It was the start of another warm spell, when Captain Frank, Alex, Craig, Eslie and Jason started preparing for the late August 104 class. The plan was to spend one night on a mooring ball in Swan Creek, one in the Saint Michael’s Marina and one anchored in Grays Inn Creek. With the temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s, we didn’t expect to get much sailing in, but we were pleasantly surprised.
SCHOLARSHIP
left after a full day of navigation and trip planning. With a bright sky and fluffy cumulus clouds, we traveled out to the Chester River, with Alex acting as the Skipper of the Day. Since we had almost no wind, we ended up motoring down the course line that the students had planned the day before until, without warning, the engine suddenly died. Alex and his crew sorted out the issues and decided that we needed a tow back to our home marina. Luckily, this was just the first of the drills that Frank would run on the crew, to get them experienced at handling emergencies. After debriefing the drill, Alex did a two bearing fix to reestablish the boat’s location and we headed on toward Swan Creek Marina and the mooring field.
As is so often the case at this time of the year, the breeze started building just as we started into Swan Creek and by the time we were settled onto mooring ball 6 at the Swan Creek Marina, there was finally a pleasant breeze blowing out of the southwest. We opened all of the hatches and portlights and rigged a wind scoop to funnel the breeze below. As the sun dropped behind Baltimore, the boat began to cool noticeably. While it never became chilly, the cabin was
comfortable for sleeping.
With sunup, SCHOLARSHIP
was off the mooring ball and headed for Saint Michael’s. Coming out of the mooring field, the wind promised a bit of sailing in our future. Skipper of the Day Craig decided to set the main and genoa as we left the Swan Creek Channel and turned into the Chesapeake Bay. Soon, we had the sails up, but the breeze was just not quite enough for sailing and so we added a little power
with the engine to keep moving. After traveling for five hours, we found ourselves only about halfway down our expected track, so we furled the headsail and increased our motor-sailing in order to make up some distance.
As we came into the Eastern Bay and started heading for Tilghman Point, Eslie went below and reported that she smelled smoke. It was Frank again, running a drill on Skipper of the Day Craig. While investigating the potential fire, Craig kept the boat under control and we were soon in a safe condition. All that was left was to debrief the crew and get back underway.
As we came around Tilghman Point and headed for Bennett Point, the wind came back with a vengeance and we reset the headsail, romping along with the lee rail almost in the water as we screamed down to the Wye River. We
furled the genoa just before cutting through the shallows into the
Wye, then dropped the main as we came into the Miles River and headed for the entrance to Saint Michaels.
The internet was out when we arrived - a condition that apparently affected most of Maryland. We had not noticed, of course, since we had been off being intrepid mariners. However, when we dined at
Foxy’s, we marveled at how many of the operations of daily life were being negatively affected by this issue. Fortunately, it didn’t affect us.
Eslie, our Skipper of the Day for Wednesday, calculated our passage at Kent Narrows, deciding that we needed to arrive about 1300, so we were able to enjoy extra showers and breakfast ashore for part of the crew. The wind had shifted to the north west with the storm passing during the night, once again putting it on the bow. On our passage north, suddenly the backstay parted (it was another one of Frank's drills). Eslie and her crew swiftly dealt with the issue, rigging a spare halyard to keep the mast up while we contacted (simulated) Tow Jamm Marine, the local TowBOAT operator. By the time we reached the Narrows, the winds were variable and we went through on the 1300 opening. We were soon back out into the Chester River, with the breeze building out of the north west, so we set our main with a preventer rigged and our headsail and reached along the river, turning north toward Grays Inn Creek, our expected anchorage. Unfortunately, due to some unexpected
crew issues, we decided to return to Lankford Bay Marina and our home slip.
Early the next morning, our Skipped of the Day, Jason, got us out of the marina and we were able to set and retrieve our anchors in a Bahamian mooring, just for the practice. Then, we motored back out to the Chester River, where we engaged in some spirited Crew Overboard training, before returning to
LBM. After pumping out and refueling, we returned to our slip and wrapped up another successful and enjoyable 104 class.
Captain Frank Mummert
On board S/V SCHOLARSHIP
Rock Hall, Maryland
