Universal Time New Years Celebration

New Years Eve day we are on passage from the Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. We anticipate the 300 nautical mile voyage will take two to two and half days depending on the strength and direction of the Gulf Stream current and the cooperation of the wind. We carefully chose our weather window to avoid strong easterly winds that can make the Gulf Stream crossing dangerous. So far the wind is so light that we are mostly motoring, although we do have the sails up as we head South across the Gulf Steam toward the Cuban coast. Once about fifteen miles from the Cuban coast we hope to pick up a counter current that will give us a boost toward Mexico.

Since we are currently on passage a midnight local time New Years toast didn't make sense. So we decided on a "Universal Coordinated Time" UTC New Years toast at a more convenient time close to local sunset. So we rang in the new year as we watched the sunset in it's New Years/Five o' clock somewhere fashion and a nice bottle of Champagne. The weather was perfect for a Green Flash phenomena and so a nice bright green flash served to ring in our new year.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

David & Kathy
s/v Pacifica
23*45'N 83*39'W 00:56UTC 1/1/2009

PS Fishing is awesome with fresh grilled Mahi Mahi for lunch, Little Tunny sushi appetizers and Cero Mackerel pasta for dinner.
Universal Time New Years Celebration

Marquesas Key

Marquesas Key our first stop is located at: 24°34′19″N 82°07′10″W
Here is a picture of the nautical chart and corresponding satellite image.
[gallery]

Still preparing to leave

We had a few last minute things to work on,
such as the Starboard Engine. Not a real problem, just some
maintenance and we thought we should do it while we were here. Plus
the wind was on the strong side. The wind should be nice tomorrow for our sail into the Gulf of Mexico.

Sailing to Mexico

We are off to Mexico and will no longer have cell phones.  However, we can still check our email, even in the middle of the ocean, so drop us a line.  sailpacifica@gmail.com

Key West Christmas

We gathered around the poinsettia (a stand in for the more traditional Christmas tree) with our stocking and Christmas presents.



After a nice sail, including a lengthy spinnaker run, we made it to Key West on Christmas eve with just enough daylight to join the crowds and festive atmosphere along the waterfront walk. Over a dozen street performers provided live music, juggling and even a mini circus made up of house cats jumping through hoops. Everyone had gathered to watch the sunset. In Key West sunset watching is nearly mandatory and taken very seriously at least by the tourists. Key West could be the Green Flash capital of America. We managed to miss the sunset while watching a high flying unicycles act. After a stroll of the storied and colorful streets we found the perfect people watching restaurant to enjoy dinner. After dinner we enjoyed some live music at Sloppy Joes.

Planning to depart today for the Dry Tortuga's we made one last trip to the grocery store. , but were delayed when we found the fuel dock was closed for Christmas. So, maybe we'll leave tomorrow. We worked on some projects and Dave managed to partially floor the boat in the process while installing a pressure salt water sprayer at the galley sink. The pull out sprayer, like those found in normal homes, uses sea water for the prelimiary rinse of the dishes to save water and allows us to stay away from civilization longer.

We hosted a Christmas dinner party aboard Pacifica with cruising friends John & Mary of s/v Kittywake. We even cooked a turkey... or at least a turkey breast as even it would barely fit in our small oven. Kathy even baked a home made pumpkin pie for desert.

Key West

We are headed to Key West this afternoon and should be there for Christmas Eve.

Key West in the Southern most point in the USA.

Dry Tortugas National Park

Our next stop after Key West, FL is the Dry Tortugas National Park.

The Tortugas were first discovered by Ponce de Leon in 1513. Abundant sea turtles or "tortugas" provisioned his ships with fresh meat, but there was no fresh water-the tortugas were dry. Since the days of Spanish exploration, the reefs and shoals of the Dry Tortugas have been a serious hazard to navigation and the site of hundreds of shipwrecks. U.S. military attention was drawn to the keys in the early 1800s due to their strategic location in the Florida Straits. Plans were made for a massive fortress and construction began in 1846, but the fort was never completed. The invention of the rifled cannon made it obsolete. As the military value of Fort Jefferson waned, its pristine reefs, abundant sea life and impressive numbers of birds grew in value. In 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt set aside Fort Jefferson and the surrounding waters as a national monument. The area was redesignated as Dry Tortugas National Park in 1992 to protect both the historical and natural features.

Holiday greetings!

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Holidays!

2008 recap we...
got engaged.
sold our sailboat 'La Vie' in Australia
remodeled and sold Kathy's house in San Diego
bought a 36' sailing catamaran 'Pacifica' in New York
cruised the eastern USA from Massachusetts to Florida.
extended 'Pacifica' to 39' a two month project
got our USCG Captains licenses
started a sailing charter business... won't you join us?
created this new website

For those we've lost touch with over the past year(s) we'd love to catch up so drop us a line at: sailpacifica@gmail.com

Florida Keys

We are anchored near the red X waiting for good weather to head to Key West for Christmas. All that stormy snowy weather in the mainland USA is making it windy and a cool 70 degrees down here.

First Snorkel of the year

We did some major provisioning before we left Marathon. We really don't need a whole lot of staple supplies, after all we will be in Mexico and can get pretty much whatever we need for pretty cheap. But there are certain things we won't be able to get, at least not at a good price. Namely wine. So we took our little wheelie cart along with another rickety one from the marina and started the mile or more walk to the grocery store. We loaded up with quite a bit of wine, diet cokes, and all sorts of other stuff that we probably didn't need to. The walk back was pretty tough as 2 of the wheels on the marina cart broke. It made for a long hot walk back. After that we did 2 runs in the dingy to load up the jugs with water and one trip across the road to fill up the gas cans. By now we are tired and hungry and ready for a swim. We headed out the bay and only 5 miles out or so out is a great reef. They have moorings balls out there, first come serve. The moorings help protect the reef so boats won't be anchoring all over. We tied up and went for a great snorkel. We realized that it had been over a year since we went snorkeling. Not since we were in Vanuatu. It was a great swim, we saw a shark, lots of very big barracuda and pretty healthy coral. I think the fish get fed by snorkelers there because we were followed by hundreds of little yellow fish. It was pretty cute.


Random picture of Dave driving the Dinghy in Miami Beach

First planned stop in Mexico

In the next days or weeks we hope to sail to Isla Mujeres, Mexico an island off Cancun.  The attached link is from a fellow cruiser who explains the check in process for a visiting yacht.... got to love the bureaucracy!

http://www.nwcaribbean.net/picasso.htm

Cruiser friendly Marathon, FL

We'll be spending  a few days in Marathon, FL to pick up a few last minute items before heading for Key West and the Dry Tortuga's National Park on our way to Mexico.  It nice to be in warm waters again and steady warm weather.  The water is a minimum 72 degrees and the air temperature lows are about the same so it's definitely shorts weather at last.

We sailed down Hawks channel from Snake River to Marathon, FL between the reefs and shallows and thousands of crab or lobster trap floats.  Along the way we landed a fish for dinner when we sailed out into the Gulf stream about four miles offshore.

Marathon, FL is made for cruising sailors with a super friendly city marina that makes the more mundane tasks of a cruiser oh so easy.  Laundry, showers, trash, access to groceries and water are close at hand, as well as a robust social scene, so Marathon is one of those places that can be hard to leave.

Cruiser friendly Marathon, FL

Key Largo, FL

Tonight we are anchored in Key Largo, FL (25*06N 80*26.5W) after a nice 40+nm mile sail in Easterly winds inside the Keys from Miami.  The waters were shallow, less than ten feet deep, and clear so it was a little shocking to sail through the skinny sections were the total depth was only five feet.  I could have jumped off the boat and walked at times it was so shallow.  Good thing we only need three feet to float!  We chose to sail down Biscayne Bay as the Keys and reefs provided protection from the Easterly winds and made for fast sailing on flat water.  Mostly close reaching in 10-15 knots with boat speeds in the mid fives to mid sevens.

Tomorrow we are planning on reaching Marathon, FL to replenish some stores and then look at the weather for a crossing to Mexico a two + day sail from Key West, FL.  Weather will be very important for the crossing as we will be dealing with a fight with adverse Gulf Stream currents.

Key Largo, FL

Tonight we are anchored in Key Largo, FL (25*06N 80*26.5W) after a nice 40+nm mile sail in Easterly winds inside the Keys from Miami.  The waters were shallow, less than ten feet deep, and clear so it was a little shocking to sail through the skinny sections were the total depth was only five feet.  I could have jumped off the boat and walked at times it was so shallow.  Good thing we only need three feet to float!  We chose to sail down Biscayne Bay as the Keys and reefs provided protection from the Easterly winds and made for fast sailing on flat water.  Mostly close reaching in 10-15 knots with boat speeds in the mid fives to mid sevens.

Tomorrow we are planning on reaching Marathon, FL to replenish some stores and then look at the weather for a crossing to Mexico a two + day sail from Key West, FL.  Weather will be very important for the crossing as we will be dealing with a fight with adverse Gulf Stream currents.

Offically USCG Captains!

Among other project this summer like exploring the NE USA, extending the boat 2.5' we endeavored to obtain our US Coast Guard Captains Licenses. The captains license project included back ground checks, a physical, drug test, extensive applications a trip to Boston, MA and seven exams. We made the stop in Miami here for the final step, the written exams. The exams required extensive study some pure memorization on obscure topics, but mostly the topics were germane to our chosen lifestyle afloat.

We are both relived to have the exams behind us and we are now looking forward to our next project of improving our spoken Spanish. We also hope to make more regular blog entries.

As soon as tomorrow we may head south through the Florida Keys to be followed shortly by a voyage across the Caribbean sea to Mexico. The next pressing question is where to spend Christmas... Key West, Mexico or Belize.

Sweet Sunset in Miami Beach looking toward downtown Miami.

Offically USCG Captains!

Among other project this summer like exploring the NE USA, extending the boat 2.5' we endeavored to obtain our US Coast Guard Captains Licenses. The captains license project included back ground checks, a physical, drug test, extensive applications a trip to Boston, MA and seven exams. We made the stop in Miami here for the final step, the written exams. The exams required extensive study some pure memorization on obscure topics, but mostly the topics were germane to our chosen lifestyle afloat.

We are both relived to have the exams behind us and we are now looking forward to our next project of improving our spoken Spanish. We also hope to make more regular blog entries.

As soon as tomorrow we may head south through the Florida Keys to be followed shortly by a voyage across the Caribbean sea to Mexico. The next pressing question is where to spend Christmas... Key West, Mexico or Belize.

Sweet Sunset in Miami Beach looking toward downtown Miami.

Living it up with the rich and famous in Fort Lauderdale

Ok, so we aren't really living it up with the aforementioned, but we are neighbors.  We were in Fort Lauderdale back in February when we were looking for a boat, but this place is so much different when experinced from the water.  There is just so much wealth here it's crazy and it makes on forget we are in a recession.  There is mega yacht after mega yacht, and many even parked in front of their multi-million dollar mansions.  This really is not a place for cheap cruisers like us.  You can't really anchor, if you find a spot there is a 24 hour limit and then they kick you out.  I don't really blame them, if I had a $20M mansion I wouldn't want some riff raff anchored in front of my house for months on end.  So you need to get in a marina, which for our small boat is probably in the neighborhood of $200 night or more.  Luckily there is a tiny little mooring field that is run by the city.  So we can stay here for the bargain rate of $30/day.  It's a great spot for watching all the activity around and to my luck the swimming hall of fame and olympic pool is across the river so I get some laps in everyday.  The beautiful beach is about a 5 minute walk.  I think we will stay another day.

Living it up with the rich and famous in Fort Lauderdale

Ok, so we aren't really living it up with the aforementioned, but we are neighbors.  We were in Fort Lauderdale back in February when we were looking for a boat, but this place is so much different when experinced from the water.  There is just so much wealth here it's crazy and it makes on forget we are in a recession.  There is mega yacht after mega yacht, and many even parked in front of their multi-million dollar mansions.  This really is not a place for cheap cruisers like us.  You can't really anchor, if you find a spot there is a 24 hour limit and then they kick you out.  I don't really blame them, if I had a $20M mansion I wouldn't want some riff raff anchored in front of my house for months on end.  So you need to get in a marina, which for our small boat is probably in the neighborhood of $200 night or more.  Luckily there is a tiny little mooring field that is run by the city.  So we can stay here for the bargain rate of $30/day.  It's a great spot for watching all the activity around and to my luck the swimming hall of fame and olympic pool is across the river so I get some laps in everyday.  The beautiful beach is about a 5 minute walk.  I think we will stay another day.

Warm weather at last!

We are now in Ft Lauderdale, Florida and the weather is very nice for a change.  Temperatures today were near 80 degrees and the water is maybe 72 degrees.   On our way down from Boca Raton we sailed a few miles off shore and fished with out any catching, but Kathy wanted to go for a swim.  I stopped the boat and Kathy went for a swim in the perfect blue waters while I stayed aboard and attended to the boat.

We bought a new fishing pole today in the hopes that our fishing will improve with a pole.  Currently, our "old" fishing reel is bolted to the stern rail sans any pole.  Having recently lost a big Tuna very near the boat because the line chafed (because we didn't have a pole to guide the line) we decided to spend a boat buck and a half for a used rod and reel.  A boat buck is $100 for the uninitiated.

We plan on more day here in Lauderdale before heading to Miami for a week or so where we will take out 100 ton US Coast Guard written exams.

Trip stats CT to FL

Journey from Mystic, Connecticut  to Ft Pierce Florida.

Days total: 22

Days in ICW: 11

Days at sea: 8

Lay days: 3

Distance:  1300nm (1500mi or 2100km)

Maximum speed: 14.8 knots (17mph or 27kph) boat surfing.

Maximum wind: 32 knots (37mph or 59kph)

Water use: 200gal mostly used on hot showers.

Assault on St Augustine

St Augustine's striking waterfront fort Castillo de San Marcos was originally constructed to defend Florida against pirates hunting the Spanish treasure fleets traveling along the Gulf Stream. To this day it is still a formidable opponent to those attempting to gain access to the city of St Augustine. In our case via dinghy. Being a bit cheap we were unwilling to pay $10.60 to tie our dinghy up at the nearby marina just to take an evening stroll through town so planned an assault on the forts sea wall. We almost got more than we bargained for after landing on a small beach and realizing the wall was nearly too tall to scale. I feel for the soldiers who would have been ordered to attack this fortress over the many years it saw service under the Spanish, British and ultimately Americans.

St Augustine is a beautiful city and claims to be the oldest city in America. Regardless of the claim it certainly is a charming city with amazing continuity of architectural design. Flaggler college is located near the city center and it's building are marvelous.

An early morning photo of Fort Castillo de San Marcos



St Augustine Light House



City Hall



Flagler College

Cumberland Island National Seashore visit

Today we had a nice, albeight cold hike around Cumberland Island.

Cumberland Island National Seashore preserves most of Cumberland Island in Georgia, the largest of Georgia's Golden Barrier Sea Isles. The seashore features magnificent and unspoiled beaches and dunes, marshes, and freshwater lakes.  The island abounds with wildlife including about 200 feral horses, Alligators, wild dear, Armadillos and even a few bald eagles.  In addition to the natural features, the seashore includes some historic properties, such as Dungeness Ruins, once the magnificant site of the Carnegie estate along with the first African Baptist Church where John F Kennedy JR was married.  

We had a strong cold front move through yesterday which made for a rocky anchorage and the onslaught of cold weather.  Ughh!  I thought we left winter behind us!  Today it's about 20 degrees cooler than it has been the last few days.   So we bundled up on our hike today and are now looking at the charts for the next place to head to south of here, continuing to find that endless summer that keeps eluding us.

 



A view of the ruins from the backyard



The former grand entrance to the Carnegie estate, Dungeness



Beautiful diverse landcape from marshlands to windblown sand dunes

Cumberland Island National Seashore

Arrival down south

We finally made it to warm weather!  We left Beaufort, NC on Monday morning and sailed nonstop to Southern Georgia.  We anchored last night up the St. Mary's river across from the beautiful little town of St.  Mary's (30°45′23″N 81°34′17″W).  The river is on the border of Georgia and Florida, so depending on which way the boat is swinging we could be in either state.  We had an exhausting passage and after we dropped anchor we took showers, went into town for dinner (we sat in a bar and watched CNN, pretty exciting), then were in bed by 7:30pm for some much needed rest.  

We finally were able to do some warm water fishing along the way and on Tuesday we caught a nice big fish on the line but the line broke just as we were trying to pull it in.  I think it was a tuna.  Really too bad, we haven't caught anything good since we left the south pacific.  

St. Mary's is a quant little town which is the second oldest Spanish colonization in the U.S.  The streets are wide and lined with big oaks covered with Spanish moss.   There are sidewalks everywhere.  We've been having a pretty lazy day so far but plan to go walk some of those sidewalks pretty soon.

Oriental Sunrise

Anchored in Oriental, NC

After a full day sailing and motoring down the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) we've stopped in Oriental for the night.  We have some cruiser friends we met in the South Pacific Carol & Steve of Red Sky who have a property here in Oriental so it was fun to see it in person after last viewing it in Australia via Google Earth.

The Intracoastal Waterway is a 4,800-km (3,000-mile) waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Some lengths consist of natural inlets, salt-water rivers, bays, and sounds; others are man-made canals.

The waterway runs for most of the length of the Eastern Seaboard, from its unofficial northern terminus at the Manasquan River in New Jersey, where it connects with the Atlantic Ocean at the Manasquan Inlet, to Brownsville, Texas.



ICW Swing Bridge opens on demand for boats transiting the Alligator River



Beautiful fall colors make the Dismal Swamp portion of the ICW a real delight.



Our friends, Dave and Judy, aboard s/v Echo lead the way out of the Dismal Swamp.

Dismal Swamp transit

Yes, we just intentionally sailed through the Dismal Swamp. And yes, the Dismal Swamp is really a swamp that covers tens of thousands of acres and is complete with slithering reptiles, bugs and craggy trees. The journey began with a lock that raised us 8 feet above sea level and deposited us in the Dismal Swamp Canal a man made canal over 200 years old making it one of the oldest in America. Originally, built for commerce today the canal is used primarily by recreational boaters who seek to avoid sailing around Cape Hatters with it's vicious seas and unpredictable weather.

We were luck enough to enjoy the beauty of fall in New England and vivid colors of fall… and get out before seeing snow. In last few days we’ve traveled through the coastal waters of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virgina and North Carolina. Again, we are experiencing the changing fall colors as we move further South and are slowly passing up Jack Frost as we race for the warmer climes of the Caribbean.

Arrived to the ICW

Yesterday afternoon, We made it to the Intercoastal Waterway, just south of Norfolk, VA.  Just in time since there is huge storm brewing outside and we were racing to beat it.  It's 35+ knot winds out there and we are very happy to be calmly sitting inside what is locally know as "The Ditch".  We decided to take The Great Dismal Swamp Canal route.  We just came through the locks late yesterday and tied up the boat to the docks.  We were in bed by 7pm, feeling extremely exhausted after our mulitday open ocean passage.

We are rejuvenated this morning and ready to enjoy the beautiful sights of the swamp.  We hope to see some alligators today!

Secret Harbor near Vinbeyard Haven

ome local boaters let us in on this "secret" anchorage that's not even in the guide book. We found the anchorage to be great, but a little less than our idea of "secret" with a few hundred boats on permanent moorings.

Cuttyhunk Island

http://images.marinas.com/med_res_id/117661

Atlantic 42 Catamaran Brochure Extracts

Found this description of our boat on the web....

Atlantic 42 Catamaran Brochure Extracts
The Comfortable Fast Cruiser

"Sailing with my children we reached 18.3 knots under main and jib in about 20 knots of wind, it's incredible". Dave Penfield, ATLANTIC 42 owner.

The new ATLANTIC 42 built by Lombardi Yachts, LLC offers cruising sailors benefits and features unmatched by any other catamaran on the market. The ATLANTIC 42 is a thoroughbred cruising catamaran perfected by 50,000 miles of ocean sailing experience by her larger ATLANTIC CATAMARAN sisters.

To realize the true potential of the cruising catamaran, the ATLANTIC 42 is built with premium materials and techniques in order to yield a durable yet lightweight cruising yacht. And she performs! Whether upwind, downwind or across the wind the ATLANTIC 42 will delight her owners with crisp handling and consistent speeds in the teens. The A-42 also excels below deck with a sensible accommodation plan designed for comfortable long term cruising.

Compare the ATLANTIC 42 feature by feature to any boat from any builder and you will see why we think that she is the most advanced cruising catamaran available.

BETTER HANDLING

Revolutionary center cockpit design puts the helmsman where he can see forward and SAIL the boat. Sheets, halyards and reefing gear are all within easy reach. The ATLANTIC 42 has a deck layout DESIGNED for single-handed or short handed sailing.

BETTER CRUISING ACCOMMODATION

Pilothouse steering station, no other catamaran has this type of all weather comfort. Larger and better equipped galley. Pilothouse navigation station with a 360 degree view of the horizon. Built in workbench and tool storage. Larger queen-sized berths, 6'8" long 60" wide Separate, easy to clean shower compartment.

BETTER SAFETY

Unobstructed forward visibility from both steering positions. Less crew fatigue with pilothouse design. Center cockpit design provides maximum crew protection in heavy weather. Reduced possibility of navigational errors with chart table adjacent to helm. Wider overall beam resists heeling, rolling and capsize. Collision bulkheads forward and aft in each hull. 100% buoyant structure, the A-42 is completely unsinkable.

BETTER PERFORMANCE

Daggerboards dramatically increase windward performance and improve steering under all conditions.

Lighter weight through modem construction materials. Weight is EVERYTHING in catamaran performance, heavy cats are slow. The ATLANTIC 42 is 30% to 50% lighter than similar size cats from other builders without sacrificing strength. This translates into average sailing speeds being 20% to 40% greater than most catamarans. The maximum attainable speed is often double that of many production built cats.

BETTER DURABILITY

100% vacuum bagged epoxy/glass construction. (Epoxy is far superior to polyester resin in durability, water exclusion and strength.)

All hull to deck joints are spanned with epoxy/glass reinforcing and will never leak or crack.

Exterior finish in AwlGrip provides far better gloss retention than "gel coat'.

Lifetime interior finish in easy to clean polyurethane.

LESS DRAFT

2'8" draft allows cruising where others can't go. A shallow "bumper fin" permits beaching and protects the props and rudders from damage in event of accidental grounding.

Dinner in Annapolis

Kathy & Dave enjoy a water front dinner ashore in Annapolis, MD USA.

Pacifica anchored in background on Spa Creek.

Fish Tacos

Big update

We've been busy since we sold our boat "La Vie" in Australia in early February. I feel I've really slacked on updating the blog so here we go.

The BIG NEW FIRST Kathy and I are engaged to be MARRIED! No exact dates or plans as of yet, but we'll be working on the wedding plans before too long.

Searching for and buying the new boat was a whirlwind, then getting the boat South a bit to find warmer weather was a rush, then getting started on a refit of our new boat in a Baltimore boat yard, then jetting over to California to remodel Kathy's old residence turned rental and now for sale. Big breath. Whew! Finally, we are back on the boat and trying to get organized and outfitted. Then next push is to get our Charter business going with a website and business plan. Then the fun begins with lots of friends and family visiting this summer as we cruise the NE USA. Winter will take us to new adventures in the glorious Caribbean islands. From there who knows.

The new boat is awesome. We'd love to have you visit so think about us for you next vacation. Our new website should be up in a week or two, will include both our blogs and lots more so stay tuned.

If you know someone looking for a great home in San Diego let have them call for more details.

Dave's number is (206)-852-5543
Kathy's number is (954)-305-2703

California-Remodel

House when we arrived
House when we left three weeks later
Kitchen pre-remodel
Kitchen post remodel. We kept the cabinets and repainted, installed tile floors, new appliances, added an eating bar, new lights and kitchen faucet.

More California remodel

Dining room... Before

Dining room & Kitchen with new opening and eating bar. Also newly refinished hardwood floors.
Old Hall Bath
New Hall bath

Pacifica with new bottom paint and stripes removed

Annapolis

Old Light house near Annapolis
Spa Creek Mooring Field (Annapolis)
Chart House Resturant
Racing trimaran with setting sun and Capitol building in back ground.

Entrance to "Ego Alley"

Pacifia anchored in Baltimore's inner harbor

Boat Yard bound then California

We just arrived in Baltimore after a blustery 25nm sail from Annapolis. Thunder, lightning and gusty winds made for an exciting sail. With a lull in the winds we decided to try out the spinnaker for the first time. All was going well with the huge colorful sail and we were making 8knots in fairly light winds. Then a down draft blasted us and the boat jumped in speed to over 16 knots in a matter of seconds making me a bit nervous and really testing the spinnaker. The wind increased further and I was ready to blow the spin sheet and try to save the sail, but then it ripped mightily making the snap decision just seconds before I did. Oh well, another item for the To Do List. As the boat down with the ripped sail I was actually relieved as 16+ knots is too fast for my level of comfort with the new boat. We took down the damaged spinnaker and a few minutes later the downdraft gust had subsided and we were gong on 5 knots with the main sail only.

Baltimore is really nice and highly accessible by yacht. We spent our first night anchored in the inner harbor and had a nice diner ashore.

Today we are hauling the boat to renew the bottom paint. Ugh! A dirty job for several days. Then the boat will be stored in the yard for maybe up to a month while we make a trip to California to work on Kathy's house. Her San Diego home has been a rental for 3-4 years and is ready for a freshen up with new paint, appliances and refinished hardwood floors.

Baltimore

Baltimore inner harbor for a night