New Chesapeake/Potomac Sailor

SteveP

Member
I just picked up my Capri 14.2 (1986 Hull #977) this past week. I have some work to do on it before I can get it out on the water but I am very excited about sailing in the Chesapeake (Sandy Point, Baltimore), the Potomac (I'm thinking about using the ramp in the park at the end of the runway of Reagan Airport) and hopefully my first voyage will be the first weekend in April on Lake Anna (the warm side.) I have really enjoyed reading all of the articles on this forum and will try to add a few as I have some of my own experiences to share.
 
Steve - Just inherited a 14.2 and will be keeping it at the Washington Sailing Marina. Don't have a ton of experience on the boat or on the Potomac, but it would fun to go putz around with another 14.2!
 
Phillies2008:

Congratulations! I look forward to getting out on the Potomac and would be happy to get together with you to "putz" around. My plan is to launch from the public ramp at the north end of the runway of Reagan National Airport. However, if you let me know what it costs to launch from the Marina maybe we can get together on a Saturday morning.

BTW you might want to check out the following website if you aren't already safe boater certified (http://www.boaterexam.com/usa/districtofcolumbia/regulations.aspx)

I look forward to getting together with you.
 
Saturday (22 June 2013) was a beautiful day to be sailing. I loaded up the boat and headed down to Gravelly Point Park (at the end of the runway of Reagan National Airport.) The wind was steady at 5-10 mph. Of course the wind was even stronger at the boat ramp/dock as the jumbo jets took off and landed at the airport. I took the iron sail with me and used it to manoeuvre out of the inlet that led from the dock to the river. I sailed down wind to the bridge where the metro train crosses the Potomac (near the Jefferson memorial.) The bridge is too low to get the mast under so I turned and begin tacking up wind. I stayed along the north/east shore until I came to the end of Hains Point. I then got out of the main boating channel and crossed over toward the airport. When I started around 8:30am there were a few fishing boats on the river. As the day progressed I saw a number of sailing boats (most coming out of the marina) and then came the power boats (with the large wakes) and the tourist boats. The power boats and tour boats stayed mainly in the channel so I tried to sail as far away from the channel as possible. I sailed up past the NRL facility and made it to the pier in Alexandria. It was around 11:30am so I turned and headed back to the boat ramp. The wind had been good up until I started to head back. I was able to go wing on wing for a while but then the wind died down a bit and I had to watch for the ripples on the water to find the wind. At one point I looked behind the boat and saw the mast float that I had attached to the top of the mast floating in the water behind me. I had attached the float with a carabiner which must have come open from the float moving back and forth in the wind. I circled around and was able to retrieve it. I will replace the carabiner with an “O” connector that screws together on the next trip. As I slowly made my way back to the boat ramp I kept thinking I should start up the iron sail but then some wind would come up and I would sail a little further. When I made my final turn to head into the ramp the wakes from the power boats were pushing me along as well as the wind. As I entered the channel I dropped the main and sailed in using the Jib alone, which was plenty of sail given the wind from the jet engines. I was out of the water and headed home by 2pm. A wonderful four and half hours of sailing on a beautiful day.
 
Steve - Just inherited a 14.2 and will be keeping it at the Washington Sailing Marina. Don't have a ton of experience on the boat or on the Potomac, but it would fun to go putz around with another 14.2!
I was out on the Potomac today and ran past another Capri 14.2 around noon (just south of the Marina entrance.) I was running north against a rather strong wind with the sails down and using the iron sail to see how well it would perform going against a head wind and current. Were you out on the river around noon today?
 

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