This past weekend we were at a club rendezvous on the Chesapeake Bay about 40 miles south of our home port. On Sunday morning, when we started North for home, the winds were light but unfavorable, so we were motoring. But they quickly built to 20-25 out of the NW, slowing us to a crawl. We unfurled half of our jib only, to approximate a storm jib, and were able to motor sail about due North at 6 - 7 kts. Great fun while it lasted.
But past the Bay Bridge, our course lay NNW, too close to the wind to sail. We didn't want to continue sailing North and end up on the eastern shore because we would then have to pound back through the chop that would have 15 miles of fetch. So we furled our jib, hugged the western shore for shelter and called on our trusty A4 to get us through. The winds built to over 30, with gusts up to 40. The NWS issued a Gale warning. The short steep 3 ft chop kept pounding us to a standstill, and I kept calling on the A4 to put out more and more. It performed like a champ, eventually running continuously at 2800 RPM (800 above our regular cruise) for hours without a complaint. This is just 300 short of our WOT. The temp ran a mere 2-3 degrees above our usual 180, but there was no other outward indication of just how hard our little gem of an engine was working.
Once back in our home creek and out of the weather, our usual 2000 RPM setting sounded like idle by comparison!
We arrived home safely without incident in time for dinner ashore.
But past the Bay Bridge, our course lay NNW, too close to the wind to sail. We didn't want to continue sailing North and end up on the eastern shore because we would then have to pound back through the chop that would have 15 miles of fetch. So we furled our jib, hugged the western shore for shelter and called on our trusty A4 to get us through. The winds built to over 30, with gusts up to 40. The NWS issued a Gale warning. The short steep 3 ft chop kept pounding us to a standstill, and I kept calling on the A4 to put out more and more. It performed like a champ, eventually running continuously at 2800 RPM (800 above our regular cruise) for hours without a complaint. This is just 300 short of our WOT. The temp ran a mere 2-3 degrees above our usual 180, but there was no other outward indication of just how hard our little gem of an engine was working.
Once back in our home creek and out of the weather, our usual 2000 RPM setting sounded like idle by comparison!
We arrived home safely without incident in time for dinner ashore.
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