Jonathan Quebbeman

A November singlehand sail on a ‘sprightly’ day. Blowing 15 with gusts 20+. Should have put that reef in earlier, but instead tried to do it while heaving to. Was a good exercise to do this while sailing single hand. My first attempt and some good lessons learned of trying to control the main to allow me access to the mast to lower and prepping for the outhaul. While running down wind, also had my first full on accidental jibe. I’ve jibed hard before, but could see it coming. I thought I had a good wind angle but the sail caught and the boom came by hard. Fortunately was low enough and no strike or damage, but still scary. Picked up the mooring, took a deep breath, and then started boat decommissioning for the season. Hoping for a haul this week… been a great season, and looking forward to the spring already!

Had an itch to get out and sail… nice breeze out of the northwest, and no one out there except for a single wind surfer… not something we see very much. Sailed off the mooring, enjoyed a couple tacks in a relatively constant breeze, and even hove to for a quick break. Tried to sail onto the mooring. Stalled the boat about 5ft too short, so had to pick up sail again in the mooring field. Always fun. Able to tack it over and grabbed the stick, but was too far forward with sails up, loose jib. Hooked the stern cleat and moored backwards. Brought the main on to take pressure off and dropped it. Then ran a line from forward cleat to the stern and walked it back to turn the boat the right way. Not pretty, but works. Nice fall day on the water…

Early morning and a long sailing day. Massachusetts Bay was really dolly with following seas and wind over our quarter. 2-3m seas and really steep with a short period. Some waves breaking over the stern quarter. Saw what I believe was a sunfish. Floating on the top of water and then raised a fin of some sort. Also pretty sure I saw a whale. It was big, dark, had a fin and crested out of water. Sailed through the bay and then transited through the Cape Cod Canal, which was neat. Motored our way through Buzzards Bay and picked up a dock in Padanaram. Refueled, watered, met some of Pete’s friends and had a great dinner at the Sail Loft. Great sail, great day on the water, great company, good times.

Perfect winds out of west for a beam reach all day. Reached 30 kts, but generally 15-20 all day. Amazing sailing. Waves reached up to 2m later in the day as we approached Mass. All crew did well and had a great dinner at our mooring.

What a day! Super quiet morning with 0 wind. Got an early start and motored for the first half. Wind picked up as we made south and started to round west. Great sailing into Casco Bay, my old stomping grounds with kayaking, but great to see it from a sailboat. Entered Peaks island next to Cushing Island, grabbed a mooring, quick swim, steak and potatoes dinner, and good time with the gents. Tomorrow will be a lay day with poor weather, but expect to explore Peaks a bit. Another great day on the water.

Start of a multi day voyage down the coast. Morning departure with winds directly head on. A bit of motor sailing with iron wind, but a gorgeous day on the water. Couple seals, porpoise, and good times. Skipper of Pete Wells and crew of myself, Ted, and Aiden. Good times!

Annual regatta! Mark, Lisa, Renee crewing. Winds shifty, and then a piece of hardware connecting main sheet to the boom snapped! Loud and no one hurt. Fixed with a new bolt and continued the race. Winds died a few times, stalled, fought the currents with an ebbing tide, but finished strong. Second place in the pocket cruiser class. Great race and had a blast out there.

Chartered day and I was support crew for Captain Mike. Two groups. Light winds but got some decent sailing in. Porpoises, seals, loons, good day on the water.

First saltwater sail for Two Girks! Wind was supposed to die down, but it turned south and had a nice blow arias the harbor! Great sailing and still getting used to her handling, gusts, balance, etc. Great sail. Loved every minute. Then, Renee and Avery met me at the dock as I came in. Super sweet. Then… some trailer trouble, but that’s another story.

Afternoon skip work early sail with Renee. Pace is home sick with fever, so nothing too long. But such a beautiful Maine day, can’t not go sailing! Good winds, sailed off the mooring, sailed back onto mooring, a minor bit of motor sailing as things stalled while coming back in. Practiced heaving to a couple times. I forgot to run the sheets through the blocks… wondering why I was having a hard time winching and getting a good angle. Whoops. Couple porpoises and seals. All good!