NSHSA Fall Cruise
September 26 - October 4 September 30, 2015

The crews of Champagne, Contigo, Elsie's Phantasie, Silent Running and Windsprint left their respective home ports early on Saturday morning. We met Windrose in Solomons the nexy morning.

Day 1 - This year our trip started with an excellent sail directly to Solomons. We averaged better than 7 knots with the wind on our port beam for the entire day. We left our slips between 06:00 and 07:30 and were anchored in Mill Creek at Solomons at 16:20. The wind in the anchorage was a bit strong, so we limited the size of rafts.

Day 2 - We pulled anchor at 09:30. Champagne headed directly to St. Leonard's Creek and some of us headed to Spring Cove Marina, the location for next Summer's Hunter Rendezvous. After touring the facilities, Silent Running and Elsie's Phantasie headed to the next anchorage. The crews of Contigo and Windsprint elected to stay in Solomons for another day. The sail was pleasant with 10 knot winds from the NE. We decided to take everyone on Silent Running and tied up at the public dock atVera'sfor dinner. After eating, we headed back to the anchorage for dessert and to see the lunar eclipse. The eclipse was visible intermittently through the clouds.

Day 3 - On Monday we left the anchorage with the intention to head to Smith Creek, off of the Potomac. We got out to the Patuxent to find it completely calm and glassy, so we motored back to the mouth of the river, where the wind was decent. We put out the sails and started south. Unfortnately, as we sailed toward the target range, the wind began to die. After an hour the wind was down to less than 3 knots, so we were forced to turn back to Solomons. Contigo, Windsprint and Windrose decided to head to the Little Choptank after considering the weather forecast for the later part of the week. The remaining fleet took slips and got together for drinks at Kingfisher's to discuss the plans for the rest of the week.

Day 4 - On Tuesday morning, after reviewing the forecasts and wind conditions, we started north. We were able to sail for a few hours toward the Choptank before the wind died out. We motored to Baby Owl Cove, off of Broad Creek, where we anchored for the evening. The fleet was anchored and having happy hour on Silent Running when the rain began. The wind and rain increased in intensity and everyone battened down the hatches for the evening.

Day 5 - We left the ancorage on Wednesday with a target of Harness Creek to ride out the predicted wind and rain on Thurday. We sailed to the mouth of the Choptank, where once again the wind died completely. We started the engines and started north. As we motored in the calm waters, we decided to change our destination to Broad Creek, to minimize our trip in heavy weather on Thursday. Eventually, the fleet decided to just continue to our home ports and avoid the heavy weather that was predicted. Of course as we approached the Bay Bridge, the weather began to worsen, including rain and fog. The wind began to build from the north, eventually reaching 20+ knots. Elsie's Phantasie made their way back to Rock Hall. Silent Running and Champagne continued to motor back to Middle River to prepare for the coming storm, followed by Hurricane Joaquin during the weekend.We also got to see Jo-Lin-Dy making her way south for the winter s we were heading back.

Some additional photos from the cruise:

For the first time since we began hosting the Fall Cruise, we had to cut it short due to the weather conditions. We hope that is not something that repeats itself!

Bill