| Date: August 14, 2002 | Summary: Return from Nantucket. | |||
| Crew: Curtis. | ||||
| Comments: Wind was variable in strength and from the southwest. Wind was mostly 6-8 knots, about 10 knots prior to 10:30, very weak 11AM to 12:30, over 10 knots 12:30 to 1PM, weakenning from 1PM to 3:30PM to under 5 knots, then suddenly becoming about 20 knots in late afternoon. Visibility was 2-3 miles in haze, improving somewhat in afternoon. Seas were reported to be 1-3 feet and at times were near flat. Morning progress was very good, with favorable current and surfing on a broad reach from 9AM to sometime after 10PM. Light wind but favorable current pushed Remote Access through Polluck Rip. Near noon water was flat and wind near calm. Due to calm conditions, and improving wind, Pollucks Rip was exited at RN"6", cutting across Bearse Shoal toward RW"C". Progress was best 12:30 to 1PM, reaching 6.8 knots (according to the GPS) on a broad to beam reach with favorable current. The reverse course of the prior day's 11 hour sail took only 5.5 hours (mooring to anchorage was 15 hours, anchorage to mooring was 8 hours). Due to ebb current in Pleasant Bay and diminishing winds, the motor was used from just outside the Chatham Break to about just beyond Aunt Lydia's Cove. Sails were raised due to sudden appearance of strong and gusty winds more than capable of offsetting the current. When crossing Pleasant Bay, winds had reached 20 knots and Remote Access was significantly overcanvassed with no reef set. Strong wind made picking up the mooring difficult. First attempt was under sail. Two attempts under power were needed. The first fell short due to the wind stopping forward progress just prior to reaching the pickup buoy with temporary loss of steerage resulting in a miss. | ||||
| TIME | BEARING/FIX/OBSERVATIONS/COMMENT | COURSE | TIME | |
| 0830 | weigh anchor, head for main part of harbor and channel | -- | -- | -- |
| 0900 | exit harbor on a broad reach with good surfing | C 010M | (84 min) | 1.4 hours |
| 1024 | GC"15", wind variable (died, then picked up) | C 080M | (48 min) | 0.8 hours |
| 1112 | RN"12" | C 090M | (6 min) | 0.1 hours |
| 1118 | low wind, too lumpy for wing and wing | C 030M | (6 min) | 0.1 hours |
| 1124 | low wind, hard to keep jib full | C 150M | (6 min) | 0.1 hours |
| 1130 | wind died, enough for manuevering only, progress helped by current | C 030M | (6 min) | 0.1 hours |
| 1136 | need to avoid Tide Rips | C 150M | (9 min) | 0.15 hours |
| 1145 | headed for RN"10" | C 030M | (9 min) | 0.15 hours |
| 1154 | reached RN"10", wind light, water flatter, trying wing and wing | C 090M | (6 min) | 0.1 hours |
| 1200 | very light wind, strong following current | C 030M | (9 min) | 0.15 hours |
| 1209 | approximately at RN"8", near calm, water near flat | C 120M | (15 min) | 0.25 hours |
| 1224 | approximately at RN"6", wind improving, gentle swells | C 120M | (3 min) | 0.05 hours |
| 1227 | wind improving, exiting Polluck Rip, crossing Bearse Shoal | C 350M | (6 min) | 0.1 hours |
| 1233 |
wind beomes 10+ knots, beam reach toward RW"C", GPS reports 6.0-6.8 knots, fun ride |
C 010M | (33 min) | 0.55 hours |
| 1306 |
GPS fix N 41° 36.408' W 069° 56.355' off Monomoy, 1 mile east of cut |
-- | (24 min) | 0.4 hours |
| Hove to for lunch. It took some time to heave to correctly. Sailed upwind slowly until correctly hove to. Visibility improved. Nice view of Monomoy and small fishing craft but the cut is not visible. | ||||
| 1330 |
GPS fix N 41° 36.877' W 069° 56.803' lunch over, wind lighter, < 10 knots, broad reach |
C 030M | (3 min) | 030 hours |
| 1333 | try wing and wing | C 060M | (6 min) | 0.1 hours |
| 1339 | too much swell for wing and wing, back to broad reach | C 030M | (9 min) | 0.15 hours |
| 1348 | short jibe to keep distance from shore | C 090M | (6 min) | 0.1 hours |
| 1354 | heading straight for RW"C" according to GPS | C 030M | (27 min) | 0.45 hours |
| 1421 | reached RW"C", wind dying again | C 030M | -- | -- |
| Continued on broad reach until near the Chatham Break. Wind continued to die. Started motor before approaching the first midchannel marker. Motored into channel. Strong ebb tide. Wind picked up strongly after Aunt Lydia's Cove. Killed motor and sailed from their against the current. Wind grew to about 20 knots. | ||||
No photos were taken this day. Photos taken on the previous day (on the way out to Nantucket) and a brief narrative are available on the August 2002 page of the Photo Gallery pages, under Nantucket Solo.