Archives for October 2010

1100 Friday October 29, 2010
Moored in Chestertown, Maryland for Sultana’s Rig-down Weekend

The weather has come cool again…after being mid seventies. I find this notable for this time of year. Seems this fall we have been more warm than cold than during past falls. I have not heard any discussion of this in the news…so maybe this has happened before. It sure makes life aboard Pride II very comfortable! I remember more often being frozen down below at this time of year.

Pride II spent the last couple to three days sailing in the company of her little privateer sister Lynxbetween Cambridge, Annapolis and Chestertown. As I mentioned in an earlier log I am charmed by having two “Baltimore Privateers” sailing around the Chesapeake Bay at the same time in the 21^st Century. I hope all you readers are charmed as well. There is a friend of my wife Leslie’s that was at Sandy Point State Park Wednesday and caught a “mobile phone photo” of the two privateers passing through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It is actually a pretty clear shot of another iconic contrast of the modern and the old.

There are a couple of old phrases dating to the mid 1800’s…cracker jack ship…cracker jack sailor. I believe it came about during the heyday of the American Clipper Ship era. I am sure all of you know that a clipper ship is a ship-rigged sailing vessel that is very fast…i.e. it clips off the miles faster than other more common ship rigged sailing vessels. Pride II is a clipper schooner…i.e. it is a schooner rigged very fast boat for her represented period. To confuse things Pride II can also be described as a Baltimore Clipper…meaning it is a fast Baltimore built vessel. Leaving the listener with the chore of assuming what rig it was. For the purposes of the 1812 War, Baltimore built vessels used as privateers might be described as Baltimore Clipper Privateers.

In any event, cracker jack sailors were needed for crackerjack vessels because smart and gung-ho sailors, or sailors with bully-mates, were able to hand sail and rigging more smartly than aboard the regular sailing cargo vessel. Between two cracker jack vessels would be some serious competition to demonstrate a “smart” style and maybe a notable seamanship style that could create envy in other vessels’ crews.

Fortunately the sense of competition between Lynx and Pride II is not especially strong. More it is merely pride in their vessel than it is any attempt to show the other vessel as ‘less’ in some aspect. There is no place for showing-up our little sister any more than it would be friendly to have Pride II welcomed to the West Coast with effort to show her as less than her hosts.

We are here in Chestertown rafted alongside. Lynx is outboard of Pride II because she is smaller and it is not ‘proper’ to expect her to act as Pride II’s fender…although Lynx is strong enough to have Pride IIalongside should the occasion merit. In Chestertown is a gathering of several sailing vessels to celebrate the end of the sailing season in the Chesapeake Bay for the larger working vessels…hence the “rig-down” reference. These next three days will be spent with the visiting vessels parading under as much sail as possible in a very narrow winding river showing off and showing to the gathered crowds this last major traditional maritime weekend of the season. The crews mingle after hours and do a lot of waving back and forth between the vessels as they pass. Pride II and Lynx are not the only rafted vessels, so good neighborliness is being demonstrated and experienced throughout the fleet. With good weather the good comradeship is felt by all the public as well.

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

1000 hours Wednesday October 27, 2010
Anchored at Annapolis, Maryland
Rain and threat of thunderstorms
Wind southerly 10 to 15 knots with threat of higher in squalls

We remain anchored in Annapolis waiting on the weather. We are ahead of schedule for arrival in Chestertown tomorrow late afternoon. No reason to get underway in the current wet weather. So crew are deep into cleaning and maintenance. A shore errand is being run with the aid of past Guest Crew and Annapolis resident Goldwin Smith, who has on several occasions assisted Pride II with errands and even “sitting” Pride II when we had reason to try and get the whole crew to an appointment. Goldwin first sailed Pride II on her Atlantic Crossing of 2005. He speaks fondly of that sail and wants to do it again…in spite of the strong gale we experienced on that crossing. Friends like Goldwin are very special to PRIDE.

The Cambridge Schooner Rendezvous was a pleasant event for all due to great weather. For the previous two years running the weather was awful. But this last weekend the weather was near 70 degrees F and moderate and steady breezes of day sailing angled best to permit sailing along the axis of the Choptank River.

Cambridge, MD has a long maritime history due to being a somewhat large harbor with depth located deep into the Delmarva Peninsula. In the old days before trains and bridges the only way to get farm goods from the Eastern Shore to “The City” Baltimore was by water. When trains and eventually a good road system was developed, Cambridge remained valuable for getting oysters, clams and crabs to market and restaurants. But even so, with competition of efficiency in transportation modes, seafood could be moved directly from the fishing grounds to “The City” and it was not long before Cambridge as a “port” was seeing significant loss of commercial value while holding on to recreational boating interests. For thirty years or more this transition has been seeing more loss of value than increase of value. However recently, within the last 10 years, especially within the last 5 years, retirement home and second home interest has grown and that has led to a greater interest in Cambridge as a port. The Schooner Rendezvous is a new event that helps highlight the value of Cambridge as a port for both historical reasons as well recreational reasons. Pride II was welcomed as the icon she is by locals expressing great appreciation that she and the other schooners took the time and effort to make the rendezvous.

Sailing from Cambridge to Annapolis was very pleasant with a fresh southerly wind and near balmy temperatures. We had Pride II’s “little sister” Lynx in company the whole way. Two privateers of the 1812 War vintage in the same water is unique enough…but in the Chesapeake Bay brings back essences of what the bay scene must have offered way back then.

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

0800 hours Wednesday October 20, 2010

Moored alongside the Solomons Island Yacht Club pier.

It is raining and has been since 0315 this morning. It is promised to rain through much of the day. With such weather coming in today…yesterday I contacted our friends at the Solomons Island Yacht Club to see if they had space and willingness to permit PRIDE alongside last night in anticipation of the rain. Fortunately they were not full up and PRIDE was welcome. Today, after breakfast, I gave all aboard the morning off. Nothing much to do in the rain and there is a great maritime museum less than a mile away…the Calvert Maritime Museum.  Weather is expected to change late today and actually become pretty fresh from southwest to west tomorrow…which should make for a good and fast sail to Cambridge.

Over the years, Solomons Island Yacht Club has hosted PRIDE for those times when she visited to provide the opportunity for school groups to visit. It has been a number of years since PRIDE’s last visit. In the meanwhile the yacht club has done some major adjusting. They expanded and upgraded their clubhouse and re-did some of the main dock. I am most appreciative of their continued willingness to permit PRIDE alongside. Their dock is popular with other yacht club organization members looking for reciprocal docking and membership privileges. Pride of Baltimore, Inc. does not have facilities to reciprocate with…so the generosity and support of Marylander’s PRIDE by the Solomons Island Yacht Club is truly welcomed. 

Departing Norfolk Harbor on Monday the wind was favorably on the beam from the east so the crew and our new Guest Crew set all of PRIDE’s sail…including the studding sail…for a little while. The wind pushed PRIDE all the way to the Great Wicomico River, just south of Smith Point, the lower lip of the entrance of the Potomac River. We sailed in right up to the anchor at about 2100 hours. Wind near 10 knots from the ESE.

The Great Wicomico River is home to Reedville, Virginia and the Menhaden fishing industry. As PRIDE made her approach to the river she was overtaken by some five of the Menhaden fishing vessels on their way home. These are not small vessels. At least as long as PRIDE is. The Menhaden fish is used for several things including animal food and fertilizer.

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

DOCKSIDE PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA

 GREAT CHESAPEAKE BAY SCHOONER RACE RESULTS FOR 2010

The Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race awards were presented late afternoon yesterday. PRIDE was awarded the exquisite ship’s clock “LINE HONORS” award…recognizing that PRIDE was indeed the first boat in fleet to finish the race. PRIDE was also awarded 2^nd in Class AA,while the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point entry, SUMMERWIND, was awarded 1^st in Class AA.

There is a handicap for all of the schooners. While Line Honors is awarded to the first schooner to finish, the handicap establishes the fist three “winners” of the each racing class in the race based on a time allowance created from the handicap system. 3^rd in Class AA went to Privateer LYNX.

Handicaps are sometimes funny things. For instance LYNX was rated in such a way as she had to “give” time to SUMMERWIND. Meaning that in this race LYNX would have had to lead SUMMERWIND across the finish line by nearly an hour in order to actually place ahead of her. From the perspective of technological representation alone, such a rating where LYNX, a model of a 1812 War Privateer, gives time to the highly modified 1929 schooner yacht SUMMERWIND does not make sense. Even so, LYNX did very well to cross the finish line only 15 minutes behind SUMMERWIND.

Meanwhile the success of this schooner race is to be envied by all. It provides support to all things good about the Chesapeake Bay ~ Financial support to the Save the Bay Foundation; education of youth about schooners and the Chesapeake Bay; and mutually supportive community that spans the Maryland/Virginia border. The race also gathers what is the largest fleet of schooners in North America and maybe the world. What a remarkable legacy for all of us and thank you to the originator of the idea…Captain Lane Briggs…a most beloved character of the Chesapeake Bay from Tidewater Virginia.

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

Dockside Portsmouth, Virginia
Post 2010 Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race

It is just better than 30 hours after completing the 2010 Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. Most of that time I have been on my back catching up with sleep…no sleep for the race…which started at 1340 hours on Thursday and ended at 0250 hours Friday morning. Up at 0600 on Thursday, asleep for only a couple hour nap at 1000 hours Friday…a span of 28 hours…followed by another couple hour nap from 1600 to 1800…followed by a dead to the world sleep from 2100 to 0715 Friday night to Saturday morning. I feel human again. So seem the ship’s complement…but I do not think they slept as much as I did.

The weather forecast for the race suggested a “parade” of racing was in the offing. Meaning, once the order of start was established…there might not be much change to that order. In the end, that seems to have come to pass…more or less. PRIDE was able to achieve a good start and came out 2^nd in fleet parade order after the start…behind the well crewed Annapolis “hotrod” schooner WOODWIND. It took PRIDE half of the Chesapeake Bay to get by her…a vessel nearly half of PRIDE’s size. But with a much more modern underbody and construction…she is very fast…and very well sailed.

New to the race is United States Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, entry SUMMERWIND. A recently donated schooner yacht of 1929 designed by the venerable John Alden. She is being promoted as a “practical” experience training platform for Merchant Marine Cadets. (Agile and responsive sailing vessels are a really good addition to any maritime academy if anyone were to ask me). Updated with a very high-tech schooner rig with fully battened mainsail and foresail with squared off tops to her sails and a full suite of reaching sails like jenikers (radial head single luff spinnakers) and a gollywobbler (mainmast balloon staysail reacher…rigs like a fisherman between the two schooner masts and reaches all the way to the deck), she was an unknown entity. Let me say she is very fast. In size she is midway between WOODWIND and PRIDE. In the first third of the race she came up from behind during the reaching phase of the race and threatened to pass PRIDE. With conscientious attention to “blocking” strategies, PRIDE was able to force SUMMERWIND to jibe away. This gave PRIDE a chance to maximize her deeper reaching capability during the more downwind phase of the race to extend a lead upon SUMMERWIND.

Meanwhile not far behind was Privateer LYNX…also new to this race…did a decent job with her start…meaning she was not among the first to cross…she was right behind. This enabled her to capture the reaching winds and sail a direct course towards the finish…finishing within only one quarter or a third of an hour behind SUMMERWIND. Good job LYNX! By the way, her skipper is our own relief “partner captain” Jamie Trost. So it stands to reason LYNX would turn in a good performance.

Even though PRIDE had to spend time steering away from the centerline of the race course to attend to preventing SUMMERWIND from overtaking, PRIDE was able to speed down The Bay with the fresh and favorable winds and be the “first in fleet” to cross the Thimble Light Finish Line, more than an hour ahead of SUMMERWIND. But SUMMERWIND was not the second vessel to cross the finish line! It was the venerable WOODWIND from Annapolis! Hail to WOODWIND!

What was it like to sail PRIDE in this 2010 Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race? It was a lot of yelling and bellowing and rushing from one end of the ship to the other hurrying to get thousands of square feet of sail up in a very short time while trying to position the ship for a decent start in a day of constant rain ranging from drizzle to downpour with a 15 knot breeze…i.e. a fresh breeze. The “bellow and bark” from this captain and PRIDE’s mate is always a function of a race…especially near the start…but also due to lots of new hands aboard still becoming familiar with PRIDE. Once the start was accomplished the ordering was much more conversational and the work less constant…plus there was a pause in the wind as it began to morph from SE at 15 knots to NW’rly with virtual calm in-between. Still, there were intense and stunningly dynamic moments (the rain eventually passed and the late afternoon broken cloud sunlit sky painted everything beautifully) where PRIDE crew were standing-by to attend to sail when we were “jousting” with SUMMERWIND by steering ahead of her with the goal of blocking her efforts to pass PRIDE. Then there was the after mid-night, post half moon darkness when the wind rose to an erratically puffy 35 knots and also backed towards the west from northwest (wind more on the beam) and it was necessary to get sail down. First the main-gaff-topsail to reduce weather helm, then the studdingsail for reason of strength of wind, then the topgallant for angle of heel followed by double reefing the main and taking in the jib-topsail, followed by taking in the rest of the mainsail. Right afterward the wind moderated some, so the crew reset the jib-topsail because, with the wind more on the beam, it was the better choice than resetting any of the mainsail. All the above took about an hour and a half.

We do not know if PRIDE was able to “save her time” on those vessels of her class she led across the finish line. What we do know is that PRIDE was the first in fleet to finish…HAIL PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II.

Signed,
Jan C. Miles and the hard working, very proud crew of Pride of Baltimore II

Baltimore Photographer and Pride friend and supporter, Greg Pease was on a chase boat following the action for the first few hours of the race.  Here are some photos from the start.

 

 

Pride of Baltimore II moored at Denis Connor’s North Cove Marina next door to the World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York.

 A not-so-funny, but interesting thing happened on the way out of Boston en route to New York Harbor.

On Tuesday while PRIDE was sailing in Long Island Sound on her way from Boston to New York, I heard from PRIDE’s office staff (we were in cell phone range) that they had just received a call from a woman claiming to have recovered a name board with PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II carved in it with gold leaf letters.  I was informed that a discussion was ongoing about how to get the thing back to the ship. With a puzzled but resigned sense of reality from previous experience, I confirmed the thing to do was get the board to PRIDE’s office, while I walked to the bow with cell phone in hand to confirm that indeed one of two of PRIDE’s bow located name boards was missing. Yep…the starboard “trail board” was missing. Damn! Those things are not simple to create and they are not small…PRIDE is 100 feet long in her hull and her name is long…that name board is 6 feet long by nearly 2 inches thick with 10 inches of width and probably weighs 30 pounds!

Just minutes before I learned this news, the office received a call from Liz Buckley up in Hull Massachusetts, outside of Boston.  Liz had been out walking her dog (in the rain) on Nantasket Beach, where she came upon the name board that had washed up on shore.  Thinking “it looked like it came from a nice boat” Liz lugged the cumbersome board home.  Not being familiar with Pride of Baltimore II she did a web search and came upon PRIDE’s Facebook page and the office contact information.  After talking with Liz and getting her contact information, the office staff pondered how to go about getting this bulky object back to Baltimore.  It’s not an easy thing to pack up and ship.  In the age of social media, the first thought was to post a message to Facebook, while an alternate plan was drawn up.  The message read: 

“Pride of Baltimore IIlost one of her name boards off the boat last night. It washed up on Nantasket Beach in Hull, MA. It was found – thankfully – and is in safe hands in Hull MA, near Boston. Now we need to get it back…Anyone headed to New York or Baltimore that could make a detour to pick it up??? Just a thought.” 

Within 30 minutes, we had a positive response ~ Jerry Cross volunteered to pick it up and bring it to the office in Baltimore.  Turns out Jerry, who lives in the Norfolk, VA area, happened to be in Boston for the weekend for a Class Anniversary/Reunion.  And he grew up with Liz…small world.  Jerry would be heading back to VA on Wednesday and was happy to pick up the board outside of Boston and hand deliver it to our office, which is right off of I-95 in Baltimore. 

In the general excitement of the strange and interesting problem that the office staff was handling, it took a little while for certain information of interest to me to come to light, as well how to ship the board to the office. I did not learn that the actual beach of recovery was Nantasket Beach just south of Hull, Massachusetts until last night. This area represents the worst of PRIDE’s bouncing around during her departure from Boston Harbor and her struggle to get around Minot’s Ledge during Monday’s northeast gale offshore of Boston and the Cape. The board must have come off within the first hour of the two hour flounder out to Minot’s Ledge.

Overall this lost and found experience and how it played out speaks volumes of good citizenship and web based social networking. How hard it would have been just a few years ago for Liz to determine who/what PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II was? Plus, even if it was somehow quickly known what PRIDE was and that the name board needed to get to Baltimore, how realistic would it have been to spread the word and find someone in the area that would be making a trip through or near Baltimore was also in a position to hand deliver it to our office while passing by?

I feel coincidences and good citizenship are a very real and valuable part of our lives. It is entirely possible that in the days before the World Wide Web that such a thing as this could have transpired. But the odds would have been so much less likely and certainly would not have transpired nearly as fast. On behalf of the ship, her crew, her not-for-profit managing company’s supporting Board of Directors as well the staff, I do sincerely thank Liz and Jerry for both their good citizenship and their social networking!!!

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

0900 hours Tuesday October, 2010
Eastern Long Island Sound
NE wind 15-20 knots with constant mist
Sailing with foresail, fore-topsail, staysail, jib & jib-topsail

Strong onshore winds are not to be dismissed. Departing Boston yesterday presented the problem of dealing with a strong onshore wind and sea condition with the beguiling promise of an offshore breeze condition (and the smaller sea state provided by a lee from the land) after PRIDE passed through the Cape Cod Canal on her way to New York Harbor. 10 foot swells were coming at Boston Harbor yesterday. The imponderable was could we achieve a slant to them for the first 10 miles at which point we could turn and point PRIDE across the wind for the Canal. With the foresail set as a steadying sail and moving ahead moderately under power PRIDE was able to negotiate the 10 foot swells without dipping her long head-rig deeply into the sea. It dipped a little bit a number of times…but not once very deeply. Meanwhile as PRIDE plunged and gulped her way out to the turn point offshore of Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse, on the south shore from Boston, one of the Guest Crew became seasick. Eventually she went below and took the safe position of passed out in her bunk. From Monot’s Light turn point, with the aid of additional sail in the form of the staysail, PRIDE darted off at speed with the wind on the beam and the engines off. With the swell on the beam PRIDE’s motion was large but more regular than it had been when she was pointed 30 degrees to the swell. This was due to her increased speed and the extra sail area helping to keep her from rolling to windward in the large swells.

Timing PRIDE’s departure was based on a likely arrival time at the east entrance to the Cape Cod Canal. That canal has a reversing current capable of speeds up to 4 knots or more. It was out of the question having PRIDE arrive at the east entrance during a foul current because such a current would be running towards the northeast wind and sea swell…hence creating much greater sea swell at the entrance…not to also mention having to fight the foul current the length of the canal. There are two periods per 24 hour period that the canal current would be favorable. Yesterday the starting times were at 8 am or 7 pm. While we could have departed in the dark late Sunday night during the initial onset of the onshore wind and sea, I decided, based on several new crew and also the new Guest Crew, it was going to be better to depart in daylight. And that it was practical, in spite of the building overnight weather, to wait till midday Monday so as to arrive the canal after 7 pm. While the strategy worked, had the wind been stronger and the sea greater it would not have been wise to try and depart. But the plan worked just fine and by 9 pm PRIDE was transiting the Cape Cod Canal with the favorable current and the wind behind her.

Once out of the canal and into Buzzards Bay the engines were again turned off and PRIDE was sailed westward through the dark, wet and windy night across Rhode Island Sound, Block Island Sound and into eastern Long Island Sound. Recently the wind has moderated some and veered some toward the east, more behind PRIDE. With the moderation the square-topsail was set along with the jib and the jib-topsail. Meanwhile, the sea is smooth, making all aboard very happy.

Signed,
Jan C Miles and the comfortable in the L.I. Sound crew and guest crew of Pride of Baltimore II

Friday, October 1, 2010
Pride of Baltimore II dockside in Boston Harbor

The wind is briskly blowing from the south and the rain that fell in the Mid Atlantic is on its way to New England and Boston. The strategy of rushing out of Rockland and getting to Boston ahead of the low bringing wind and rain worked. Pride arrived to her secure berth at Rowes Wharf at 10 AM yesterday, some 2-4 hours ahead of the strong wind. Getting to Boston this far ahead of time presents the chance to provide some time off to crew. The last time they had any time off was two weeks ago during the Montreal Maritime Festival. There is also opportunity to do maintenance. Something that the crew do at any and every opportunity in order to keep Pride safe and ready to fulfill her long distance voyaging mission.

The Guest Crew that boarded in Montreal are not feeling robbed of any opportunity to sail. The sailing that was accomplished between the Pilot Station at Escumins and Rockland was completely rewarding. Overall the voyage was 1,250 nautical miles assuming no diversion from a direct route. Sailing to Rockland, Maine is only about 80 miles less than it would have been to Boston.  The 140 odd miles between Rockland and Boston only took 21 hours to motor. Added to the 30 motoring hours between Montreal and Escumins that was required with the Pilots makes a total of 51 hours of motoring in a voyage plan scheduled to last as much as 288 hours. This means the motoring represented 18% of the maximum overall voyage time. 10% of the voyage time was unavoidable due to the tight river and the length of the river that required having pilots aboard. So the Rockland to Boston motoring run consumed only 8% of additional voyage time under power. Overall 82% of the voyage time between Montreal and Boston was spent sailing or visiting places along the way, including the opportunity to visit Boston. Of all the nearly two dozen times Pride has voyaged out of the Great Lakes in her 23 years this trip has joined the less than half dozen that have consumed very little fuel and provided good sailing rather than a lot more motoring and a lot less sailing as a result of contrary or non-existent wind for the trip. While Guest Crew got the benefit of a good sailing voyage the crew and the ship are benefited by the opportunity to have personal time off as well extra maintenance time. One cannot expect a better voyage coming from Montreal to Boston at this time of year.

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

https://pride2.org/493-2/