Sailing on Cay of Sea: Continuing Homeward
Category: Sketchbook
Sailing on Cay of Sea: We start our trip home
Usually we are one of the last boats to leave the rendezvous of Watkins boat owners, but this year, my niece was getting married and I was going early to help my sister, so we left late Sunday morning as the other boats were going out for a sail.
Sailing on Cay of Sea: Saturday at the Watkins Rendezvous
Sailing on Cay of Sea: Friday at the Rendezvous
Most of the boat owners who participate in the annual rendezvous live in the Norfolk/Hampton Roads, Virginia, area and arrive at the host marina on Friday. If the weather is nice, they sail in, or if the weather makes the trip difficult, or the boat has some problems, they may drive to the site. But on Friday evening, we gathered at the wonderful porch at Dozier’s Marina, bringing chips and dip, finger foods, soft drinks, and wine to share while we catch up on each others’ lives for the past year.
Sailing in Cay of Sea: Arriving at the Rendezvous
This will be the last journal entry that may make you seasick. The rest of our trip was much nicer!
Watkins Rendezvous 2015 – Getting There
Every year since my husband retired, we join a group of other sailors who own boats made by Watkins. This is the first installment of my sketchbook record of our trip.
Shakedown Cruise, 2015
Every year we do a shakedown cruise before going off on an extended trip. It is a chance to make sure all the systems work and that we have everything on board that was taken off when the boat was put away for the winter. For example, the past two years we discovered on the shakedown cruise that our bed pillows were still on the guest bed at home, disguised as a permanent fixture. Other times we have forgotten such necessary items as matches for lighting the stove and a can opener. And no one wants to discover in the middle of the Bay that the plumbing doesn’t work right!
Sailing on Cay of Sea, 2015
Whenever I go out on our sailboat, Cay of Sea, I take along a sketchbook and my pens and pencils. I try to find something different to draw, something special about each voyage out on the Chesapeake Bay. It is now the end of June, and we put the boat back in the water some time in April, so I have some catching up to do.
Sailing on Cay of Sea: Overnight in the Rhode River
Another glimpse of our cruising days for you. Each time we go out I am concerned that I won’t find something different to sketch in my journal but my concerns haven’t been realized yet!
If you’d like a different perspective, here’s my husband’s post about this trip.
Sailing on Cay of Sea: A Stormy Overnight
We do check the weather before we go sailing. Because it is summertime, the report often includes a possibility of thunderstorms: smaller, unpredictable storms brought on by the heat and moisture, “pop-up storms”. Such was the weather prediction before we went on this overnight cruise.
I hope that you are enjoying reading about our travels as much as I am enjoying making this book!
