2020 DELMARVA Reports

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~ A Cut Above ~

As our first DELMARVA Circumnavigation Cruise of the season, this was an excellent class. Navigator had just gotten back from the Bermuda run and, after a quick yard period for some light maintenance, was raring to go and so were we.

The crew showed up Friday evening, after braving the Annapolis traffic, stowed their gear and we headed out for a “get-acquainted” dinner. The Captain, Frank Mummert, and the Mate, David Gifford, both long-time instructors for Maryland School were happy to meet Perry, Rob, Ryan and Steve. Rob, Ryan and Steve already knew each other, having sailed together in Southern California, so it was an easy time, integrating Perry into the crew and letting Frank and David get their bearings.

The next morning, we were up by 0700, ready for a day of in-port instruction and navigation prep. David and Frank went through applicable safety instructions, the students inventoried every locker and cubby on the boat and we did some in-port sail handling exercises. Raising the mainsail, putting in and shaking out a reef and securing the sail again took most of the morning, with a warm summer sun gleaming down. Just before lunch, we walked through raising and lowering the whisker pole, which we hoped to use on the runs north at the beginning and end of the cruise (prevailing winds in the Chesapeake Bay during summer months are from the South, generally).

All of the students had actually done Tom Tursi’s course on Coastal Navigation, so an afternoon spent planning the actual route we would sail passed quickly. Of course, there is a significant difference between the “cut-and-dried” classroom material of the 105 class and the actual “hands-on” planning phase, but the crew rose easily to the challenge. Evening found us having Frank’s traditional “evening before departure” lasagna dinner, while discussing everyone's expectations and uncertainties for the coming days. Since the weather forecast was fairly benign, the items highest on the list for most classes - wind and rain - were not part of this year’s discussion, although a thorough discussion of seasickness medications did ensue.

On Sunday, we were up and moving by 0500, with the expectation that we would be underway by 0700. The crew went through their pre-departure checks, coordinating so that tasks got done in an appropriate order. However, we were not out of the slip until 0900, what with one thing and another.

We were able to do a knot meter calibration run, and had removed the sail cover at the dock, in the hopes that we would be able to raise our sails once we got free of the land. Our hopes were not in vain. With a brisk south-westerly breeze, Navigator romped along under reefed mainsail and genoa. We even took the opportunity to do some daytime COB training, giving our reluctant crewmember, Weenie, the opportunity to go for a swim. 

Once we turned up into the Swan Creek Channel, we took the wind off our quarter and ran with it. Soon, however, our run came to an end and we were tied up to a mooring ball in Swan Creek Marina. As we watched the boats come in and leave that evening, we enjoyed our first “cooked aboard” dinner of chili and rice, prepared by Frank himself.

The next morning, we were underway by 0600 but, unfortunately, the great wind from the previous day had deserted us. Although we set the main and genoa, the winds were now light and out of the northwest. Because of this and the current running foul for us, we were required to assist our sails with a little help from the engine. It was not until we were almost at the C & D canal that the current turned in our favor, just in time for us to douse the sails and motor down the canal to Summit North Marina. 

As we moved up the Bay, the students performed various navigational tasks to put the theoretical training from the 105 navigation course into practical application. It was interesting - and frustrating - to discover that the rather simple task of calculating a three-bearing or running fix is made infinitely harder when you have to find your own points of reference, instead of just calculating from the values Tom provides in the course. By the time we reached the C & D Canal, we had successfully performed two and three bearing fixes, running fixes, distance off calculations and even a few danger bearings.

We made it to Summit North at about 1700, just after low tide. It took a couple of tries to get in the mouth of the marina, but once in, it was a smooth trip to the fuel dock for a pump out and some diesel, then onto the B dock T-head for the night. We enjoyed showers and dinner at the Grain restaurant. 

Dawn came early on Tuesday morning, but it found us already underway. Rising between 0400 and 0430, we were prepped and off the dock by 0530, giving us the opportunity to watch the sun rise as we transited the last of the canal. There was not a lot of wind as we traveled down the Delaware River and Bay, but we had the sails up and drawing anyway. We were able to catch the ebb tide almost all of the way down, so our run was an excellent one and we were past Cape Henlopen and into the Atlantic ocean long before sundown. One of the high points of the trip was a period when a pod of dolphins traveled with us, eventually leaving us in their wake as they sped off to perform some sort of dolphin task. One might even say they moved with a “porpoise.” 

Once we were in the ocean, Frank and David “secured” the chartplotter and had the crew perform dead reckoning (DR) down the coast. Initially, the wind was parallel to the Delaware and Maryland coastlines, so we tacked across our “rhumb line,” first in for an hour, then out for two, then back and forth, one hour each way. By midnight, the crew had calculated that we had passed the boundary between Maryland and Virginia and that the shoreline was now trending westward. David confirmed this by checking the “off-line” chartplotter and the boat was brought onto a starboard tack, which allowed us to run almost parallel to the coast, moving east by about a mile for each five miles run south. By early afternoon, the DR track had crossed a circle that Frank had drawn around the buoy marking the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, which indicated that we were about 20 miles from that buoy. Frank returned the chartplotter to action and the crew found that they were within 14 miles of their plotted location - well within the accuracy of a DR run of more than 14 hours. 

The wind had been on our nose all night and day, so we were hoping for a downwind run once we came under the bridge marking the entrance to the Bay. However, while the wind did come around to the stern, the resulting push from astern was not enough to move the boat. The tidal current was moving with us at about 2.5 knots, rendering the headsail useless and we furled it in, replacing it with the "D-sail" (the diesel engine). We made it up to the entrance to the channel into Cape Charles City and doused the mainsail, continuing into the harbor by following the well marked range lights. We were alongside the dock early enough that we could give the boat some clean up, get our own showers and be at the Shanty restaurant before seven. As we watched, a huge black cloud cover rolled over and we listened to the wind and rain as we enjoyed burgers and cold drinks.

Having topped off our fuel tank and once again emptied our holding tank, we were underway at noon for Annapolis and its mooring field. The wind gods had shifted the wind once again on us, back to our bow. With the wind now out of the north at 15-20 knots, we put a reef in the main, rolled out the staysail and headed as close to the rhumb line as we could. With an apparent wind that crept toward our bow every time we sped up, we were making great time through the water, but after four hours of sailing, we found ourselves five miles north of our starting point. Once again, we swallowed our pride and disappointment and added the diesel engine to our sailing regimen. 

After evening twilight, when the moon and Venus had risen, Weenie made a reappearance and once again, he found himself unable to stay aboard. During the evening, the wind had dropped, which made the attempts to rescue our soggy shipmate interesting, if not particularly challenging. Adding to this was the incredibly bright full moon. However, all of the crew was suitably impressed with the difficulty of doing a simple maneuver in darkness. After an hour of repeated "circle and save" exercises, it was well and truly brought home that "night time rescues are challenging" and the best solution is to "stay with the boat"!

Morning found us north of Patuxent River, having spent the night practicing collision avoidance techniques with the "monsters of the Bay," the huge cargo ships that travel up and down at speeds that dwarfed our five to six knots. Watching a brightly lit tanker rise over the horizon, pass and drop below the stern is a sight that can never become boring or less terrifying, as the thought of bad decision making putting the boat in the wrong spot drives home. RADAR and AIS became invaluable tools in plotting and directing our path, but nothing was better than a practiced eye evaluating the lights of a passing ship.

We had been forced to motor sail all the way up from Cape Charles but the tide had been running in our favor and we often found ourselves with speeds over ground of six and even seven knots. At one point, the wind came up and turned to the west-north-west, allowing us to set the genoa and shake a reef out of the main. We had a glorious sail - for about 40 minutes. Then the wind simultaneously dropped and moved back to the north, leaving us with no option but to furl the headsail and turn the motor back on. Ah - but those forty minutes were wonderful! 

We finally sighted the Annapolis Bay Bridge at about 0700 and passed beside the Thomas Point Lighthouse about 1000. We reset the genoa and throttled way back on the engine, proudly sailing into the Severn River with the wind close abeam. We rounded up just before the mooring field and dropped the sails, securing them as we watched the hundreds of small and mid-size sailboats around us dance and pirouette.

After an afternoon of taking the 106 exam and a trip ashore by water taxi for dinner, the crew settled into their bunks overlooking the now full mooring field. Although the day had been comfortably warm, the boat cooled off rapidly and, by morning, everyone aboard was wrapped in a blanket or sleeping bag. Morning started with steaming cups of coffee and engine checks as we prepared to go back to Lankford Bay Marina.

While Frank graded the exams, David and the crew successfully motored one more time across the Chesapeake Bay and under the Bay Bridge. The water was so calm that the few high clouds were easily reflected on its surface. By the time all of the students had successfully passed the exam, we were within sight of our origination point and were preparing for a last set of pump-out and fuel stops. Soon, we were in our slip, cleaning the boat and reminiscing about the highs of the past week.

Captain Frank Mummert
S/V NAVIGATOR, IP40
Rock Hall, MD