Related story:
Annapolis- Bermuda Race (Unique Experience)
So I sailed North from VA Beach/Norfolk on Friday. My
outboard died (overheated) on the way out Little Creek, but I said the hell with it.
I'll have a problem trying to
dock now or in a few days and I knew the wind was suppose to come up. (although it hadn't at this point early afternoon)
So after I crossed the
shipping channel (Thimble Shoal Channel) just ahead of a ship, the wind picked up and I had the tide. My Bristol 27 at one point actually hit 7.8 knots in the deep channel near the anchored tankers close to Cape Charles.
Anyway, I sailed on up to maybe 10 miles or so North of Cape Charles (30 miles from where I started) where the land dips way in to the East. (near Smith Beach even with Eastville)
I sailed here because the wind was heavy SE and I found a nice calm spot west of the Eastern Shore, but with my luck during the night, the wind rotated to the SSW so I had bay waves knocking my boat around much of the night and got little sleep
So when I got up I carefully fixed coffee with my
propane hot plate while the boat still pounded into the waves, but a least now the waves were
head on and not on the beam.
After I got straight, I raised sail and sailed off my anchorage barely missing running aground as the wind was pushing me toward shore.
Depth finder showed 1' under the
keel as I made the turn.
So now I'm headed just North of West since my Bristol simply will not point. It's around 8 am or so.
A mile or so off after I get the
autopilot hooked up and things get somewhat normal (decks are slippery etc) I get to look around and spot a sail. (blue hull/ maroon bottom seen when he got closer) His heading is different than most boats I see coming down the bay. (I didn't know there was a race happening!) He is headed to the spot where I was anchored which was maybe 200-300 yards off the shore
He carries his tack way too long and too close to shore for a cruiser (which is what I've been trying to learn to be after racing beach cats for 15 years,
Florida Gulf Coast, beach cat racing heaven at least it was back in the day)
I can't really tell the boat type yet since he is a ways away so I'm thinking I wonder if I can point with this guy. I have position being west of him with a SSW wind. I know he's going fast but...….hey, I'm a
racer guy or was
So I see he runs this tack way long, on the tracker for the race it shows he must have picked up some land effect breeze. I didn't know any of this at the time but when he tacked, I'm like. Nope, you can't point with that guy. I thought It might have been an old full keeler trying to get to Harbor Fest.
So now I'm sailing my Bristol (I love her lines) and see another boat with a black jib. He has a good line going as I'm trying to get SE to Kiptopeke where my son is meeting me with tools to
repair the
outboard. So I sail way west to line up with him then tack and as luck would have it there is a tanker coming up the bay and I'm going to cross too close so I tack back. This over 30 minutes or so.
There are 18 tankers anchored in this area. So after tacking twice to clear two moving tankers, I'm headed SE again but directly at another tanker at anchor so I have to sail off the wind a bit to avoid. I was so concerned with the tanker (he was blocking the wind and I didn't want the strong outgoing tide pushing me into him) that I never saw another race boat that crossed maybe 4 boat lengths in front of me. The boat was at least 40' plus.
So long story short (er), The first boat I saw was Tenacious which is a 44' sailboat funded by Congress for the Naval Academy.
https://www.usna.edu/Sailing/lectures/navy44.php
The one with the black jib that I thought I might follow his line may have been S/V Sly which is an XP44.
I'm not sure which boat crossed my bow (I was on starboard btw!) but it could have been Divide by Zero a Frers 45 (later I found out it wasn't. He was long gone by this time along with Sly and Tenacious)
Btw, the race started at 1330 On Friday from near
Annapolis
Race Tracker.
Annapolis Bermuda Ocean Race Annapolis Bermuda Ocean Sailboat Race