Carol had not been on GANNET away from the dock for a long time, so this morning we walked down and left the dock at 9:30.
In a flat calm we Torqeedoed south on Skull Creek to the bridge, went under, turned around and sailed back under jib alone.
We had the tide with us on the way to the bridge and used 33% of the battery to cover just short of three nautical miles.
On the way back we mostly had light wind on the beam, but the tide was against us and we did have to tack twice. The Velocitek mostly showed speeds between two and three knots. Our maximum was a blinding 3.4 knots.
Sailing on Skull Creek is usually like sailing on a lake. Water with no more than ripples, except for power boat wakes. We noticed as I have before that the big power boats are usually operated by people with at least some experience and good manners and slow as they approach a sailboat so as to reduce their wakes. Small power boats don’t and are operated by people whose skill, manners and intelligence I leave for you to decide for yourselves, although one did slow and shout across, “You look comfortable.” We were and I gave him a thumbs up.
We saw some dolphin, some birds and had a pleasant few hours. We were back at the dock around noon, having covered perhaps six nautical miles in two and a half hours. Speed is not everything.
This afternoon Amazon delivered my annual pair of new boat shoes and picture hooks and dry wall anchors. Tomorrow will be Hanging Day at Skull Creek which surely should be a movie title.
Also this afternoon I watched and enjoyed the recorded Stage 6 of the Tour de France. After having not watched for more than a decade the names and teams are unfamiliar to me, but it was interesting and the finish exciting. I’m glad to be back and hope I am not again being betrayed.
"Speed is not everything."
ReplyDeleteNot,perhaps, your most momentous of comments, but I'll remember that one.