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A lot has happened since last I wrote as PRIDE II closed in
on Boston Harbor back on September 27. Or at least it has been a busy time for
us aboard the ship.
Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race - Oct. 12-13, 2006
The most recent activities are related to PRIDE II'S
winning a whole bunch of honors associated with the annual Great Chesapeake Bay
Schooner Race that was sailed Thursday and Friday - October 12 & 13. PRIDE II
was one of nearly 40 schooners racing down the Bay last week in wind that ranged
from nearly flat calm to 25 knots of Northwest and North winds. The results
after all was said and done·
- PRIDE II - First Across the Finish Line
- PRIDE II - First Overall in Fleet (after handicap
adjustments)
- PRIDE II - First In Class AA (after handicap
adjustments)
- PRIDE II - Best Overall (after handicap
adjustments·meaning she had the largest lead in time over her second place
finisher when compared to the leads in the other classes)
- PRIDE II - First Overall in Fleet at Windmill Point
(after handicap adjustments·means she was leading the whole fleet at a point
in the race about 30 miles before the finish)
- PRIDE II - First Overall Traditional Schooner (after
handicap adjustments·several of the schooners in the fleet are more modern
and yacht-like with jib-headed mainsail. PRIDE II is more traditional, like
many in the fleet, with her gaff mainsail.)
The sixth honor is a new one for this race. But the other
honors have existed for some time. PRIDE II came close to winning nearly
everything back in 2003. That year she was First Across the Finish Line, First
Overall in Fleet, First In Class AA. and also Best Overall. Other years that she
raced she has won Line Honors and First In Class, Line Honors and Third in
Class, Second in Class. I believe that PRIDE II has won at least one honor every
time she has raced in the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. However, I
seriously doubt she will again find herself able to win all of the available
honors at once.
It could happen again, sure. But there is a new and very
capable player in the game now. Schooner VIRGINIA was third in fleet across the
finish line and she won Second in Class AA this year. At one point she was
leading PRIDE II in the early miles of this yearâs race. Eventually PRIDE II
passed by and led VIRGINIA by 26 minutes at the finish line, which hides the
fact that VIRGINIA was gaining on PRIDE II steadily during the second half of
the race, but did not have enough distance before the finish to actually catch
PRIDE II. She improved steadily during the second half of the race and, if she
continues to improve, she will be very hard to beat in the future. But for now,
PRIDE II remains a challenging vessel to out-sail. Next year I wonât be the
skipper since we two skippers take turns with the fun things like the Great
Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. Maybe by the time I get another chance to race
PRIDE II down the Chesapeake Bay, it will be VIRGINIA leading the way. I have a
detailed account of the race at the end of this log.
Boston
I last wrote when PRIDE II was approaching Boston, which
was a great port for the crew because it had taken a solid two weeks of moving
PRIDE II around from the Great Lakes from Erie. Even when PRIDE II was stopped
due to contrary winds, the crew was working on something related to getting the
ship back to the Atlantic East Coast. So Boston represented an accomplishment,
especially when we managed to arrive as scheduled when it seemed for sure we
would be late. While in Boston, the crew managed to get some long overdue paint
on the yellow whale-strake planks on the port side. We were even able to spring
some special request time off for Charley Adams who is from Boston and for Emily
Harwood who has friends in the area. The rest of the crew dealt with chores like
laundry, the painting, and open house while the cook, Ito, went shopping. After
two nights and the scheduled time to depart arrived, I postponed it for a day. A
weather pattern was building so that if we left on it time would have presented
an uncomfortable slog to windward. My study of the weather suggested that if we
waited another night we would have mostly fair winds for the run to New York.
So it proved to be, after we motored down to the Cape Cod
Canal with a calm wind to start followed by a SEârly increasing to around 15
knots. But I am getting ahead of myself. On the way out of Boston, we saw the
USS CONSTITUTION moving out of her berth. She was being ãturned aroundä in a
celebratory way. Her turn-around point was off Castle Island and was marked by
several 21 gun salutes in respect to the 65 military service personnel that are
honorees of awards of bravery. Instead of motoring on our way, we stopped to
observe the respect being paid to the honorees.
We passed through the Cape Cod Canal around dusk and, with
the SE breeze blowing, set sail and proceeded down Buzzards Bay. Passage across
to Long Island Sound was rapid and dawn found PRIDE II a full third of the way
westward along the north shore of Long Island. But with dawn came rain squalls
packing some wind. The crew got their exercise raising and lowering the jib a
couple of times to deal with the wind. They also struck and reefed and then
reset the foretopsail. After passage of the squalls, the wind steadied from the
west and provided an opportunity to get all sail set. By daylightâs end, PRIDE
II was off of Stamford and we anchored down for the night to wait for the
favorable current that we would ride all the way into New York Harbor and to
North Cove Marina at the south west end of Manhattan Island.
New York
North Cove is located right in the center of the World
Financial Center which shares the space with a lot of residential buildings. All
day from very early in the morning till late at night, there are passers by that
come look at PRIDE II. A special coincidence was the arrival of AMISTADE. She is
also a privateer-type schooner with many similarities to PRIDE II. She is
smaller and her mission is to tell the story of saving African natives which had
been kidnapped by slavers after managing to escape and landing in American
waters. The two boats had never had the chance to share the same dock before and
so it was interesting for both the New Yorkers and us to see the differences up
close. The weather in Manhattan was great and PRIDE IIâs crew were able to get
the other side of the whale-strake yellow painted. We also were able to grant
others in the crew special personal time. Mike Fiorantino is from Queens and the
engineer's, Caleb Twombly, fiancŽ was in town. The crew also ran an open house
for those passing by. Manhattan Sailing Club is the overall manager of North
Cove and they hosted PRIDE II handsomely. They also had a cocktail reception
aboard to share PRIDE IIâs visit with the neighbors and the clubâs membership.
This tone of sincere interest in what I call the working class traditional
sailing vessels, what many today refer to as tall ships, is new to North Cove
and comes about because of the Manhattan Sailing Club. PRIDE II and her like
provide novel sights for the New Yorkers mixed in with the more common, pristine
yachts that pass through. Meanwhile this welcome by North Cove provides PRIDE II
access to Manhattan for corporate and Maryland Government receptions. While we
did not have such receptions on this visit, we had had one back in June with the
Maryland Port Administration.
Baltimore Bound
Our departure from New York followed a familiar pattern as
our Boston departure. Another cold front was due and so I waited a day beyond
the schedule for leaving. With passage of the front, we had northerly winds
veering to NEârly as PRIDE II sailed out of New York Harbor and on down the New
Jersey coast to the Delaware Bay. In less than 24 hours PRIDE II was reaching up
the Delaware Bay in 30 knots of NE wind under only the foresail and the
staysail. She motored through the C&D Canal mid day on Friday October 6 and then
set only her reefed foretopsail to sail with the strong NE winds down the upper
portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Later, the crew struggled to set the foresail for
the last reach up the Brewerton Channel into Baltimore. Once that was set, they
struck and stowed the foretopsail. Under just the foresail, PRIDE II sailed up
to Fort McHenry arriving by 1800 hours. By 1900 hours the ship was tied up to a
ãhiddenä pier for a night of comfortable and secure rest before sailing PRIDE II
into the Inner Harbor shooting her cannons and signaling her arrival after a
successful summer in the Great Lakes.
Homecoming in Baltimore
Homecomings for PRIDE II follow a pattern. An arrival time
is established for the ship to be either tied up, if that is the priority, or to
be arriving at a certain time and vicinity for photo opportunities for the print
press and television cameras. Often both aspects are important. With all the
planning that goes into such a celebration - calls to media to be present for
the occasion, calls to the welcoming dignitaries or organizations to coordinate
details - the only thing that can call off such an event is dangerous weather.
The NE gale was not a problem inside Baltimoreâs Inner Harbor. So on Saturday
morning, Oct. 7, 2006, PRIDE IIâs crew set four lower sails and the square
foretopsail and tacked her around the Inner Harbor and shot off cannons to mark
her arrival. After starting to set sail at 0930, all sail was down again and
PRIDE II secured at Fellâs Point Broadway Street Pier by 1100 hours. A lot of
work in very short time! Then at 1300 hours it was open house to the public. It
rained all day - and in the afternoon it poured. There were not a lot of people
coming aboard. There were not a lot of people at the Fellâs Point Festival
either - but more there than boarding PRIDE II. So while the crew felt good
about a good job done executing PRIDE IIâs mission in the Great Lakes and
getting her home in fine and timely fashion, they celebrated the good feeling
alone. But Sunday was a different picture. The wet weather was gone and the day
was a cloudless blue sky with everyone and their great aunt out enjoying the sun
and PRIDE II and the Fellâs Point Festival.
Details about the Great Chesapeake By Schooner Race
Now we come to the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. This
is an event that is now 17 years old. Founded by Lane Briggs and friends of both
Norfolk as well Baltimore, the racers gather at Fellâs Point prior to the race
for the usual preparations. An extra excitement was in the air this year because
there was a new schooner in the race to meet PRIDE II. The curiosity concerned
which schooner would prevail - VIRGINIA or PRIDE II? In fact VIRGINIA was
coming to the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race for the second time in two
years. But PRIDE II was in Europe last year when VIRGINIA came the first time.
VIRGINIAâs second place across the finish line and 2nd in Class AA last year was
the basis for a lot of discussion about what she might be able to do with PRIDE
II this year. PRIDE II has variously won 3rd in class and 1st
in class, and on occasion has been First in Fleet as well First Overall in past
years. The talk of performance was friendly. In fact it could only be friendly.
The captain of VIRGINIA and two others of her crew were good and proud ex-PRIDE
II crew. We aboard PRIDE II knew that VIRGINIA could do very well against PRIDE
II. Considering the friendship of past and likely future shipmates in an
industry that makes its living providing opportunity to non or novice sailors
aboard the more traditional vessels, not to mention the real educational tenor
of virtually all the tallships missions, I am proud of the crews of both vessels
and other vessels for keeping the talk of the two vessels friendly and
encouraging, rather than descending to crass sport-trash-talk.
So with the obligatory pre-race partying and Parade of Sail
behind us, the race began off Annapolis in a near virtual calm from a dying
breeze out of the west. VIRGINIA had a slightly better start than PRIDE II by
about half a boat length. But at speeds of less than a knot, the success was not
in being first across, but in being close to the start and not being dragged
over the line prematurely by the ebb current. Those vessels with a greater
respect for that possibility held way back. But VIRGINIA and PRIDE II were right
up there with a few of the really light and semi-modern schooners when we all
heard the blast of the starting gun.
Not long after the start, the wind began to come from the
east very lightly. VIRGINIA was moving better than PRIDE II, in large part I
figure due to her headsail stays being more vertical and more widely separated
than those of PRIDE II, permitting VIRGINIAâs headsails to swing like a door in
the light breeze rather than hang like a curtain like PRIDE IIâs. With
VIRGINIAâs sails permitting the light breeze to pass by rather than be blocked,
she started to move ahead. But soon after its arrival, the east wind increased a
bit and PRIDE IIâs headsails lifted and she started to move along with VIRGINIA.
Not long after this, the wind veered to the SE and increased some more and PRIDE
II and VIRGINIA began moving at the same speed. PRIDE II was behind by 3-6 boat
lengths and a bit to leeward, but both vessels were pointing nearly the same.
With the wind out of the south, the whole fleet made its way toward the western
shore after going around Thomas Point Light House. VIRGINIA tacked somewhat
short of reaching the western shore but PRIDE II carried on. When PRIDE II ran
out of deep water, we tacked her and headed back to the SEârly. She crossed
VIRGINIAâs bow and we tacked her over to cover VIRGINIA. The air was still light
at around 8 knots and both vessels were making the same speed but PRIDE II
seemed to be pointing closer to the wind.
As PRIDE II and VIRGINIA made their way, I was anticipating
the wind veering further to the SWârly. This soon began to happen and as both
vessels were closing in on the western shore, the wind came southwest and
VIRGINIA tacked first. PRIDE II tacked a moment later and both vessels pointed
down the Bay in a rising SWârly breeze. VIRGINIA did not point as high as PRIDE
II hence she was going faster than PRIDE II. I kept PRIDE II going to windward
because it was necessary to weather the shoal at Sharpâs Island some distance
down the Bay. PRIDE II was speeding along at about 7 knots hard on the wind
while VIRGINIA was making 8-8.5 knots almost 10 degrees further off the wind
than PRIDE II. Eventually the reality of their course not weathering Sharpâs
Island came to roost and they pointed up higher to weather that shoal. But she
wound up pinching and slowing down and PRIDE II went ahead of her again while
making good speed hard on the wind which by this time had reduced again to about
8 knots true strength which meant she was making about 5-6 knots compared to
VIRGINIAâs 4-5 knots.
As dusk fell, the fleet was spread between the lead boat,
WOODWIND near Cove Point and ahead of the next boats by at least 5 miles, to the
largest boat in the fleet, GAZELA OF PHILADELPHIA, all the way back at Thomas
Point Light. PRIDE II and VIRGINIA were sharing a position of 4th and
5th in fleet with some of the smaller racing class schooners. Then
the cold front arrived.
The cold front was fairly mild. It was dry and did not have
thunder clouds or violent winds. Still, with an increase from 8 knots to 25
knots and a change of direction from SW to NW and N, the onset of the new winds
after dark provided some excitement to the fleet. PRIDE II got early warning of
the coming winds through listening to the NOAA radio weather reports giving wind
directions and strength around the region - Wilmington, Delaware had 20-25 knots
from the NW and BWI Airport had 17-22 knots from the NW. But PRIDE II also
experienced a warning when the light winds began shifting from close to the bow
at an angle of 30 degrees to 60 degrees for a minute or so, then to 90 degrees
for another minute, then to 120 degrees for another minute. Being a schooner, it
is more important to ease the mainsail first, so we were well on our way to
having the mainsail eased all the way out for the new wind direction from on the
quarter when we got the first gust. Because the first gust was more northerly,
to avoid an unplanned gibe, we steered a little more to the right - toward the
SW - at first. This was quickly determined as unnecessary when the new wind
settled into a NW breeze. With the mainsail already out, it was merely a matter
of correcting our heading to keep to the race course down the Bay and adjusting
the other sails. Once those sails were adjusted and the studding sail was set,
we had about four hours of fast reach sailing right towards the finish line.
Meanwhile we could see that the initial gusts had affected some of the boats in
our vicinity differently than we had been affected aboard PRIDE II. Behind us
VIRGINIA spent a minute or two going straight west. Ahead of us the racing yacht
schooner WHEN AND IF did the same thing. While they did those things, PRIDE II
raced ahead.
Around midnight, PRIDE II made Smith Point Light House at
the lower lip of the entrance to the Potomac River. The wind had been veering
towards the north which meant PRIDE II could no longer reach with all sail
pulling. Instead she had to go dead downwind. Doing this means PRIDE IIâs
mainsail blankets the foresail and the jibs. When they are blanketed, PRIDE II
usually slows down because of the loss of sail area available to the wind. Going
wing & wing is not easy because of PRIDE IIâs extreme rake. In stronger winds it
is possible - and so we experimented with going wing & wing. With 20 odd knots
of NNW wind, as we approached Smith Point Light the experiment worked - after a
fashion. But with the wind as strong as it was, PRIDE II did not lose a lot of
speed because of her square sails. She lost some speed. But not enough to force
us to sail her down wind through a series of reaching legs with gibes in
between. So we sailed straight to the finish line without worrying too much
about going wing & wing and watched VIRGINIA slowly reduce the nearly 5 miles
distance we had achieved when we had been reaching. By the time PRIDE II crossed
the finish line, she was about 3 miles ahead of VIRGINIA.
The big surprise for me in this race was passing the lead
semi-modern schooner WOODWIND. During the lighter winds out of the south and
southwest in the early part of the race, she and ADVENTURER 65, both staysail
rigged schooners with jib-headed mainsails, had been leading the fleet down The
Bay. At sunset WOODWIND was in fact out of sight ahead - I estimate she was more
than 5 nautical miles ahead of PRIDE II. Whenever one is chasing another
well-sailed vessel, it takes a very long time and a lot of distance to close the
distance and pass. I never assumed PRIDE II would cross the finish line before
WOODWIND after she had achieved such a long lead. But as the finish line got
within 3 miles, it became evident to me that somehow PRIDE II had gotten pretty
close to or maybe even passed WOODWIND. The confirmation of this was the fact
PRIDE II was the first vessel in the fleet to call the ãfinish line race
committeeä by radio with our actual finish time. It was more than 15 minutes
after our call that WOODWIND called in her finish time and less than 10 minutes
later VIRGINIA called in her finish time. This order of radio calls and the
times that were called in confirmed that PRIDE II was the first vessel to cross
the finish line. Not only had she managed to lead VIRGINIA across the finish
line in the first race between these two magnificent sailing ambassadors, PRIDE
II had also managed to finish ahead of the very quick and well sailed, smaller,
semi-modern vessels that usually lead the fleet to the finish. There was good
reason to feel elated with the performance of PRIDE IIâs crew, without whom no
master of PRIDE II can sail her faster than another well sailed schooner.
Postscript - Drydock in Portsmouth, VA
It has taken me a week to write the above. In the meanwhile
PRIDE II has been hauled out of the water for a bottom cleaning, inspection by
USCG and general hull caulking maintenance before new bottom paint is put on
before re-launching. The racing glory is over and for all hands it is days full
of caring for the ship we depend on for our livelihood, our safety and comfort.
I will share more about our dry-docking in a future log.
Cheers
Captain Miles |
