Stereotypes

Maddie and I grabbed a mooring ball in Annapolis, Maryland for the night and rowed to shore for a delicious meal of epic quantities at Chick and Ruth's Delly . Annapolis is very boat focused, after all it is considered the sailing capital of the world (by people who live and sail out of Annapolis); so each street ends in a dinghy pier. 

This is wonderful because you can take your dinghy to the street you want to walk on, tie up, and walk to your destination!  

Our dinner destination is located on Main St., and the dinghy pier is located at the end of Ego Alley, an alley where the biggest, flashiest, most extravagant boats go to show off.  

Tied up on the sides of ego alley were immaculately restored wooden motor yachts, 70 foot sleek yacht with under water lights, and cigarette boats; all glistening in the lights from the city.  

Up ego alley we went, in our wooden row boat I built two years ago. The paint is chipping, the bottom paint is almost gone, and the oar locks squeak on each stroke.  

Sailors always arrive in style! 

Morty Likes to Swim

Morty has no appreciable legs, instead his feet attach directly to his body via many fluffy hairs. 

Due to his lack of appendage length, he has never been a very strong swimmer. Morty actually avoided swimming all together for quite some time. 

Then one day, he was standing on a beach, and took a stroll into the water. He went ankle deep, then came out, then knee deep and backed out, then belly deep and backed out. Each time he would go in, he would look you in the eye for assurance that he was doing it right; then he would smile a huge smile and go a little further.  

Soon enough, he was bounding around in deeper water and swimming around the edge of the shore. Adorable!  

We thought it was cute that one time, but now he will go for a swim anytime he is on a beach.  

Here, I was taking him to shore to do his business before Maddie and I went out to dinner. While I was untying Tooth , I hear splashing. Morty had gone for a quick dip the moment I looked away!

Guess we are going to have a wet dog in the cabin tonight.  

Rainy Days

We are anchored in Town Creek, next to Oxford Maryland at the moment and it has been raining all morning. The rains started at 4 AM and have not let up all morning. 

The gray and gloomy skies take all the desire out of going outside our rowing to shore. 

Maddie is still sleeping and I am looking into the gray skies with Morty and Sammy, waiting for the weather to change.  

The good side to this rain is I can collect some water off the sails to do laundry with. This rain has no wind accompanying it, so I feel confident about opening the sails to serve as make-shift rain collectors.  

Once the buckets are a bit more full, I can get to the laundry. Until then, I sit looking out the companionway at the raindrops hitting the water.  

Sheepshank

The sheepshank is probably one of the most under appreciated knots. It's fatal flaw is directly responsible for its lack of popularity: if the knot looses tension, then while thing comes undone. 

People usually tie a knot and expect it to hold until they release the knot, but the sheepshank will not do that. It will hold as long as the line has tension; but as soon as tension is lost, the knot falls apart. 

The sheepshank is used to take slack out of a line or to make a line shorter. As long as the line is pulled tight, it will continue to hold and do its job wonderfully. 

Knowing its flaw is important in deciding when and where to use it. If you shorten a dock line with it, you will be sorry! But is you shorten a line that is always under tension, you will be very pleased.  

I use this knot to take out the slack on my backstay adjuster. When I tighten the backstay, the adjuster line goes slack. A well tied sheepshank will take up the slack and will also release very quickly is I need to ease the backstay in a hurry! 

I must admit, this is the only place I have ever used a sheepshank on any boat, but I still don't think this knot should be cast aside as a worthless or useless knot. 

Navigating Under Sail Using Lubbers Lines

The compass is on of the most valuable navigational instruments on a sailboat! The require no electricity, they do not need software updates, they just work! 

The compass lives on the top of the binacle, where it can always be clearly seen. In the compass are a series of lines that flank the compass dial, these are called "lubbers lines" and they are crucial to navigation under sail. 

In this example, I am sailing south (180) and the line that points ahead is in line with the ship, and marks our heading as 180.  This line is simple to understand, as it points in the direction you are going. 

If you look around the compass some more, you will see several other lubbers lines.  

These other lines are set at +/- 45 degrees and +/- 90 degrees to the heading line. In our case, with a heading of 180, the next lubbers line to port would be 135, followed by 90, and to 225 and 270 to starboard. 

What do these lines mean and what is their purpose?  

Let's start with the +/- 45 lines. These lines show the approximate wind direction. If you are sailing as close to the wind as possible on port tack, and your heading is 180, the wind is coming from the port 45 line: 135. This means that the wind is coming from 135.  

If you were on starboard tack, then the wind would be coming from 225. 

The next line is the +/-90. These lines indicate your new heading after you tack. So if you are sailing as close to the wind as possible with a heading of 180 on port tack, the wind would be coming from 135, and your heading after the tack would be 90. 

If you were on starboard tack, the wind would be from 225 and your new heading would be 270. 

This may sound like a fun academic exercise with no real world application, but in fact, this is vital information that is needed to quickly navigate to you windward target using the least amount of tacks.  

When you are sailing to your windward destination on port tack, with your destination on your port side, knowing when to tack is crucial.  

If your heading is 180, and you are sailing close to the wind which is coming from the -45 line (135), your beating to the destination needs to be at 90 or less or you will fall short of your mark. 

Instead of getting out a hand held beating compass, taking a sight, and plotting a course to see if you can track yet, simply use the lubbers lines!  

All you need to do is sit on the starboard side and look at your target over the ships compass.  

If the line in the center of the compass and the port 90 lubbers line line up, you know you are looking at the lines correctly. Now look up into the distance and locate your target. Once it has moved in line or aft of the port 90 lubbers line, you know you will be able to reach your mark on the next tack.