BHIR 2011 Registration Open; Race Saturday Oct 1, 2011

[Alasdair]

to head down to Peddocks Is. on Friday and at least watch the start of the race on Sat morning and cheer on the CD' ers. There was quite an electrical storm Friday night so I got off the anchorage kind of late, I think I saw a Cape Dory 28 or 30 ? edging up to the start line at about 10 - 10.30 am but could not make out who it was. A light NE wind and what was to become dense fog later in the day , I decided to head back up to Salem. Had engine trouble in the Presidential Roads and was delayed a couple of hours, and ended up in poor visibility, every now and again I came across a few racers sitting in the fog outside the harbor more or less drifting round the course at about 1 or 2 knot, it must have been a long damp slog all day. The current in the entrances always amazes me, it can take a long time to get through them, anyway, congrats to all who took part !

[John Ring]

Glad to hear you guys got a day on the water.

My crew & I watched the weather forecast deteriorate as the week went on, and by Friday there were whispers of mutiny. I have to admit the crew had a point; as much as we love the BHIR, Saturday would not be a day full of sunscreen and smiles.

I settled for a damp windless day on the mooring installing a new autopilot.

John
CD 28 Tantalus (DNS)

[jbenagh]

After a quick consult with John, we aborted also. After reading Neil's report, the crew says we made the right decision. Sorry to hear about the rough trip back Alisdair.

Jeff

[Joe Myerson]

Alisdair,

Was that you heading north near the starting line, towing an inflatable dinghy?

That boat was the only other Cape Dory that we sighted at yesterday's BHIR.

--Joe

[Alasdair]

That was me. Thought I saw a second CD heading to the start line. The crossing over to Georges was kinda choppy, the official start boat had just got into position and I didn't want to get in the way . Decided to head home, the weather report that morning was not encouraging. Shortly ended up (after a tow... ever seen a CD30 doing 9 knots ! ) tied up at the Marina Bay fuel dock bleeding air out of the fuel system.

[Neil Gordon]

FYI... No boat in our class finished and only two in the next class up got there.

[nessie]

The ever changing weather forecast kept us away from our boat this weekend.

Kudos, to all who ventured out into the chop and gave it a try!!!
Ted

[jepomer]

Our day started off poorly with a late start out of the house and a long traffic delay. We were supposed to be the first boat off the line at 10:00 but finally arrived at 10:25. But it took us until about 11 to actually cross the start line. We thought we were doing very poorly until sighting the other boats around us who were also supposed to have started soon after 10.

There was little wind and lots of current. We finally started making progress when we approached closer Georges Island and got some lift from the eddy. We crossed over the channel near the first channel split then stopped quickly when we snagged a lobster trap float. Although we cleared it quickly, it turned us backwards.

We wanted to make Boston Light as our secondary goal since we could see the leaders coming back down the north side of the islands - a beautiful sight for an observer - and knew we would not make it around the course before the end time.

We probably should have stayed on the Hull side of the channel a bit longer but tried to cross to get closer to the islands and Boston Light. The current brought us backwards to the channel split.

We were starting to make forward progress again when we saw this very large tanker enter the channel. We were not sure which way he was headed, but we were right in the middle of the channel near where it split. So we turned on the Torqeedo motor first attempting to go the direction we wanted but against the current, then changed our direction watching the tanker move quickly toward us. It was a wise choice since we were in his ultimate path.

By then it was approaching 2 and the race committee was shortening the Fleet 2 course. We decided to withdraw eying the cloud bank to the west.

Sailing back was very enjoyable - wind and current with us. We decided to pass on the barbecue since we felt tired and I didn't like that cloud bank. As we approached Nixes Mate, that cloud bank surrounded us in a thick fog. It was the first time ever we had to navigate solely by instruments. GPS tracks, compass heading, charts, and local knowledge all made up for not being able to see 100 feet.

We heard all the fog horns sounding and listened for other sounds. We heard one power boat coming up on us. I sounded our horn, then heard three toots back - it was the Coast Guard rushing back. They saw us (sails up, lights on) and veered off with plenty of space.

I was trying to cut across the channel as quickly as possible "just in case" something else fast moving would come through. We heard this other fog horn that did not seem to be in the exact same position each time it sounded. My wife was sure she heard the deep sound of a large motor.

Well, we did get well within Deer Island Light and stayed close to the anchoring area buoys. The fog was thinning and we saw some sun. We looked back at the fog by Deer Island Light and saw this large tanker emerge from the fog bank - looked just like the special effects in the movies. Sure enough, it was the same tanker that we *met* on the Hull side of the islands not very long ago.

Not a great *race* experience, but it was a very enjoyable day on the water with lots of added excitement and learning experiences.

[John Ring]

Last weekend's weather threw us a curve for sure, disappointing many. But all is not lost; there is still some fine sailing to be had this season before we pack it in. The weathermen assure us this upcoming long weekend's weather will be much improved over last weekend's, with rumors of sunshine and 80° days.

I'm heading down to Scituate for the weekend, glass rowing dinghy in tow. Feel free to join in!

John Ring
CD28 Tantalus

[Neil Gordon]

I'm heading down to Scituate for the weekend, glass rowing dinghy in tow. Feel free to join in!

Our tentative plans are to cruise overnight on Sunday/Monday. The weather seems to be cooperating... not sure yet if we're heading north or south from Boston, though. We'll watch the wind forecast and I'll have a better idea in a couple of days.

[Alasdair]

but now I know I have an air leak in the fuel system and the temp gauge is telling me not to get too heroic till I've cleaned out the cooling system, I'm going to stick closer to home and overnight in the far flung and exotic port of Gloucester this weekend.

[Neil Gordon]

I'm heading down to Scituate for the weekend, glass rowing dinghy in tow. Feel free to join in!

Our tentative plans are to cruise overnight on Sunday/Monday. The weather seems to be cooperating... not sure yet if we're heading north or south from Boston, though. We'll watch the wind forecast and I'll have a better idea in a couple of days.

It's looking like the wind will be NW on Monday, which suggests we'll be spending Sunday night in Gloucester. Stay tuned.