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Patica
Warwick, Rhode Island
Adventure enthusiast and software engineer. Coastal Cruising in New England based out of the Narrangasset Bay. Hauling out in the chesapeake, and 2025 includes cruising from Chesapeake to Maine⛵️🤿🥏🚴🏾⛷️
Got the engine to start on one cylinder. Stalls out on two cylinders… Happy Memorial Day weekend.
@xander invited me to crew on his way back to the Bahamas. My first international crossing and a lovely sail back to my ancestral island 🇩🇴. The Gulfstar 37 held up in all conditions and swells thrown at her. Some fish made it onboard, some bowls and bowel fluids made it overboard, but the crew held on and made it safe and sound.
Keel bolts getting torqued tomorrow and then splashing 🤞
Winter canvas is up. Some idiot didn’t label and the previous labels had rubbed off. Set it up 3 times before getting it right… How much keel smile is too much?
Winter layup in VA. Nice powerwash of canvas and dinghy, and bucket wash of the lines, and back to VT for fireplace season. Turning in the sails for the skis. Hopefully next year I’ll be able to make the trip all the way south as intended.
Sad to end our season short, but good to be back in Delmarva and we got to go out sailing the whole trip from Annapolis Harbor to the Deale channel. Light winds with favorable angle. Celebrating a whole season with no system failures. Unfortunately that means next year may have more fun in store for us.
Some sailing, some motoring, some motor sailing. After a lifetime of crossing over the Chesapeake Bay bridge, I sailed under her today.
Fairlee Creek seems like it could be the Block Island of this area in the summer. Empty and calm this time of the year. Tucked away behind a 60’ or so wide inlet, it is a little gem. Gave the boats a much needed wash, and even wet sanded the season’s scuff marks. Hanging out doing work before heading to Annapolis on Friday.
Got caught behind the RR bridge what was down for half an hour for repair. Got to practice my idling skills against a current. Early anchorage for some meetings/work. Feels like home to be in the Chesapeake. Confirmed to haul out next week 😭
Skipped coffee and opted to run around to start the day. A dinghy push got her floating again and we pulled her to deeper water. Some motor sailing and a plentiful of motoring. Great for recharging the batteries. Saw a dolphin, and got to the anchorage and the bbq before sundown. Hoping we don’t grow appendages. The water is humming…
A handful of boats left Sandy Hook yesterday, some stayed waiting for better weather. Glad the forecast was as predicted. N-NW winds with a constant 15-23knts. Motor sailed until sundown, and then raised our sails,reefed for an evening of calm 120° AWA sailing….. Turned out we had everything but that. Following seas and constant high winds led to a sporty 12 hour overnight shift for me. I felt like I was flying. From 12am to 4am we averaged 6knots and topped out at 8.2 knots. The boat was balanced and responding well to the helm so I kept her driving downwind. I awoke my crew a few times when reefing, but other than that the boat and the crew were happy. Sleeping bag, winter gloves, an airpod, and the wind is all you need. PS, we got cooked by a pair of boats sailing about 2 boat lengths away from each other in the middle of the night. I’ve never been passed when doing 6 knots like that. And we lost our yacht ensign. But we saw a dolphin at the breakwater in Cape May.
Casual motor and sail out of NYC. Hanging out for the work week until meetings and weather align for the launch to Cape May.
Casual motor through all the bridges. Caught slack tide at Hells Gate and saw a bunch of dolphins and whales (aka NYC trash 😔). And someone long distance kayaking with a support boat. Weird being back
No wind. Motoring AP with a book type of day.
N winds again still thanks to the offshore tropical storm. Gustier than yesterday, “sporting” day as they say. Beam reach all day. Top speed of 10.0knts with 2 knts of current. Tested out jacklines/harness set up.
Made good time motoring out in the AM, nice long fast reefed sail heading west around Pt. Judith. Motor sailed to handle the currents in Fisher’s island sound. Saw 2 dolphins. Fun fact: it’s easier to spot a plane in the sky than a boat in the bay.
Provisioned, topped up, running on LIFePO, and ready to head south.
VT ➡️ VA for the Annapolis Boat Show. The arches of the Delaware Memorial Bridge signifying surviving NJ. We’ll be back in a few weeks by boat.
New injectors put in, and a nice 8knts from S/SW.
Some motor sailing and some light wind sailing. Asym shenanigans, and no one got hurt :) Winds from N, E and SW.
End of summer Block island trip. No wind, motored entire way. Hit the race at slack tide. Good day to be on the water, beautiful weather. Vera’s back on the boat. Saw a single seal. Took multiple tries to anchor.
Got invited to Derek’s Tartan 31. Full house with 6 on board. Lighter winds in Buzzards Bay than expected but kept a casual pace. I got to be rail meat and as per usual I instigated whipping out his asym for the first time. Turns out the lines he didn’t have were all atttached to the sail in the sailbag.
Vera’s back. Wrapped up work by 1 and we smoked a catamaran. Ran over a line during docking practice and I got to dive the prop for the first time. 20 minutes and didn’t need to cut the line. Another one for the books. Cleaned up the prop while I was down there.
Autopilot doing well. Injectors, performing better. Still only getting to 2800/3400 max rpm.
Injector cleaning and an overtorqued flange. Hopefully found the source of my partial combustion issue(broken o ring, bad seal, dirty injectors). New flange coming in the mail. Oops.
Saw 0.8knts COG for longer than I ever wanted to. 2-5knts of wind from SE/E. Tides against us. Motored the last hour. Overall good weekend visiting Newport with my Acela-delivered crewmate from NYC and another big boat little boat trip in the books.
Winds in our face, motoring away. Tomorrow Cuttyhunk or Block, tbd.
Tested out a new build of the autopilot, and got some lovely sailing in light winds. 4-6 knts upwind and downwind in 10-12 apparent. Always great having experienced crew.
Departed early hoping to get ahead of any rough waves from several days of SW winds. Ended up having a lovely sail in buzzards bay. Skipped cuttyhunk and third beach and motor sailed to make it home for in time for sunset. Brought out the asym when in Narraganset Bay, and learned how to blow the tack appropriately in oopsie situations.
Good sailing then, spicy waves. Misery loves company. Made it to the other side of the canal.
