100 Mile Solo Qualifier Pics

Saturday Sunrise

Late Afternoon Ride with the Chute in Full Bloom

Sailing into the Sunset

On June 18-19, Moonbeam completed a 100 mile solo sail as a qualifier to the Lake Erie Challenge, a 320 mile solo race sponsored by the Great Lakes Solo Sailing society in late August. In order to enter the Challenge, applicants must pass muster on a number of items, including the 100 miler to show they are capable of sailing larger distances alone and safely. I started out in light winds, sailing to Barcelona Harbor, NY at a crawl of only 1-2 knots. From Barcelona, I headed to Conneaut, Ohio. As evening approached, the wind started picking up a bit and after sunset it was blowing pretty seadily at 14-16 knots. At night I reefed the main and jib to settle her down. Still, it was a pretty bumpy night with little sleep! I finally reached Conneaut around 0900 and turned around for the final leg back to Erie. The sailing was ideal with winds blowing steady on my starboard quarter, enabling me to fly the asymetrical spinnaker all the way back to Erie. I pulled into the harbor at approximately 1600 - mission accomplished!

USS ENTERPRISE Returning to Norfolk

Here's the USS Enterprise, CVN-65, steaming into the Chesapeake on its way back to port in Norfolk. From our location at the Cape Henry Inn at Fort Story, we get a bird's eye view of the ship traffic coming and going into Hampton Roads.

On the Waterfront at Hampton Roads

Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer USS Porter, DDG 78, at its berth at the Navy Station Norfolk, the largest U.S. Navy base in the world.

On the Waterfront at Hampton Roads

Here's a collier from Bangkok, Thailand loading up with coal at Norfolk. The harbor exports more coal overseas than any other U.S. port.

On the Waterfront at Hampton Roads

One of the several container ship terminals at Norfolk

On the Waterfront in Hampton Roads

While on vacation in Hampton Roads, VA, I had the opportunity to get out on the water and captured some scenes from the waterfront in the Port of Norfolk and from the beach where we stayed at Lynnhaven, situated just west of Cape Henry. I thought I'd post some of my pics for the fun of it. Here's the Liberian flagged NEDLLOYD HONSHU steaming out of Norfolk Harbor.

Finally Getting Underway

Shortly after Moonbeam was launched, I had the mast pulled in order to run the halyards through as well as to pull the old wind system off the top and wire up the new one. Last week, after re-stepping the mast, I got the sails bent on and took her through her sea trials. The wheel pilot and knotmeter interacts wonderfully with the wind system, giving me both true and apparent wind, and even allows me to sail full and by. In the pictures to the upper right, my friends from Serbia, Katarina and Dimitri, enjoy the waters of Presque Isle Bay as we went for an afternoon sail recently. Below that is a view from the bow looking aft of Moonbeam's first sail into the lake.