The Curse is Broken! Kelly IV Learns to Fish. July 27–28, 2013.

You know the “Curse of the Bambino” was long-lived. Until this weekend, it seemed that “No Fish Caught While Capt Murph is Sailing” would achieve the same longevity. Since my boys were trying to catch fish on Lake Erie aboard the first Kelly, there has never been a sailboat I've been aboard that caught a fish. Not a friend's sailboat, not a charter boat, not even on the 4 day sail from Long Island to Bermuda where the skipper said “we always catch fish on this trip.”

Tom Lynch is a great friend who spices the relationship with his allergy to fish. As Tom is also an avid fisherman, that means I support my friend by eating all those dangerous fish that would otherwise harm my good friend. Warned that “No Fish Caught While Capt Murph is Sailing,” Tom accepted the challenge and brought his gear aboard Kelly IV for an evening and and Sunday of fishing. The weather was threatening scattered thunderstorms, but also foretold of fine breezes that would provide wonderful sailing.

Tom steers us to the fish

Given the late hour of the day, we motored directly into the wind and waves, focusing on the fishing. Tom proclaimed he would provide dinner for the evening by the time we reached the anchorage. He labored against the frequent salt spray and constant bouncing and pitching as Kelly IV barreled her way windward and south towards Thomas Point. The head-on force of the 15 – 20 knot breeze and 2 – 3 feet waves kept her speed to 3 knots. It was a fine trolling speed, yet the fish were having nothing to do with Tom's bait. After three hours the dark clouds, setting sun and blustery air encouraged us to seek the nearby anchorage of Fishing Creek, nestled close by Thomas Point.

Tom directs Kelly IV past Thomas Point Lighthouse

Always true to his word, Tom broke out the pre-cooked dinner of steak and Rockfish that he had prepared at home and brought aboard Kelly IV. A bit of warming on the stove and we enjoyed a delicious dinner of surf and turf. Or rather I did, while Tom limited himself to the turf. The after dinner entertainment for the evening was a private concert featuring the Tin Whistle talents of Irishman Tom Lynch as he played his whistle, recently acquired while visiting Ireland with his family.

The next morning we set off to a gray and windy day that proved perfect for sailing and fishing both. The breeze permitted downwind sailing all day as the gray kept the temperatures comfortable. Tom's first fishing effort was to bottom fish as we drifted with the wind and waves. A couple small Croakers broke the curse, but since they were not “keepers” it wasn't clear if the curse was truly broken or merely bent a bit.

Crokers

With the nice breeze, we sailed as Tom switched to trolling. Under jib alone Kelly IV still made 5 knots, which was too fast. Between working his two rods, Tom furled the jib until just a scrap was showing and our speed finally was down to 3 knots.

That must have done the trick as Tom caught and released several small Rockfish until Kelly IV began having notions of joining the local fishing fleet. But she wasn't really clear of the curse unless she could provide Tom the opportunity to catch a “keeper.”

Tom works the lines

The gray day burned away as the sun made frequent appearances and the breeze moderated. To keep the trolling speed up we tugged a bit more genoa into the wind.

Then it happened! The starboard rod began squealing like a motor boat in pain and Tom lunged across the cockpit to work the big one. He would haul the rod forward against both the water and the fighting fish, then reel in a couple feet. It was hard work as the reel chose this time for the mechanism to fail so Tom was now fighting both fish and machine. You can see on the chart where the fish was hooked as Kelly IV changed direction slightly. It wasn't until the dramatic curve back on course, that the fish was landed and the curse was well and truly broken.

Rockfish!  It's a KEEPER!

As the breeze continued to lighten, we unfurled the full jib and enjoyed a relaxing sail back to Annapolis. And I had the promise another great meal of fresh Rockfish!

Great Friends, Great Food, Great Company - July 12-14, 2013

Nino Forlini, Guy Stewart, Bill and Sarah Paviol decided to share their weekend on Kelly IV. They brought great food and terrific culinary experience. Although Bill and Guy have always produced wonderful meals, it never seems to hurt when executive chef Nino joins the crew.

Saturday breakfast was freshly made pancakes, sausages and fruit, all made on board. The gorgeous day of sunshine was a magnificent change for the 24 hour rain that drenched Annapolis the day before. Kelly IV sailed with her experienced crew under the Bay bridge and into the Magothy River. Although the winds were light, this crew was successful in generating 3-4 knots out of 8 knots of breeze.

Nino at the helm

After dropping anchor in Dividing Creek near South Ferry Point off the Magothy, Sarah took her Dad for a dinghy ride while Nino napped in the shade and Guy and I cooled off swimming around Kelly. The Paviols returned and teamed with Nino to prepare some fabulous burgers, grilled on the stern barbecue. Several crew enjoyed melted cheeses over the burgers along with fresh pepper salsa.

Bill relaxes in the Kelly's cockpit

Bill and Guy explored Dividing Creek with their fishing gear and caught 3 fish in the two hours they were exploring. If they had taken any more time, they'd have missed Nino's grand dinner headlined by the Delmonico steaks grilled off the stern. As it turned out, they returned in time and enjoyed the terrific meal with the rest of the crew. After dinner, drinks and conversation, Nino and Guy slept in the cockpit as the forecast was for a beautiful evening without rain and proved true. The Paviols and I took advantage of the fresh air wafted through the boat by our windscoop and fans.

Guy enjoys the sun and breeze

Sunday morning dawned clear and beautiful, fresh percolated coffee set the ambiance as Bill created a delicious french bread breakfast from tasty pretzel bread. Motor sailing was the travel mode as we departed the Magothy River, then the breeze increased as we gained the main Chesapeake Bay and sailed without the motor. Sarah had been our primary helmsman all day Saturday and proved her skills again on Sunday. She even steered us under the 5 mile long Bay Bridge on Saturday and passed drifting sailboats on Sunday, all with the calm of an experienced sailor.

Sarah at the helm

Kelly IV experienced a bit of a challenge as the Sunday breeze took her into the midst of the fishing fleet north of the Bay Bridge, then the breeze turned fickle and light. We'd been under sail alone for less than an hour. The reliable Yanmar was our solution as we departed the fishing fleet scooted under the bridge and returned back to Annapolis.

Back in her slip, Kelly IV hosted the crew to a grilled tuna steak, brought by Nino and grilled by Bill. The sun attempted to grill us all with the blistering afternoon sun, but we basked in the cool air conditioned comfort of Kelly's salon as we dined on the succulent, seared seafood.

Nino and Sarah offload Kelly IV after a great weekend

A dip in the pool to cool off, then the crew of terrific friends bundled into their car for the return trip to Pennsylvania. Truly another wonderful weekend with great friends and good sailing.

Perfect Weather for Sailing - July 4–6, 2013

After stowing our provisions for a couple days, Keith and Stephanie threw off the dock lines while Kelly and I took them away from Annapolis Landing Marina. Our first stop was Whitehall Creek for a community picnic and fireworks. It is a very short trip across the Severn River, Whitehall Bay, then up the creek, so we only unfurled the genoa for a little motor sailing. There are some notable doglegs piloting a deep draft vessel, namely Kelly IV's 5 feet of draft, to wind safely into Whitehall Creek, but that isn't any different than any other destination around the Chesapeake Bay. Keith steered Kelly IV like the experienced hand that he is and made a great crew mate as I worked the anchor deck.

With our craft safely anchored for the night, we nosed the Pudgy dinghy into the smaller tributary where we found the home of Don and Donna, who included us for their community picnic and fireworks viewing. The traditional crab feast was delicious as we renewed our skills at harvesting the meat from the multilegged, hard-shelled critters. It seems that we spend more calories digging the white gold from the shells and legs than we consume.

Evelyn Marie is the classic wooden Chesapeake Bay Deadrise that Don and Donna keep in a slip at their home. It was also our transport to Whitehall Bay where the fireworks presented by the city of Annapolis could be viewed without battling the crowds in the Severn River and Annapolis Harbor. Don found a radio station playing Sousa marches and we enjoyed a terrific evening of lightshow and camaraderie.

The next morning we departed Whitehall Creek and sailed under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, Stephanie's first time doing so. Crossing under the massive twin spans is always an exciting event on a small boat. Although there were lots of small craft on the bay, there was no freighter traffic, so the bridge was not the challenge it might have been. A tack off the eastern shore of Kent Island took us back across the bay past the Sandy Point Lighthouse and into the mouth of the Magothy River past the southern tip of Gibson Island.

Keith and Stephanie

Although we were concerned about losing our breeze as we entered the enclosed waters of the Magothy, Kelly did fine sailing all the way to our anchorage in Cool Springs Cove off the southern shore. Although we had sailed 14 miles from Whitehall Creek, we were only four miles as the crow flies from our previous night's anchorage. Thanks to a sunny yet mildly breezy day, Keith was able to introduce Stephanie to the joys of sailing without the challenges of too much or too little wind.

Kelly IV with her genny poled out to port

Saturday morning introduced another perfect weather day as we set sail before even raising the anchor and sailed away without ever using the motor. This day produced more breeze when we exited the Magothy and Kelly sailed a long tack across the bay, then came about to cross under the bridge. Except for a lull in the lee of the bridge, the breeze maintained about 10 – 12 knots through the day. The motor was never required until it was time to drop the sails and return to the marina.

Kelly IV departs the Magothy River

What a wonderful weekend to share with great friends!

Sailing Lessons. Book Learning and the Practicum - June 14-16, 2013

Kelly IV became a floating schoolhouse for the Moraine Sailing Club (MSC) of Lake Arthur, Butler County, PA this weekend. New MSC members Bill and Sarah Paviol and Corina Campbell joined former member (me) and long-time Lake Arthur sailor, Jim Clark, for a beautiful weekend sail that included a trip to St. Michael's, Maryland.

Corina, Sarah and Bill

We departed the dock 8am on Saturday with crew and chef-extraordinaire Bill creating a grand breakfast while underway. The wind direction was from aft of the beam, so we tried sailing, but the light breeze (less than 5 knots) became even less as we demonstrated our first sailing lesson of the day: apparent wind. So the iron genny provided the driving force to our destination.

Bill, Sarah and Corina had been taking sailing lessons so they can be certified to sail the MSC community Flying Scots. Bill began working through their book as we motored through the sunny day and still waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Lesson by lesson we read questions from the book provided answers, then checked our answers with those from the book. We even broke out some spare lines and practiced our knots.

Kelly IV at anchor

By 1400 hours we lowered the anchor in a tiny cove just inside the southeast corner of the small harbor at St. Michael's. With Kelly's new all-chain rode, we felt confident she'd stay put while we played tourist in the quaint, historic town. Kelly, upped anchor to settle for the night at the roomier anchorage just outside the harbor. Kelly's neighbors in this anchorage were visited by Sarah and Corina as they took the Pudgy dinghy for a ride before sunset.

Bill enjoy's St. Michael's

This is the town that fooled the British in the War of 1812 when they raised lanterns in the trees and doused all the lights in town. The bombarding British fleet shot up the trees leaving the town relatively free from damage.

Jim, CaptMurph, Corina, Sarah, Bill

After several hours walking about town, enjoying the many homes that are well over 200 years old and ice cream that was fresh from the dairy, we dinghied back to Kelly IV.

Corina and Sarah take a cruise in the dinghy

For Father's Day, Sarah cooked a terrific breakfast. It was a wonderful Father's Day treat!

By 9am Kelly and crew were off the anchor and raising sails immediately to enjoy the day's breeze. This time the southwest wind was substantially stronger (about 12 knots) so even with the breeze aft of the beam, Kelly was sailing along in a wonderfully capable apparent wind. Given the breeze, Sunday was declared the Practicum to Saturday's book lessons. With several course changes and adjusting sail trim required to dodge the shoals in the Miles River and six tacks necessary to traverse Eastern Bay and clear Bloody Point, Kelly's capable crew demonstrated that their book learning had produced excellent results.

With Bloody Point aft of the beam, the wind also fell behind us so we were on a broad reach for the balance of the return to Annapolis. The only “adventure” this weekend was when we cut across one of the Sunday afternoon race courses at the mouth of the Severn River. No one had to adjust their course, but we crossed two of the racers paths, one across their bow, the other behind their stern, within about 100 feet of each vessel.

Sailing an uneventful weekend depends a lot on having a great crew with experience. Even though the Paviol's are taking lessons, the fact is that they have been active sailors on Kelly IV and several other sailboats for many years now. It showed as each tack and sail change was handled smoothly and shifting anchor locations was merely routine. This is a crew that always has fun and are fun to be with.

Anchoring Challenge - June 1 – 2, 2013

Galesville, then to Annapolis

Another day in paradise as I glanced around the quiet anchorage in Galesville taking in the morning sunshine and relaxing with the soothing sounds of water lapping at Kelly IV's hull while the building breeze was rustling the burgees flying off the starboard spreader.  The large motor yacht off our starboard quarter was lying there just as it had all night.  So when I glance their direction a few minutes later and they're gone, it takes me by surprise.  Suddenly I realize that they are banging against the side of  a sailboat just a couple hundred feet aft of Kelly.

It is crazy to experience two anchoring adventures just a few days apart (our collision in Solomons happened while we were at anchor), but there it was right in front of me.  One minute the power yacht was lying quietly to her anchor which served her fine all night long, the next she was no longer under control and her hull was beating against the sailboat.  Fortunately, they sorted it out and in another few minutes the two skippers were exchanging information and the motor cruiser was on her way.  The wild part of all this is that, at its strongest, the breeze was still less than 10 knots.  I have to believe that something went wrong while they were raising their anchor, rather than their anchor dragging (which is a common culprit in these events).

The prior day started easy as the sail to Galesville was about 32 nm and didn't require an oh-dark-thirty departure to get there in daylight.   Our experienced crew guided Kelly back through the winding navigation aids and past the threatening shoals without a hitch.  The breeze was the best we'd seen so far this week, so once in the open water of the Choptank River we set sail.  Those who understand Murphy's Law will not be surprised to learn that Kelly faced the “Sailing Corollary to Murphy's Law:  whenever a nice sailing breeze pipes up, it will be on the nose.”

Jack and Bob sailing Kelly IV

No worries, with Jack at the helm and Bob on the sheets, they tweaked and adjusted to point as close to the wind as possible and after only two tacks we cleared the south end of Tilghman Island.  This route did take us several miles further than going through Knapp's Narrows.  A local captain advised us only a week earlier that there was significant shoaling in the Narrows and it would be easy to get stuck.  His advise was to go through at mid-tide on the flood so we'd get relatively deep water and, if grounded, we'd soon float off as the tide continued to rise.  Our schedule would have placed us into the Narrows at the peak of high tide which means that if we ran aground we'd be more than 12 hours waiting for the next tide to float us off.  It seemed prudent to just take an hour extra to sail around the extra distance and avoid the potential problem altogether.

It was a beautiful day, yet our breeze was beginning to wane.  And, wouldn't you know it, our course turned us downwind so what little breeze there was just wasn't enough to keep us moving.  We did spend a half hour struggling to set the drifter and merely drifted close to the fishing weirs.  That convinced us to stow the sails, fire the iron genny and proceed across the bay to the West River where we'd anchor off the small town of Galesville.

The quiet evening at anchor was followed by a good night's sleep then the brief excitement of the collision described earlier.

Thomas Point Lighthouse

On Sunday, June 2, the building breeze continued and was both strong enough and aft of the beam so Kelly IV sailed away immediately after raising her anchor.  A few gybes brought us to the mouth of the West River, then we sailed on a comfortable broad reach until we cleared  the Thomas Point Lighthouse.  At that point we set the whisker pole on the jib and sailed wing-and-wing for over an hour until past Tolly Point.

Approaching Annapolis under sail

After “turning the corner” the pole was stowed, the jib gybed and we sailed into Annapolis on what proved to be the best breeze we enjoyed all week long.  It was an excellent way to wrap up a terrific week visiting a new anchorage at every port of call and sailing with great friends.

Collision in Solomons - May 29–31, 2013

On to Hudson Creek and St. Michaels, MD

A loud crunch jolted me to stare out my cabin portlight looking straight into the face of an older gent struggling with his helm as his sailboat crashed along Kelly IV's starboard side, banging his way from our bow aft.  By the time his cockpit was even with Kelly's midsection, I had dashed the length of her interior, up the companionway and onto the side deck.  The solo skipper was already apologizing as Bob, Jack and I fended off the old, derelict-appearing craft as it scraped from our spare lines on the bow rail, past Kelly's fenders hanging from the starboard lifelines and just missed ripping the davits, radar post and solar panel from their mounts.

Once past the anchored Kelly, he got better control of his vessel and steered her in a circle to wait for me to take our dinghy over to collect his name and contact information, in case of any damage.  Thankfully the dinghy was still in the water from our morning excursion so I was quickly alongside his cockpit writing down his name and phone while he circled away from Kelly IV.  A quick inspection before jumping into the dinghy, and closer inspections since then, have not yet revealed any damage worse than several significant patches of greasy dirt rubbed into our spare lines and new white fender.

It seems that the Cap'n who banged into us is a longtime liveaboard cruiser who was making his way north to New England away from the threat of hurricanes further south.  His battered and bruised sailboat had seen its better self many years prior, as we noted the dirt, rust and grime prevalent throughout.  Our newest contact in the cruising world explained that while steering the channel to depart the creek he felt water on his feet and bent over to investigate.  While discovering that he only spilled his water bottle, he inadvertently steered his ancient yacht into Kelly IV.

This bit of excitement took place on May 29th as we were preparing to depart Solomons for Hudson Creek.  On our arrival the night before, we set the anchor, lowered the dinghy to walk through the small town, got our bearings and info about the Calvert Maritime Museum.  Given the museum hours we decided to go there in the morning as our next destination was a rather short trip.

After our typical breakfast of great food wonderfully prepared, we ventured in the dinghy to enjoy the museum and were pleasantly surprised at the terrific displays and genuinely friendly staff and volunteers.  An easy going yard worker greeted us as we debarked onto the “back yard” of the museum and guided us to their entrance where “Bud,” the ticket taker, regaled us with stories and features we should enjoy around the facility.

Choptank Sailing

Our first stop was an excellent display on rays and skates described by a very well informed and casual lady who led us to touch the skates in the tank properly as well as understand the “Mermaid's Purse” and it's role in reproduction.  From there we enjoyed the instruction and knowledge of the two ladies who ran the children's room.  Yes, the three guys proved they haven't grown up yet and learned about sea stars, turtles, hermit crabs, horseshoe crabs and other cool aquatic creatures.  The Calvert Museum is well known for having an excellent paleontology collection, much of it from the Calvert Cliffs which run for many miles on the western shore, beginning at Drum Point at Solomons.

We had our run-in (literally) with the elderly Cap'n soon after taking the dinghy back to Kelly to prepare for our day's sail.  The sail was gently uneventful to the point of having to motor sail most of the trip because the light wind was not enough to carry us forward.  Bob and Jack guided us through the maze of crab pots and nav aids until we found a protected spot on the rural Hudson Creek off the north side of the Little Choptank River.

It proved a beautiful sunset and evening dinner was another repeat.  Jack coined our trip in one succinct phrase:  “We sailed like pirates, ate like kings and drank like fish.”  Well, old fish.  It didn't take much with all the sun and food to get us to sleep like babies.

A lazy morning and we were on our way winding out of the Little Choptank, around Ragged, Hill and Cook Points into the Choptank River, then north through the shallows of Broad Creek and San Domingo Creek, finally setting our anchor at the “back door” to St. Michaels.

Murph, Bob, and Jack with Delorean Motor Car

It was low tide by the time we dinghied in and had to twice manually clear weeds off the dinghy's propeller before I gained the smarts to use the oars and forgo the otherwise effective electric motor.  A quiet walk across town to the main harbor and a relaxing dinner ashore has us deciding to make Friday, May 31 a lay day.  We spent Friday sleeping in, enjoying another great maritime museum, The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.  Somehow we fit in time for a photo op with a Delorean motor car, complete with Flux Capacitor (ask a “Back To The Future” movie fan).

Overnight Passage, Anchoring Excitement - May 27 to June 2, 2013 (Click thru the "Newer Posts" at Bottom)

Annapolis almost to Smith Island, then Solomons Island, MD, May 27-28, 2013

After motoring all night to cover the distance from Annapolis and with only ten miles to go, Kelly IV reversed her course to leave Smith Island, the primary destination of the week's cruise, astern.

The breeze had been very light, even non-existent at times through the night and on the nose in any event, so Kelly IV was motor sailing with only the mainsail raised.  The crew, Bob, Jack and Murph, had set out from Annapolis the evening before about 8:30pm, expecting a midday arrival at Smith Island, a 66 nautical miles (nm) sail.  Jack stood the first watch in the dwindling twilight and piloted Kelly IV out the Severn River past Tolly Point into the Chesapeake Bay.  All three of us were in the cockpit as we peered into the darkness to make certain the lights we saw didn't become seaborne obstacles.  We noted that the traffic was significantly more than what we'd ever seen plying Lake Erie and the highly populated western shore made identifying a number of the lights rather difficult as the shoreside lights tended to wash out many of the lights on the water.  It proved fun and adventuresome as we identified the numerous ships, boats and barges making their way up and down the Chesapeake.

In the wee hours before dawn we noticed a tow boat pulling a barge suddenly was coming back towards us after passing us by a half hour earlier.  Just as we were deciding to steer a significant course change away from them, we got a hail on the VHF radio calling for the sailboat motoring near the gas dock.  As we were then passing the LNG docks just north of the Patuxent River, and the only vessel near the docks for miles around (excepting the tow and barge) we knew they were calling us.  We answered immediately, but got no reply.  Our theory is that once they saw that we had changed course to sail away from them, there was no need to spend additional time on the radio.

Dawn broke gradually taking time to decide if the sun would make a full showing or stay behind the clouds.  As we closed on the bombing practice grounds and the rusted target hulks settled on the bottom of the bay, the decision was confirmed and the sun was in her full glory, a beautiful day on the water.  All the crew were up and about discussing what the curious Smith Island accent might sound like and how good the Smith Island cakes really were.  With only 10 nm to go, the engine shut off without warning.  When the engine sighed to a stop, it wasn't clear why, as the fuel, water temperature, and oil pressure gauges reported no problems.

The crew immediately unfurled the jib as the breeze had been building through the morning, although directly ahead.  With the jib drawing, Kelly was comfortably moving under sail, but downwind away from Smith Island.

The fuel gauge indicated a nearly full starboard tank (the tank we'd been tapped into), but it soon dawned on me that I was guilty of not keeping proper track of our fuel.  Kelly IV has two eighteen gallon diesel tanks for a total of 36 gallons.  Although Kelly IV's trips to date were short, a certain amount of engine time had been required, but not well-documented.   I dashed below and switched fuel tanks.  After a few false starts, Kelly's engine fired up and kept running, albeit a bit rough at first.  Not knowing a lot about diesel engines, my confidence was low that fuel was the only issue and now resolved.  After a bit of discussion it was decided that it would be better to work our way to a port with good diesel facilities rather than risk the uncertain resources at Smith Island.  Also, if there proved to be a significant problem and we had to leave the boat, it would be much easier on everyone if we made the western shore.

Although a bit disappointed that we'd not make our destination, the gorgeous day and wonderful breeze made for a terrific sail to Solomons Island, Maryland.  Our new port of call has numerous and excellent facilities as well as being located immediately across the river from the Patuxent River Naval Air Station.  This made for a very positive and enjoyable day of sailing especially as we saw the various aircraft landing and taking off, including fighters, helicopters, cargo planes and even a dirigible.

Large prop plane landing at NAS, Patuxent River

Our sail for this leg of the trip covered 83 nm as we sailed 56nm from Annapolis then 27 nm back north to Solomons.  This leg of the sail is the gray course line on the chartlet.

After topping off both tanks with diesel fuel, we dropped anchor and dinghied ashore to enjoy a restaurant meal and get the Calvert Maritime Museum hours.  Our plans were to see the museum in the morning before departing to out next destination back up the bay.  Of course, all plans are subject to change as we proved with our Smith Island destination.  And who knows who we'll meet, even while quietly sitting at anchor.  Stay tuned for the next installment.