Harness Creek

With my daughter heading off to college in a week, a last family outing was required, even though or perhaps because the home scene was getting crazy; it seems we are remodling the kitchen in the midst of extending the transoms, doing other boat maintanance, and of all this other transition. I needed a break from endless painting, sanding, plastering fitting.

Initially I had a cross-the-Bay trip to Cambridge in mind, but 2 days of bashing straight into 20- to 25-knots headwinds didn't feel relaxing. So we adjusted and picked a destination that would give us 2 days of broad reaching in the lee of land with few waves. 8-10 knots of boat speed without even trying. Much nicer.

 

An uneventful trip, which can be nice. A summary:

The Sailing. A moderate winds, 10-25 knots but protected. not intersting navigation; I've been there before.

The Crew. Our newest member didn't contribute much really, but he did keep folks busy. A 3-week old grey squirl found by a friend who was going in for surgery, we had no alternative but to bring the fella along. He hid away in his shoebox, all except for feeding times--sleeping in a fleece blanket, warmed by a heating pad to a perfect 100F. Feeding is no more than a few ml of special formula every few hours, with a longer break at night--I'll get up in the night for a small human, but a rodent will have to just hang tough a few more hours.

The Equipment. The genoa sheet developed an interesting failure, the Kevlar core failing from fatigue while the sheath

remains intact. The thing of it is, and the reason Kevlar core ropes have fallen out of general use, is that the fibers are prone to cracking when repeatedly flexed, such as the attachment to a genoa clew when it flogs during furling. I've used Kevlar very successfully for halyards, where the turns are gentle and there is little motion, but I would never chose it for a sheet or frequently adjusted tackle.

We got home with the bad spot cut out and bowlines. I expect the rope will last at least a few more years.

For the 3rd time, the Mantus chain hook spontaneously disconnected while lying on the bottom during a period of slack wind and tide. We returned from a dingy exploration to find Shoal Survivor anchored only by the chain, at the odd angle to the wind cats take when anchored to only one bow. When the wind came up in the thunderstorm that night, we would have skated all over the cove, possibly jerking the hook out. While I will continue to use the hook during the day as part of a Practical Sailor trial, it will not be used at night in the future. I will be using a girth hitched sling.

The Exploration. In the morning we anchored in Almshouse Creek, just 2 miles away, in order to make a brief visit to the London Town Historic Area, a nice park and garden area on the South River. Interestingly, the main brick structure in the old town--the only surviving building--was an almshouse (poorhouse) for the local area, after the town and the tavern in the brick house failed. This creek, lined with multi-million dollar houses, is named for the almshouse. Ironic. Bet the the houses wouldn't sell quite so well on Poor House Creek.

We also explored the park, the coves, fed the duck, swam, and enjoyed a picnic dinner on the foredeck on a perfect evening. Easy livin'.

And now I must return to work, to kitchen remodeling, and to packing my daughter for school. Sailing is better.