Pos. 38 58.6’N x 076 28.6’W

Wind SSE F 1

At Anchor in the South Anchorage, Annapolis Harbor

 Lynx rides on her port bower in perhaps the most historically & nautically significant harbor of the Chesapeake, if not the country. Less than half a mile off the starboard quarter is the United States Naval Academy – close enough you could hear the midshipmen and midshipwomen grunting out physical training before dawn this morning. 

Our arrival to Annapolis last night at dusk was classically nautical as well, sailing on to the hook in a crowded anchorage, just minutes after Pride of Baltimore II did the same. Coming up the Bay, we once again sailed in company with Pride II, after we broke up the “catamaran” of Baltimore schooners in Cambridge around 1300. Gusty Southerlies into the mid 30 knot range made leaving the Choptank River lively, but once out of the river and onto the Bay, we took advantage of Lynx’s split courses and sailed deep wind angles past the “leaning lighthouse” of Sharps Island, Bloody Point Bar Light and Thomas Point Shoal Light, some of the Bay’s most notable icons.

 As the outside boat in the raft-up in Cambridge, we got a head start on Pride II, but soon saw them gaining on us as we reached out of the river. But the split course is a great leveler for performance off the wind and allowed us to keep reasonable pace with Pride II once we bore off for Annapolis. By using the courses and taking in heads’ls, Lynx can effectively sail much further off the wind than most schooners, even with her extremely raked masts, which make it difficult to get, and keep, her booms sheeted out.

 In the Southerly breeze, the split courses allowed us to sail a much shorter distance toward Tolly Point (at the mouth of the Severn River) while Pride II was sailing higher wind angles, meaning further sailing distance. The end result must have made quite a sight from shore or on the river – two Baltimore privateers sailing together up the Severn to Spa Creek in the last glow of a gorgeous Chesapeake Autumn evening.

 Now the two sister Privateers are anchored within a quarter mile of each other. Not that such a distance seems close after this weekend. Not only were we rafted together throughout the Cambridge Schooner Rendezvous, but Saturday afternoon we had an thrilling daysail together. With both Lynx and Pride II under four lowers and their foretops’ls, Lynx got out ahead on a port tack, but was soon being overtaken by Pride II. As Pride II was looking to go to weather of us, I was reluctant to be shadowed by their rig without making them do a bit of work for it, so I offered only just enough room between the edge of the channel and Lynx. This “lee bow” position of Lynx meant that each time Pride II began to overlap us, the turbulence from our sails caused back winding and slowed her down.

 This was a great demonstration of the power such a position can give in a racing environment – as both boats were close hauled and near the weather edge of navigable water, Pride II had no where else to go except to try and pass through our lee, and could not get past us to weather because of the “dirty” air we were making. So for about 20 minutes, the two boats were close enough to have a casual conversation across the rails and in a nearly constant state of overlapping. At one stage the tip of Pride II’s jibboom was directly over my head as I stood at the helm. All this while making a constant speed of six to seven knots!

 Of course, none of this would have been comfortable or advisable without Captain Miles and I being extremely confident and trusting of each other’s boat handling. But it served as an excellent exercise for the crews of both boats to be on their toes trimming sail and ready to maneuver, as well as a way of gauging the trimming and steering aboard Lynx. And while this was not actually a race, it highlighted the value of racing as a way of maximizing the performance of our own ship by using the yardstick of another ship being sailed to maximum performance.

 Today there will be no performance tests for Lynx. We’ll sit tight doing maintenance, perhaps shift to shallower water over near the Academy in preparation for some gusty conditions – sailing in near dark we couldn’t be too choosy about our position – and get the crew ashore to see both Annapolis and the neighboring Maritime Republic of Eastport.

All best,

Jamie Trost and the crew of Lynx, at anchor off Annapolis

Pos. 38 34.5′N x 076 04.3′W

38 NM Run since weighing anchor off Solomons Island at 0700.

Barometer at 1020Mb and rising

Wind NNW F 3, Gusting 5

Rafted to Pride of Baltimore II at Long Wharf, Cambridge.

With little to note about Wednesday’s progress from the Great Wicomico River under power in the sopping rain, let’s pick up with the travels of Lynx again when she anchors in the relatively tight but extremely protected waters of Solomons Island, Maryland, just off the Patuxet River.

Where we anchored, Pride of Baltimore II was alongside the Solomons Island Yacht Club dock not 500 feet from us, and the Schooner Sultana was finishing up an education program and moored at the local waterman’s dock at the entrance to the harbor. Three rakish, historic, armed tops’l schooners with significant Chesapeake Bay ties, all within a quarter of a mile of each other.

The proximity of these three impressive vessels was even more significant to me, as I have had the privilege of commanding all three of them. Sultana was my first command, beginning in February of 2002. And like a first love, no one ever forgets their first command. Measuring in at 50’ on deck, but 97’ overall, she was a wonderfully manageable but infinitely interesting rig to tinker with. Other than the hustle and bustle of pre-Schooner Race Baltimore and post-Schooner Race Portsmouth, Virginia, I had not had the opportunity to be in the same port as her with Lynx until yesterday. And I am certainly looking forward to Lynx being a part of Sultana Projects, Inc.’s hometown event at Downrigging Weekend next week in Chestertown, Maryland.

Back to the present, Lynx is in Cambridge, Maryland for the first time ever, as part of the town’s Schooner Rendezvous. This event helps celebrate the Maritime Heritage of this mid-Eastern Shore town, and serves as a gathering place for many schooners who are Northbound after competing in the Great Chesapeake Bay Race. Helping kick it off was a splendid and classic Chesapeake Autumn Day. We weighed anchor at dawn off Solomons, waking to pleasantly clear skies and perhaps even a bit of frost. A combination of a warming day and cracking on sail helped to warm things up, and soon we were rounding Drum Point and into the Chesapeake again under Foretops’l, Fores’l, Stays’l and Jib making 7 to 8 knots.

 This was a pleasant sail combination and manageable for the downwind courses we’d be sailing to Cambridge, but Pride of Baltimore II, about an hour behind us getting underway, was quickly gaining under the same sail combination, plus their T’gallant. Partly as drill and partly to match pace, we set a single reefed Mains’l and picked up a knot.The Choptank is deep but winding and it shoals in a hurry, so a few close order maneuvers were required to keep us headed the right way. All the while Pride II was closing, but slowly. When we reached the entrance buoys to Cambridge’s “Inner Harbor” she drew abeam, thus making our unintended “reverse handicap” race a draw. (Reverse Handicap is a racing system whereby, instead of a faster boat needing to finish so far ahead of a slower one to meet their handicap, the start is staggered so the race becomes a dead heat to the finish line.)

This was no race, however — just an excellent sail to a great port during one of the best times of year to be on the Bay.

All best,

Jamie Trost and one half of the Baltimore Clipper Catamaran in Cambridge.

1200 Pos. 37° 06.7′ N, 076° 12.0′ W

Barometer at 1018Mb and steady

Wind NNE F 2, Seas 1-2’

Motoring at 1600 RPM for Anchorage at Great Wicomico River

This morning at dawn, Lynx left her berth at the foot of High Street in Portsmouth, Virginia for only the second time since arriving there at dawn Friday morning. The first time, on Sunday afternoon, was for a daysail. This time it was for good, or at least until next year’s Schooner Race. 

This year’s race will be a tough one to top in terms of excitement, particularly as it was Lynx’s first time in the race. Plans for her to enter the contest on her maiden voyage in 2001 fell through due to hang ups in the final phases of certification, mostly due to Coast Guard re-allocation after the September 11^th Attacks of that year. But this year she made it, and made quite a showing as well.

Not only was the long delayed entrance in the 40 strong fleet of racing schooners finally fulfilled, but so was a promise to long time racing sailor and former Pride of Baltimore Captain Fred Hecklinger. With his in depth knowledge of the Chesapeake Bay, experience in traditional sailing ships and extensive racing background, Capt. Hecklinger was offered a berth as “tactician” when Lynx was slated to compete in 2001. This May, I saw Capt Hecklinger in Annapolis while I was in command of Pride of Baltimore II and he reminded me of the agreement, knowing I was spending equal time with both the Baltimore Schooners.  So when sailed out from Baltimore on Thursday morning, we were well equipped with Chesapeake Bay knowledge.

As I wrote earlier, the start was slow and soggy, with a light easterly fading and leaving the fleet becalmed for nearly two hours in the pouring rain. But as the breeze built near sunset, the skies cleared and the night was clear. Good thing too, because the crew were busiest in the dark hours, changing out and trimming up sails in the overlapping puzzle of canvas Lynx carries. By full dark we were scooting along under Fores’l, Foretops’l, Starboard Course, Stuns’l, Both Jibs the Mains’l and the Jackyard Tops’l at 9 knots with the wind from the Northwest at 16-18 knots. A handful of the modern A class schooners were ahead of us, along with Pride II and the other “new” entry, Summerwind, a 1929 Alden recently restored to immaculate condition by the United State Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point.

 As we charged down the bay the breeze kept filling in, and insisted on veering toward the North. Trying to clear Smith Point, South of the mouth of the Potomac, the fleet was sailing deep angles, many of them wing and wing in the light chop. Some even gybed, and I was thinking we might have to follow suit. Instead, we squared up, took in the fores’l and set the port course to steer the boat nearly dead down wind. In this brigantine-like configuration we hit 12.7 knots crossing the Potomac with the wind gusting over 30.

In came the stuns’l before it took itself in. Still Lynx was flying along at 12.5-12.9. Only five boats were ahead of us — three of the A class vessels, including Adventurer, who would become the overall winner of the race, plus Pride II and Summerwind. But we were gaining on some of them, judging by their running lights. At 0100, with the gusts getting over 35 knots, Lynx topped out at 13.1 knots and we took in the Jackyard Tops’l.

ast Windmill Point, the breeze moderated and we re-set the Jackyard Tops’l, trying to keep up the 12 knots speeds that had us gaining on the boats in front of us. Then the wind backed toward the West and we re-set the Fore and took in the lee-course. Further moderation had us reset the stuns’l for the last 11 miles of the race and allowed us to pass Adventurer before the finish, making Lynx the fourth vessel over the line with an elapsed time of 14 hours, 38 minutes for 127 nautical miles. An average speed of 8.65 knots.

Arriving in Portsmouth, the crew stowed down then ship and then got some rest. A day later we learned the results – in her first ever appearance in the race, Lynx was 3^rd in Class AA, just behind perpetual competitor Pride II and ahead of last year’s winner Lady Maryland. A close race and a tremendous effort by the whole crew!

Now, after a day of maintenance to take care of the wear and tear of the race, we are Northbound for Cambridge, MD. We made use of a Southwesterly breeze for a bit, setting all plain sail, plus the Jib Tops’l and the Jackyard Tops’l, but the wind veered, then faded, then backed to a light northerly. We tried motorsailing, but eventually took in all sail and started motoring.

Still it was good to shake out all the canvas and tack once, as we have a slightly different crew aboard. Bosun Katie Walker, who joined in April as a deckhand just before Lynx left West Palm Beach has turned over to returning Bosun Elizabeth Foretek, who joined us in Baltimore to help out with the race. And Deckhand Alex Peacock has stepped off the vessel for the first time since joining as a volunteer in San Diego over 11 months and nearly 11,000nm ago. Relieving him is Levi Johnston, who first met Lynx at Tallships Chicago this August while he was working aboard the hometown vessel Windy. Hail and Farewell to all.

All best,

Jamie Trost and the blisteringly fast crew of Lynx

 Lynx arrived Portsmouth yesterday morning at 0730, having finished the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race at 0415 in the morning — 15 hours 35 minutes to travel the 127nm course. After a tight start off of Annapolis, the fleet was becalmed in a drenching rain for nearly two hours before the cold front passed and the wind built out of the North-North West and we started charging down the bay.

Exercising nearly every sail Lynx has in a number of configurations, we had her consistently above nine knots, and at the height of the action topped out at 13.1 knots –the top speed the boat has ever achieved.  Crossing the line fourth overall behind Pride of Baltimore II, Woodwind and Summer Wind, we are crossing our fingers for a place in the AA fleet, but the handicapping system makes it difficult to determine what the corrected results will be. We find out at the Crew Party and Awards ceremony, which starts in 30 minutes.

 All best,

 Jamie Trost and the hard sailing crew of Lynx

Read the Virginian-Pilot article at hamptonroads.com here:

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/10/schooner-days-set-sail-captain-jack-style

Lynx and Pride of Baltimore arriving Baltimore October 12, 2010
You Tube Courtesy – Bill Hughes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5K5WqKXp

11 October, 2010

Day Five: Mid-coast Maine to Baltimore

1200 Pos. 39° 22.8′ N, 076° 03.4′ W

79 NM Run since 1200 10 October.

Barometer at 1017Mb and steady

Flat Calm

Anchored at Mouth of Sassafras River off Betterton, Maryland.

A gorgeous and breathless Chesapeake Bay day for Lynx to get some details taken care of before making her second ever arrival to Baltimore tomorrow. And hot – the crew were in shorts for the first time since leaving Chicago six weeks ago! Arriving here in the midnight dark last night, we’ve been swinging lazily with the change of tides ever since. This morning we dragged the carronades out of the bilge and re-rigged them, and tinkered around with rigging work all through the day.

At the moment, we are gearing up to make an arrival into Baltimore tomorrow at roughly noon, in company with Pride of Baltimore II. Together we will salute Ft. McHenry, then carry on past Fells Point – where the original Lynx and Chasseur were built – to the Inner Harbor before securing at our respective docks. Given the amount of time the two vessels have spent together in the last four months, it seems only fitting that we should arrive together in the place we are historically indebted to.

Currently, Pride II is anchored in the Maggothy River, South of Baltimore. We saw her ghosting along off the Jersey Coast yesterday morning, and having waited for the breeze until evening, she sailed up the Delaware Bay last night, then motored past our anchorage just before dawn today. Interesting to see them again underway after over a week and 400nm of parting company.

And tomorrow, we will get to show both the vessels off together once again. But making our rendezvous will mean an early start, so it’s an early night as well.

All best,

Jamie Trost and the nearly to Baltimore Crew of Lynx.

Schooner Lynx, at Anchor in New Bedford, MA

After a week of ships maintenance and weather delays, Lynx made a move South from mid-Coast Maine to Portland on Wednesday afternoon, then holed up while Northeasterly Gales veered to Southwesterly. At Sunset on Thursday, Lynx motorsailed hard for the Cape Cod Canal, transiting through by noon on Friday, 8 October. The forecast for Buzzards Bay was not too bad — West 10-15, 2-3′ Sea. But we ended up with WSW as high as 30 knots, building a choppy 4-5′ sea that stopped us cold. Rather than pummel into it, we turned in to take refuge in New Bedford Harbor. We are currently watching to buoy reports and intending to get underway as soon as the forecast shift to Northwest allows us — hopefully sometime before dawn.

All best,

Lynx