Oct 25

Forecast: 10 to 15 knots from the North East: waves 1 to 2 feet.

We had been warned not to cross the mouth of the Potomac if the winds were from the West as the waves could be very confused and large. The forecast wind direction was good.

I thought it was quite nice that someone sent out a fire boat just to give us a farewell.

Our friends on the Island Trader do not like following seas because, with their broad motorboat transom, they tend to slew about. Shortly after leaving the harbour, however, we radioed them that the conditions were exactly as advertised and probably would not be too bad. Fortunately, they ignored our advice.

We hit 12.5 knots that day! Maybe we should rename our boat the Scalded Cat! I had no idea she was that quick. Imagine, 12.5 knots in 10 to 15 knots of wind and waves of 1 to 2 feet!

Now it is possible that our knot meter is a tad optimistic at those speeds – but it also averages over 8 to 10 seconds so our peak speed may have been higher than registered. The 10 to 15 knot figure was pretty suspect. Also, I could swear that standing at the steering station, where my feet are about 3 ½ feet above the water line, some of the waves were pretty well level with my eyes. For measurements of speed, the forecasters must be using Mario Andretto, for whom anything less than about 100 mph is just plain slow. They must also be using someone with Texas sized feet to estimate wave heights. I guess many units are different between the US and Canada (e.g. gallons, dollars), so why should knots and feet not be different?

Crossing the Potomac was interesting. At the two edges of the river, there seemed to be a number of large waves moving in odd directions that clearly were not wind driven. We have some other friends (the Manta 42, the Great Catsby) who elected to head for Tangier Island (East coast), avoiding the mouths of both the Potomac and then the Rappahannock as they headed for Norfolk. Perhaps they were wise.

We followed another cat into Reedville. The anchorage is very well protected, but what a smell as you pass the fish processing plant!!

There, Lee and Sherry invited to join them for dinner. What a great idea!