Thursday

Severn River


0900, Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Left the Poquoson River with a following and freshening SSW wind, out bound into the Chesapeake. Out the inlet and turned north. Flying jib alone making five and one-half knots. Cruised up to and crossed the York River Channel, jibed our way around the York River Spit, then into Mobjack Bay.

A word or two on jibing and coming about.

If the wind is coming at you on the starboard side of the boat you are on a starboard tack. If on the port side you are on a port tack. Jibing and coming about are maneuvers employed to change the boat’s tack and thus its direction. When you come about the boat’s bow turns through the wind. When jibing the boat’s stern turns through the wind. Which maneuver you use is dictated by where your destination is with respect to the wind direction. If traveling to an “upwind” destination generally you come about. If to a “downwind” destination generally the maneuver is to jibe.  

In either case you are changing tacks (or yaks if you are traveling in Tibet).

In sailing to an upwind destination one generally tacks back and forth in a zig sag fashion. The same for jibing except you are traveling downwind. That is you jibe back and forth.

So we jibed up Mobjack Bay and turned left into the Severn River to one of our favorite anchorages, just off School Neck Point.

We took out little boat (dinghy) to shore for a brief walk and returned to cocktails, a simple dinner and early retirement.
Getting close to home.

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