This post has no practical utility.......Just to share some joy! I recently did a very fast motorsailing passage from Annapolis to Georgetown on the Sassafras River, Chesapeake Bay. A call from home requiring our immediate presence cut our week cruise short. We had to head straight home, a forecast of two days of mid-90 degree weather and high humidity made this not such a bad thing. Our planned destination for the cruise was Georgetown.
So at 1120 we put the diesel in gear, set up the 2500 rpm cruising speed and headed North toward the Bay bridge. We had a slack tide at the bridge that turned to a full-on flood tide all the way to the dock at Georgetown. We made the run in 7 hours flat! Fast going for a CD31. In preparation for the cruise, I had commissioned a diver to clear the prop, shaft and any other surfaces of barneys, scrub the slime line etc.
The Bay was a glassy pond until a southerly breeze came up about 1530 and helped push us, a 2 knot tide current added more speed. We hit 9 knots over the ground a couple times according to the the GPS. There have been so many times I have chugged up this passage watching the foul tide race by the fish trap buoys making maybe 4 knots over the ground. This time was different and will be filed among many other happy memories. Would have been nice to sail the entire time, but I'll gladly take this too.
We're looking forward to fall sailing on the Northern Chesapeake after our return to the Sassafras.
Happy Sailing
Successful Day Passage
Moderator: Jim Walsh