Doug, Thanks for the CBC2006 report. Sounds like the 25# Bruce I had on Carpe Ventum would have come in handy. I miss the boat, but it was just more than I could handle to rig and launch alone. If I ever get another, I think an M15 would suit both my needs and physical capability. The wild ride must have been a bit frieghtening. One of those experiences it's fun to tell about later, but no fun while it's happening. I've had a couple of experiences along that line in my racer. If you ever travel through this way, please know that you have a place to stay on a stop-over. With warmest personal regards, Clarence ----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Kelch" <doug_kelch@yahoo.com> To: "Montgomery" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 12:09 AM Subject: M_Boats: Synopsis of Chesapeake Bay Cruise 2006
The attached word doc has the same content as below so take your choice for format.
Synopsis of the Chesapeake Bay Cruise for 2006
Saturday - all 8 boats arrived and we all had a good kick off diner at a local restarurant with really friendly watresses. 3 of us slept in the boats on land the rest in the water.
Sunday a nice down wind run with nice winds, cloudy skies, a sprinkle or two but a nice enjoyable day. This was the first chance to see how the SunCat 16 fared against the Montomeries. What a good show!! That gaff rigged cat boat pulled away from the M15s on the downwind runs and pressed the M17s all the way to the bridge. Went through the draw bridge and into a nice little anchorage. Some of the friendly locals motored out and shared the local histoy and had a "gam". We had an 8 boat raft up and as Al realated it became a 5 boat raft up as the 1, 11 lb Bruce couldn't hold the 8 boats in the strong winds of the thunderstorm. Had to have a cold supper that night.
Monday - on again off again rain. After the showers went through we moseyed over in light winds to Queens creek. The last 3 through the bridge sailed downwind through the drawbridge opening. We split into two groups for the night and didn't really raft up. The shore line was close enough for the very friendly locals to chat. They offered rides to the store, showers and whatever else we needed. Nice.
Tuesday - Al and Stan split off to head back up the Piankatank river while the other 6 boats headed into the bay in the teeth of a 15 to 20 kt northerly. A tought slog for me in my M15 with a storm jib and reefed main into the 2 - 3 ft waves ( 4 - 6 trough to peak). Rick and I cut the corner on the turn up the Rapahanock river and had a rough ride through the shallows. Then it was a wild sleigh ride at hull speed on a broad to beam reach down the center of the Rapahanock. We were all ready to for a rest after a long tough day of sailing and had a very pleasant raft up in Irvington. Much to our surprise there was not a restaurant to be had except for the Tides Inn Marina at a forecast price of $60 - 70 per person for dinner. Needless to say we ate on the boats. John had gone in for ice and discovered the lack of facilities, but a friendly local offered a ride to the store about 8 miles away so it worked out ok. That darn gaff rigged SunCat out pointed the M15s and pressed the M17s hard even up wind. What a great little cruising boat. May be it was just the superior sailing skills of Frank Durant that made it look so easy.
Wednesday - sailed up the Corrotoman creek and stopped at the only Marina for ice, and trash deposit. Ice was cheap, dumping the trash was free and the people were real friendly. - Continued up the river looking for a beach to swim from as it had gotten hot and the wind was gusting in hammer blows - a steady 10 kt with gust to 25 kts - smack! Smack! Smack! Very unstable air. We did not raft up for fear of thunderstorms.
Thursday - no winds in the AM. Took 6 people in the M15 for a motor tour up the east branch of the Corrotoman. 6 people are not recommended in the M15 - it was top heavy and squirrly. Winds came up about 11 but were light and we had a long way to go. With the light winds the group became pretty scattered. I stopped for swim during one of the many flat calm periods to dive under the M15 to free up the centerboard. That darn gunk sure gets in the hole of my centerboard. The sun came out strong and made for some strong thunderstorms and we all got caught out to various degrees. I probably fared the worst - boat heeled to starboard at about 60 - 70 degrees with the jib halyared loose, the jib flogging like hell, the mainsail out of the sail track with the halyard loose, the boom popped off of the mast, the mainsail flying like a spinnaker, while the boom sawed back and forth on the lee shroud, torrential down pour so I couldn't see more than two boat lengths, but saw some pilings going by at 3 kts. - well I lived and those near death experiences sure make you fell alive! We all made it to Deltaville but Tod was too late for dinner. The Marina manager was a very friendly lady who made a fine recommendation for diner. By the time we had finished the dinner and 5 bottles of wine she showed up at the bar and was very very friendly. A good time was had by all.
Friday - almost no wind so we motored from Deltaville back up the Piankatank and rafted up in secluded Cobb Creek. The real friendly locals came out and offered their homes for showers, cars for runs to the grocery store - what ever we needed.
Saturday - winds kicked up during the night and was blowing 15 - 20 from the Northwest. Of course we were heading NW. Most of us motor and those that sailed finally gave up when the winds were gusting into the 25 kt range.
We all made it back to the launching ramp by 2 pm, packed up and said the sad farewells to end another superb cruise.
Thanks Doug Kelch "Seas the Day" M15 #310
__________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----
_______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats