Headed for Nahant

Woo Hoo! Sailed all the way from Boston Harbor to Nahant and back – no instructor on board! It was a perfect sailing day with plenty of sun and perfect wind. Our new sailing comrade, Collin and his girlfriend, Teresa, joined us for the trip. Ramon and I had plotted the course the night before and our en route bearings matched well. We sailed out of the harbor via President Roads, keeping Deer Island Light to our port and then headed into the Boston North Channel. Once past R “6” in the Channel we were able to head direct to Nahant passing Winthrop and Revere Beach on the way.

As we venture into these new areas, I sometimes find it difficult to match the chart with the actual land in sight; they can look so different. Given that I am directionally and geographically challenged, it’s not that surprising. Definitely have to improve my skills in these areas.

Once we reached Nahant, we proceeded to anchor in Dorothy’s Cove. Collin and I lowered the anchor while Ramon was at the helm. The anchor set, we waited for the bow to turn into the wind but it just wouldn’t do it. We watched our sites to see if we were drifting, Collin realized we were and we reset the anchor. Still, the boat would not turn into the wind as it should. We pulled up anchor and headed toward the beach. Anchor was firmly set, but still no turning into the wind. The only possible variable that was interfering was the running (in neutral) motor, once Ramon shut it off the bow turned into the wind. We ate our lunch (whatever we hadn’t already eaten on the trip out), took up the anchor and headed back.

The wind was awesome on the way back, hauling us steadily around 5 knots. We made the trip back in about a quarter of the time it took us to go out. We moored before sundown at BHSC.

There’s just something about being on a boat, with nothing but wind to glide you over the water…

                                                                                                Ready to Set Sail

Night Sailing Course May 25th

It is definitely a different feel out on the water after the sun has set. There is a calmness that you cannot achieve amidst the sounds and turbulence of motoring traffic during the bright light of day. In the darkness of the night, I found a feeling of solitude, even with five of us on board.

Heading out into the night at sunset

Vern was again our instructor, and this time we were sailing on a Pearson 31. As Vern pointed out all the buoys, beacons and other navigational aids along our route to Spectacle Island, we quickly learned that the low beam flashlight that we brought from home could not begin to help us identify these markings within a safe range. A new flashlight was added to our list of items needed.       

Collin and Vern

Once at Spectacle, the four of us (Ramon and I, and fellow students, Collin and Carl) each took turns docking. It was a great exercise, talking through who needed to do what and trying different approaches and departures. The currents and wind inside of Spectacle’s docks can be challenging. On a couple of our approaches to the dock, no matter how hard the wheel was turned to move the bow starboard, it just wouldn’t go. For two of the departures, we backed the boat out from the dock to the entrance of the Island. The other two departures, we turned the bow 180 degrees at the dock so we were facing out and then pushed off. We safely moored back at BHSC by 12:30am.

                                                                                                                      Ready to Set Sail

Basic Navigation with Vern

On May 13^th we met up with Vern and fellow students, James and Collin, at the BHSC launch at 9:00am for the Basic Navigation course. We sailed around the harbor islands for the day on a Pearson 26. As we approached Hull Gut, with Collin at the helm, Ramon and I shared with him our two experiences traversing the gut against its strong contradicting currents and winds. We warned him to of its rocky shore line and narrow passage and did our best to prepare him.... for what turned out to be utterly unremarkable! No discernible cross currents and no winds to fight against!

We returned under Long Island Bridge on a broad reach. A run would have been a more direct tack to our mark, but the winds were shifty, increasing the risk of an accidental jibe. Once on the other side, we did complete a controlled jibe and safely headed back. We moored back at BHSC before 6:00pm.

                                                                                 Ready to Set Sail

First Sail of the 2012 Season

This sailing season, which opened May 1^st, Ramon and I joined The Boston Harbor Sailing Club. We were sorry to leave Piers Park Sailing Center behind, but knew it was time to venture out on larger boats that we could sleep aboard.

Our instructor, Vern

We began the season with BHSC’s Coastal Navigation course on May 12^th. We were to meet our instructor at the launch at 9am. Vern was easy to spot with his black captain’s cap atop his curly salt and pepper hair and his matching beard; Herman Melville himself, could not have conjured up a more fitting sailor. 

We boarded Speedy Gonzales, one of BHSC’s Albin 28s, with Vern and fellow students, James and Jim. First stop was the fueling dock where we learned how to empty
waste from the boat and refill the boat’s water.
From there, we practiced anchoring off of Spectacle Island, then plotted our trip to Cohasset with the following markers, “15” Nixes Mate, “3” George’s Island, “3” Pt Allerton, “1HL”, and “3” Chittenden Rock. The bearings we plotted on the chart matched well with the actual bearings read at each mark. Success!

We docked in Cohasset Harbor just long enough to jump off and stretch our legs. We followed our marks in reverse order back home again to Boston Harbor, arriving just after 8:00pm.

                                                                   Ready to Set Sail