Log of Alberg 30 #262 on 23 June 2017

Date: 23 June 2017 10:32 till 23 June 2017 13:54
Endpoints: Yacht Haven Annapolis Eastport MD to Yacht Haven Annapolis Eastport MD
Purpose: Solo Sail
Complement: Yoni Bresler
Weather: Force 4 in the river, Southwest Force 5 in the Bay, mid 80's WU
Engine Hours: 85.4 to 86.0
Fuel: about 2/3 full tank
Chart: 12282 Chesapeake Bay Severn and Magothy Rivers

Started with a reef in the main, given the 14+ knot winds, at the masthead, in the river. The reef was a bit of a hack job as the boat has not been set up for reefing. Nonetheless, it was possible to verify that a 3/8" line from one side of the boom through the clew reefing grommet, down to the block on the starboard side of the boom, and forward, in this case to a cleat on the mast, would work for reefing. Constance was making near six knots upwind but heeled only fifteen degrees. Much better way of sailing. Decided to sail down to Thomas Point. Would have been able to clear Y "A" on the initial tack, but there was a fleet of Rainbows from Annapolis Sailing School in the way. Decided to throw in a tack to avoid the Rainbows. Tacked back to starboard. Not possible to see the telltales of the jib from the leeward driving position due to the bunt of the sail blocking one's vision.

Once directly downwind of Thomas Point Light, out beyond the G "1AH buoy" that marks Tolly Point Shoal, threw in a tack to move back towards shore some. The waves in the Bay were well developed, lifing the bow considerably. Once into the Bay, decided to roll up the jib some four turns to further quiet the boat. Once again, the boat settled back to about fifteen degrees of heel, in place of the thirty to thirty-five degrees of heel that the 17 to 20 knot winds, at the masthead, in the Bay induced. Upwind speeds of 6.0, 6.2, 6.4, and more with a single reef in the main and about four turns on the roller furler.

After heading about to return to Yacht Haven Annapolis, shook out the reefs in both the jib and the main. Still, speeds downwind under jib and main, both on the same side of the boat, could not match upwind speeds. Need to get better at this. After the turn at G "1AH", the wind was on the beam and speeds returned to the sixes. The farther upwind I sailed, the more the wind moved forward, till Constance was close-hauled sailing past Horn Point.

Observations:

Need a method to move the outhaul from the clew to the clew reefing grommet after the sail has been reefed so that the foot of the sail can be drawn up snug.
Need a spacer, a block of rubber?, to place in between the ball handle of the engine throttle/shift control and the side of the cockpit, once the engine has been shutdown, so that lines cannot fall in the gap.

GPX formatted Track distance: 16.47nm, average speed: 4.9kts, duration: 3:22