Absolutely picture-perfect, weather-perfect weekend for sailing. Its unusually dry and breezy and cool for July (attributed to dust in the atmosphere from volcanic explosions coupled with El Nino). We had planned to meet J&E on Solution and J&A on Valinor and raft up. J described it as acting out a Willie Nelson song: "on the Rhode [River] again, on the [anchor] rode again..."
We sailed down in company with J&E. J got in the dinghy with his camera while underway, E cast him off and proceeded to sail the boat solo while J zipped around taking pictures of Solution under sail, then came over to take pix of us under sail, then got back aboard Solution. This was the only really windy part of the day and made great photos that I'll add tonight. Later the wind died down to where we almost needed engines to come in to the river. They dropped the hook, we tied to them, and about an hour later J&A arrived and tied to the other side. This was our first time seeeing J&A's boat, and their first raft-up in it. Their son K was fascinated with the dog. Other acquaintances of J&E joined us for a while, too. We all took turns doing boat tours and comparing features - a first for us, we were the largest boat and hence the party boat for the evening. We were also the only one with a cockpit table, and our new awning made us the shadiest. Dinner that night consisted of heavy hors d'oevers (sp?), whatever was on hand, and a bit too much beer, lots of conversation and laughter until well after dark.
J&A had had some trouble with their wind indicator, so we planned Sunday to send A up the mast to take a look. She'd never done it before. Unfortunately her experience wasn't a good one, it was so rolly that by the time she reached the spreaders she felt she was at her comfort limit, so down she came and we sent J up instead. After enjoying both the experience and the view and getting a temporary fix on the wind instrument, down he came. We then all piled into the two motorized dinghies (even the dog) and explored up the shallow end of the creek. It's all research Smithsonian land, so beautiful and undeveloped.
Too soon, the weekend was over and one by one we cast off and set sails for home. We took photos of J&A under sail on the way out. Once we got out on the Bay proper the water was so choppy and the winds so light that we had to motor home. Our autohelm, the illustrious BaronOtto von Pilott, unfortunately made the trip interesting ... insisting that we were turning counterclockwise circles while we were in fact steering a steady course northward. We called Raymarine and described the problem, and explained that we had to get it fixed quickly because we were taking the boat south this autumn. The Raymarine tech said it sounded like the gyro in the course computer had gone south itself, just a bit early! The good news is that its still under warranty. Of course, we're not enthused about adding anything else to our "to do" list before September, but at least we can get it fixed before we go.
All in all, a perfect boat weekend. Rafting up at its best. And so great that this was J&A's introduction to it! I was reminded how much I enjoy gatherings of a few people, where you get a chance to connect in a little more depth than the cocktail-party level chatter I enjoyed in my 20s. I was reminded of how much I value the natural world, as time outdoors helps me regain my perspective. Every time we come back from a weekend at anchor, I feel like I've gotten the "anger" out.
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