1st sail of 2026

Bolo

Bolo

Contributing Partner
Our second sail of the season didn't go so well. We arranged for a transient slip at the Chesapeake Bay Martine Museum where we are members and so have docking privileges. It required us to sail accross the bay into a connecting body of water call the "Eastern Bay" as part of our sail to Saint Michael's where the museum is located. 15 to 20 knots and 2 foot seas were predicted and when we started off I put two reefs in the main and we had around a 50% jib. We easily reached 6 to 6.5 knots with an acceptable amount of heel. But about 30 minutes into our trip the winds piped up to a sustained 25 to 28 knots, with gusts over that, and 4 foot seas with some higher. Plus the wave frequency was very short, maybe a boat length at times with waves crashing over the boat and into the cockpit. On top of all that the winds predicated were suppose to be on our beam but instead required us to sail close hauled and even that required us to tack because the wave action was driving us south. In short we just couldn't make any appreciable head way. Then my "first mate" fell over in the cockpit and twisted her ankle. So I turned around and headed back to our home port which also wasn't an easy sail. After that it was about two hours in urgent care, a foot boot and crutches. Luckily nothing was broken in her ankle, foot or even on the boat. These Ericsons can really take a beating! Maybe I shouldn't have gone out that day? It crossed my mind because we have sailed many times with 15 to 20 knot winds and two foot seas but what we encounter was "super sized" and just too much to deal with in the end. I had planned on filming our crossing and did manage shooting a short bit of it but after things got more intense all my efforts were in sailing the boat.
 
bsangs

bsangs

E35-3 - New Jersey
Bolo said:
Our second sail of the season didn't go so well. We arranged for a transient slip at the Chesapeake Bay Martine Museum where we are members and so have docking privileges. It required us to sail accross the bay into a connecting body of water call the "Eastern Bay" as part of our sail to Saint Michael's where the museum is located. 15 to 20 knots and 2 foot seas were predicted and when we started off I put two reefs in the main and we had around a 50% jib. We easily reached 6 to 6.5 knots with an acceptable amount of heel. But about 30 minutes into our trip the winds piped up to a sustained 25 to 28 knots, with gusts over that, and 4 foot seas with some higher. Plus the wave frequency was very short, maybe a boat length at times with waves crashing over the boat and into the cockpit. On top of all that the winds predicated were suppose to be on our beam but instead required us to sail close hauled and even that required us to tack because the wave action was driving us south. In short we just couldn't make any appreciable head way. Then my "first mate" fell over in the cockpit and twisted her ankle. So I turned around and headed back to our home port which also wasn't an easy sail. After that it was about two hours in urgent care, a foot boot and crutches. Luckily nothing was broken in her ankle, foot or even on the boat. These Ericsons can really take a beating! Maybe I shouldn't have gone out that day? It crossed my mind because we have sailed many times with 15 to 20 knot winds and two foot seas but what we encounter was "super sized" and just too much to deal with in the end. I had planned on filming our crossing and did manage shooting a short bit of it but after things got more intense all my efforts were in sailing the boat.
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Glad to hear nothing was broken, Bob. Hope she has a speedy recovery.
 
Bolo

Bolo

Contributing Partner
bsangs said:
Glad to hear nothing was broken, Bob. Hope she has a speedy recovery.
Click to expand...
She‘s doing better this AM, limping around and putting weight on the foot but I told her to take it easy and keep the foot elevated today. She ditched the “boot” they gave her at urgent care and had me wrap her foot with an Ace type bandage which was more comfortable than the boot. In hind sight I should have turned back sooner or even cancelled out trip before leaving the dock. The Chesapeake Bay is a great place to sail but because of its relative shallowness, compared to an ocean, the seas can’t get quite angry. Also there are many shoals and land masses to be avoided, along with commercial traffic, so there isn’t much leeway when your aiming for a particular spot on the other side of the bay, especially in a big blow. We were the only sailboat, that we could see, close hauled and making for the eastern shore. But I got us back safely so that‘s gotta count for something, right? :)
 
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