• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Pride of Baltimore

America's Star-Spangled Ambassador

Header Right

Main navigation

  • Come Aboard
    • Deck Tours & Day Sails
    • Guest Crew
    • Charters & Receptions
    • Special Events
  • Pride of Baltimore II
    • History of Pride
    • Original Pride
    • Comparing the Ships
    • Ports of Call
    • Where is Pride II?
    • Captain’s Log
  • Education
    • What Is a Tall Ship?
    • Baltimore Clippers
    • War of 1812 History
    • Privateer History
    • STEM+H Education
    • The Port of Baltimore
  • About Us
    • Board of Directors
    • Captain & Crew
    • Staff
    • Sponsors/Partners
    • Community
  • Donate

Archives for October 2009

Windy, Wet and Dark race down the Chesapeake Bay

The sail down the Chesapeake Bay during the 2009 Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race for PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II was…in the end…a rather rewarding sail. True, it was cold and wet and very dark, so everyone aboard was really glad when it was over. But having it be over and be the first schooner in the fleet to cross the finish line turns the cold, wet, darkness and tiredness of not much sleep magically into no matter at all!

For fast schooners, getting across the finish line first is the holy grail of the strongly competitive sailor. It is a clear and unequivocal statement of speed for all of the racing fleet to see. There is no rating rule and no handicap. Just pure, powerful boat speed and smart schooner handling.

But handicaps and ratings are wonderful things as well. Complicated as they are, they do provide a leveling out of all the schooners, big and small, such that honest efforts to sail well can be recognized. While PRIDE may have reached the finish line first, within her class of larger schooners LADY MARYLAND bested her on handicap time and won 1st place in Class AA. PRIDE managed 2nd place and VIRGINIA managed 3rdplace. The corrected time difference was only five and a half minutes between LADY MARYLAND and PRIDE (PRIDE actually finished almost two and a half hours before LADY MARYLAND…see what I mean about handicaps and ratings?). Reviewing how PRIDE sailed down the bay, it is very hard for me to identify how we could have sailed faster/better to make up that small five and a half minutes. Maybe we could have saved 2 minutes at the start…we were that late. Still we were the first big schooner across the starting line. I do not know how far behind LADY MARYLAND was at the start…I was too busy working with the crew to get PRIDE’s sails up, after starting with only half her sail area, to look around at the rest of the fleet. Whatever LADY MARYLAND’s starting position was, Captain Mike (Sinker) McCreery is a long standing professional mariner and an alumnus crew member of PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II from the late 1990’s. He and is crew of students did a magnificent job sailing down the bay and capturing PRIDE’s time allowance to LADY MARYLAND.

So, why did PRIDE start with only half her sail area up? Got a minute while I explain? It is not a simple answer. (It never is, some would say, whenever I am explaining:-)]

The key reason is the strength of the wind at the start. It was between 20 and 25 knots. The start line was arranged as a downwind start. Meaning it was oriented west to east across the bay because the wind was from the northeast, making for a downwind start. Normally a moderate wind of 10-15 knots permits all sail to be set aboard PRIDE and as she is maneuvered by her captain to try and get a good start the crew can easily handle all of PRIDE’s numerous sails and large sail area. But with more than 20 knots the job of tacking and jibing and trimming sail becomes exceedingly hard for the crew. Reefing is possible aboard PRIDE, but I knew we would not need any reefing once PRIDE was pointed down the bay with the wind from behind. It takes many long minutes to put in a reef and almost as many to shake a reef out. PRIDE handles pretty well with just the foresail and the staysail in winds of 20 to 25 knots, so we maneuvered near the start with only those two sails.

As it became less than ten minutes to the actual start we had managed to maneuver PRIDE into a running start position short of the start line and the crew turned-to and set the square topsail, followed as quickly as possible by the jib and the jib topsail. By then PRIDE was over the start line and accelerating down the bay. Quickly as possible the mainsail was set. With that sail up the real power machine of PRIDE’s rig came into play and we soon became the second vessel in the fleet, with only WOODWIND ahead of us. But there is still more sail to set! Quickly the topgallant sail was set and so too the main gaff topsail was set. A little more speed was gained. One more sail left to set…the studding sail. But it quickly became apparent that the wind was just a bit too strong for that sail…so we quickly struck it again and waited to set it if conditions ever reduced enough, which they did a couple of hours later.

Could we, had we enough additional crew, been able to save five and a half minutes at the start by having the mainsail and jib set before the start? I do not think so. So congratulations to Captain McCreery and the crew and students of LADY MARYLAND! They sailed the 2009 Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race very well indeed.

Cheers,
Jan C. Miles, Captain aboard Pride of Baltimore II

PRIDE leads Chesapeake Bay race fleet accross finish line…

Pride and her crew managed to get a pretty good start in the 2009 Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race, which enabled her to lead her southern Chesapeake Bay sister Virginia over the finish line. Pride crossed at 03:43:20 Friday morning, October 16, 2009.

Virginia was in hot pursuit of Pride for all but the last 8 nautical miles of the race. After the start Virginia drag raced between 0.5 and 2.5 miles behind PRIDE at speeds between 7 and 11 knots.  Eventually Pride was able to extend her lead and finished about 45 minutes ahead of Virginia.

The race down the bay was cold and wet with on again off again heavy mist. All hands were awakened for the finish line crossing to help get all sail in and stowed. After tidying the ship up this morning all hands will be standing down for the day.  Then we just wait for the rest of the fleet to come in and the final results to be tallied.

Cheers,
Jan C. Miles, Captain aboard Pride of Baltimore II

Penned in at the Annapolis Sailboat Show

Wx: Calm, Clear and glittering with shiny new boats

Today marks the official kick off of the 40th Annual Annapolis Sailboat Show, and Pride II is definitely “in” the show. Tied up on the North Side of the Sailing Hall of Fame Dock, we’ve got Catalina’s to the left of us, dozens of dinghies to the right, and a veritable city of floating docks, daysailers, overnighters, multi-hulls, and schooners astern. This morning the Press and Trade Show starts the event, and Pride II is looking ready. Since weaving through the obstacle course of pilings and docks to secure on Monday evening, we’ve been working on freshening up the paint and varnish. Pride II’s transom, particularly, will be on center stage, as floating dock “A1” will lead people within feet of it all weekend. So the rail has a fresh coat of varnish, the Maryland Shield and Homeport carving are newly painted, and the carved, gleaming gold-leaf letters of her name have been brought to full luster. I dare say she shines as bright at 21 years old as any of the flashy new launched boats around her.

Signed,
Jamie Trost, Captain aboard Pride of Baltimore II

At anchor off the US Naval Academy, Annapolis

Wx: Wind West Force 1, Clear, Full Moon

Pride II just had the kind of sailing day that gets people hooked. The kind of sail that stands as a benchmark for measuring a whole seasons worth of sailing days. We boarded passengers at Broadway Pier in Baltimore and set sail just off Fells Point, the very place Pride II’s sister Baltimore Clippers were built. With the breeze West Northwest and fresh, we sailed out the Patapsco River under the Foretop’s, T’Gallant, a pair of heads’ls and the Stuns’l, eventually cracking on everything else before we reached the mouth of the Magothy River, and charging her up to 10.7 knots. A few tufts of fair weather cumulus speckled the glitter on the Bay. The day was warm, perfect Chesapeake Autumn, even as we hardened up on the wind sailing through the Bay Bridge and taking in the stuns’l.

Standing in toward the mouth of the Severn River the freshening breeze had us wetting the deck to leeward and shortening sail. Gaff tops’l in, T’gallant in. Still, with time to spare before our scheduled arrival in Annapolis at 1600, we threaded through the Sunday afternoon yacht races, and reached Pride II south to Thomas Point Light. In doing so we sailed the most recognizable mobile icon of the Bay past the most notable stationary one. Our total passage from Fells Point to Thomas Point was under three hours – an average speed of over 9 knots. Even the multi-hull sailboats were having trouble keeping up!

Eventually, reluctantly, we took in sail and prepared to come alongside in Annapolis. We had a short while to tie up and disembark our passengers, among them Tiffany Smith, a familiar face along the Baltimore waterfront who has volunteered and served as winter-maintenance crew for the past two and a half years. This was her first day of sailing aboard Pride II, ever. “I can see why you guys do this,” she said while she stuck around to help furl and stow before we went to anchor off the Naval Academy. And while she wouldn’t buy it when I tried to sell her the line that every day we were out of Baltimore was just like this one, she was right. One day in a hundred of charging Pride II along in all her power, all her incredible grace might just be enough keep us all going. But we’ll sure hope for more.

Signed,
Jamie Trost, Captain aboard Pride of Baltimore II

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Pride of Baltimore and National Park Service Partnership Will Bring Pride of Baltimore II to More Families Around the Chesapeake Bay
  • Honoring a Cornerstone of Pride of Baltimore
  • An Agent of Change: A Letter from Our Board Chair
  • Long-term “Pandemic 2020” Layup
  • To Sail Another Day

Recent Comments

  • Pride of Baltimore In Ordinary October 31, 2020 – Baltimore Shipspotting on Long-term “Pandemic 2020” Layup
  • Steve Lossing on Captain's Day Off
  • Bob Little on CBMM: Home Away from Home
  • Lynell Fleming on Homeward Bound
  • hans lorek on Paradise Near and Far

Archives

  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • March 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009

Categories

  • Captain's Log
  • Featured
  • General
  • Press Releases

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Read the Book

Support PRIDE! Purchase Pride of the Sea using the button below and Pride of Baltimore will receive a portion of the proceeds. Your purchase price will not be affected.

Amazon Button (via NiftyButtons.com)

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.