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~ A Cut Above ~

This cruise was supposed to run from September 27th to October 4th, but because of the Annapolis Power Boat Show and Hurricane Imelda, that schedule was thrown all over the chart. Only the excellent efforts of the crew allowed the cruise to start two days late but end less than 24 hours after it was scheduled to do.

Captain Frank Mummert and Mate Ali Solyu met the crew of four at the boat on Friday afternoon. Bob, Fred and Philip had come in from cities all over the country, while Laura had only to drive across the Bay, but the distance traveled was no indication of the happiness and excitement of the crew. All four jumped aboard with a will and we soon were checking and stowing gear and discussing cruise plans. Over dinner at a local restaurant, the crew bonded with stories of storms met and calms endured.

On Saturday morning, with rain promised, the captain and crew went through the motions of setting the mainsail, putting in and removing a reef and dousing the sail. We then walked through setting and dropping the whisker pole - a technique we hoped to use since the forecast called for 20 to 25 knots of wind from the port quarter. This is perfect wind for sailing Navigator down to Norfolk. After that, the crew inventoried the boat, learning where all the gear was stowed and what food and supplies we had aboard for the trip. The students then buckled down to planning the first legs of the trip, with each "Skipper" leading the planning for their leg. Swan Creek to Summit North was Bob's leg, Fred had the trip down the Delaware River and Bay, Laura took over once we entered the ocean and Philip was in charge for the run back up the Bay.

Unfortunately, by this time, the track of Hurricane Imelda had become questionable and there was a possibility that she might hit the mouth of the Chesapeake at exactly the moment the boat would be there. Having seen this situation before, Captain Frank made the decision to delay the departure for 24 hours. Rather than leaving on Sunday morning, the boat would depart on Monday. This was not a problem, since the Annapolis Powerboat Show would be running later in the weekend, preventing the cruise from making a scheduled stop in that city. The crew used the time to become more familiar with the boat, finish up their navigation planning and walk through various emergency scenarios. 

Underway on Monday morning, the crew moved to the pump out dock at Lankford Bay Marina and assured themselves that the holding tank was completely empty. Then, it was off into the Lankford Creek, where a timed run between the green Langford Creek 6 day beacon and the LC junction mark allowed for a calibration check on the odometer. Subsequent calculations determined that the odometer was reading about 20% high and a calibration factor of 0.81 was instituted for all ded reckoning calculations. Next, the crew set the main and headsail and we sailed down toward the Kent Narrows area, where Crew Overboard drills were performed to allow everyone to become comfortable with the procedure aboard Navigator. We doused the headsail and continued on toward Swan Creek, where we dropped and secured the main, then entered Swan Creek Marina and took mooring ball number 12 for the night.

Up before dawn the next day, we were back in the Bay as the sun started coming up. With light winds from the northeast - exactly the direction we needed to go - we motored up toward the C & D canal, with the captain in the cockpit and the mate working the off crew members on navigation drills. The crew did two and three bearing fixes, running fixes, distance off calculations and danger bearings, while learning how to use the radar and AIS systems. We entered into the C & D in the late afternoon, with the following current pushing us along toward Summit North Marina. We took on fuel and dropped onto our assigned place on the I dock T-head.

During the previous 48 hours, the picture with Imelda had become much clearer. It was now the case that Imelda was heading out to sea, never getting far enough north to threaten the Bay directly. However, the winds from the hurricane were lashing the shoreline between the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, with winds up to 25 knots and gusting higher, and waves from 9 to 12 feet high. In addition, nighttime temperatures were predicted to go as low as the 40s, making the trip perfect for the boat, but miserable for the crew. Captain Frank made the decision to delay a second day and the crew used the additional time to complete the 106 exam. This meant that once we got back to our home port, that task would already be checked off.

Underway on Thursday at morning twilight, the crew found their progress balked almost instantly, as the Conrail Bridge, a train crossing for the C&D Canal, was down to let a train cross over. We sat for half of an hour as we waited the train's passing and finally got moving again just after seven. We traveled down the Delaware River and out into the Delaware Bay, where we set the mainsail with one reef in and continued on our trip. As we approached the area of Cape Henlopen, the wind rose and the seas became confused as the wind and tides fought to control the direction of the waves. Once we popped through the entrance of the Bay, the winds stabilized and the seas got sorted out and the boat settled in for a strong run south. We set the headsail out as a genoa and commenced our sail, the boat moving easily in the 13 knot breeze. 

While the sun dropped into the far shore, we were broad reaching along at a comfortable five knots. Three hours later, we were becalmed and running on the engine, the headsail gone and the mainsail gently rocking in the breeze made by the movement of the boat through the water. When Imelda had finally departed the area, she had taken the wind with her and the high pressure system that had prevented her strongest winds from coming ashore was now preventing what was left of the wind from building. On through the night and through the next day, we motored along, sometimes with one knot of apparent wind from ahead, sometimes from behind but often with no breeze on the boat at all as we moved along at just the same speed and direction of the true wind.

We reached the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay right at sunset and made our approach to the Fisherman Island bridge. We found the bridge easily but had to delay a few minutes as a large fishing boat was coming through the channel. We scooted through, only to discover the rest of the fishing fleet - six more large boats - were in line to pass through the bridge. This caused us to bend our own track to the west, moving us away from our intended destination, the Cape Charles city inlet. Once past all of the fishing vessels, we angled back in toward the land, entering the channel and traveling along the two lighted ranges to find ourselves in the Cape Charles Town Harbor at just before midnight. We tied up, turned on power and crashed into our bunks after having spent almost 48 hours of six hours on watch, six hours off. For the first time in two days, the crew got more than five hours of sleep at a time.

At 9:00, we were all at the Cape Charles Coffee House for a hearty breakfast of eggs, pancakes, bacon and other delicacies, enjoying our hot breakfasts and discussing the rest of the trip. After plenty of coffee and other breakfast beverages, we were fired up and ready to continue. Before noon, we were off the dock and underway, traveling north toward home. We started out fighting a foul tide, made worse, we suspect, by the effects of the recent bad weather. Soon after dark, the tide turned in our favor and, by the time we were back in Maryland waters, we were running with the flood.

Just before midnight, the captain performed another set of man overboard drills, testing the crew's ability to deal with a crewmember being towed by the boat on a tether. The goal was to stop the boat without endangering the "man" in the water, then successfully getting them back aboard by moving them up to the midship shrouds, while being clipped in with a tether. The ability to do this, at night, proved to be quite a challenge and we discovered that, if someone were to fall overboard, even with the helmsman acting instantly, the person in the water would be towed for at least a minute while the boat speed dropped off. It was an eye-opening experience for all aboard.

Once we secured from drills, we continued up the Bay in the silver light of an almost full moon. The moon finally set about thirty minutes before the sun rose, giving the water a magical look as we traveled through the night. Once the sun came up, the day started to warm and we were soon in short sleeves and shorts, as we passed under the Bay Bridge and completed our circumnavigation by passing the Red 6 Buoy in the Chester River, the first of the buoys we had used as a waypoint on our way out almost a week earlier.

By 3:30, we were back at the pump out dock in Lankford Bay Marina and we were soon in our slip, with the boat cleaned, all of the personal gear off the boat and nothing left to do but shake hands and wish each other well as the crew departed to return to their comfortable homes, with the memory of the trip firmly set in our heads and our hearts.

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