the crew started stirring (yes, they left me alone at the helm around 4 am, but only after I insisted.) the staysail went up, and we were motorsailing nicely. An hour or so before the Chespapeake Bridge, the winds were great for sailing, so the engine was shut off and we were happy at 5 - knots under sail. Hurray !!

The crew were happy to keep on through the night (again), but Mother Nature wanted us to rest and sent us a storm. So we checked the charts and, wouldn't you know it, there was Tolchester Marina just a mile away and only yards from the channel. As the storm approached, we were welcomed there by other boaters who all wanted to know what kind of boat she was. Of course, I was very happy to tell them, and not just a little proud.

We truly don't know how much of a storm actually blew through because we were asleep within 30 minutes.

Dawn was lovely, fuel was added and off we went early Saturday morning. We tried to sail, but it wasn't happening, so down came the canvas. Just a few hours later, we were in the C and D, where I had two wonderful experiences that made me realize my boating career was growing up. I had a hot-water shave while at sea !! And I cooked an Indian curry for the crew in my gimballed stove. While I loved my CD 25 - what a great introduction to sailing - and appreciated my 28, Respite was giving me what I wanted - great sailing, graceful looks, with sufficient comfort.

Out of the canal, the winds begged for sail, and we were soon at 7 knots. This girl loves to sail, and we had a delightful 30 minutes. Threatening clouds made us shorten sail, and just as we did, all hell broke loose. 50 - 60 knot winds, and we spun around twice as we took down the main altogether. I was at the helm and the engine allowed me to turn into the wind, and back into it as we lost heading. And there we sat for 15 minutes until the squall passed.

I had one experienced sailor on board, but this was my first real blow. Yeah, I know, a real blow lasts a real long time. But it was a great experience - one that only made me love sailing all the more. Go figure! I am. however, devouring a book on storm tactics, and will add some practice routines to my repertoire.

One big lesson I learned from this is to always be aware of where you are and what's coming up. Fortunately, when we were hit, I knew that we were a mile off shore, there was no shallow water between us and shore, and that there was wide, deep water coming up. So as we were fighting for our heading, I already knew I didn't have to immediately worry about running aground. I will take this lesson with me when I plot courses in the future. 'Malcolm, do you really want to shave a couple of hundred yards of this corner just to save 15 minutes....?'

After the squall, we just motored down the Delaware. The non-threatening clouds that preceded the squall were still behind us, and we didn't want to chance sail again.

That evening and night is when I began to really appreciate my new electronics, that Mitchell and Susan had graciously allowed me to install at their house the weekend before departure. While we could have made it without, it was so lovely to see the buoys three ways - on the chartplotter, on the radar, and with my own eyes. I kept reminding myself that my eyes were the primary safety device, and the electronics were just a backup.

We headed over the Cape May Canal, which was, shall we say, 'interesting' in the dark of night. But we made it though, arriving at Cape May harbor at 3 am. We tied up at Utsch's and waited for the fuel dock to open.

Fuel and water added, and off we went at 8:30 am, for the long slog up the coast. The Atlantic Mill Pond was not exciting, except for many dolphin and seal sightings. Again, no real wind, but that was ok. This was a delivery cruise, and we wanted to get home before the forecasted 10-15 NW on Monday. And we did.

We pulled into homeport at 6 am, and took a nap before resuming our normal lives, which will forever be blessed, and even changed, by this journey.

This boat is going on more journeys. Day sails, of course. But she is well appointed for a week or two away. And she deserves it.

Thanks, again, Mitchell and Susan. Let's meet again on the water.

Malcolm

[MFC]

Nice trip Malcolm. Congras on the new boat!

Just wondering: did you pay at Utsch's or just tie up at the fuel dock and buy fuel when they opened? Curious how others handle this one . . ..

Matt