[Rhodes22-list] Labor Day Weekend Rhodes rendezvous report.

[Steve Alm]

Mary Lou,

Sounds fantastic!  I lived in Baltimore when I was in graduate school at
Peabody in the 80's and always heard wonderful things about the Eastern
Shore.  Sadly, I never made it over there but Fairlee looks great on the web
site.  Thanks for the post.

What's the deal with the GB video?  What's all on it?  Do I want one?

Slim
S/V Fandango

On 9/5/02 6:55 AM, "Mary Lou Troy" <mltroy@netreach.net> wrote:

> Here's a report on the small but mighty fine Fairlee Point Rhodes
> Rendezvous over Labor Day weekend.
> 
> The attendees were Gil Eaton on Closing Time sailing from Elkton  and
> sharing his wonderful vacation rental house (more on this later) with us,
> Jim Harrison on Recess who singlehanded over from the Middle River and Fred
> and I on Fretless who sailed up from Rock Hall.
> 
> Saturday was a boisterous day on the water. We stood Fretless on her ear a
> couple of times beating up from Rock Hall. Frequent gusts in the 20s but
> even the steady wind was in the 15 knot range. There were whitecaps and 2
> ft. + waves in spots. Took us 19 miles to do 8 but we made great time with
> boat speeds approaching 5 knots much of the time. Gil had an even more
> exciting time running down from Elkton.
> 
> Jim had already arrived in Fairlee and was casually anchored off the marina
> waiting for someone to show up who knew where Gil's dock was. We had
> investigated the night before and thought we knew. We spotted what looked
> like the dock next to a high bluff with stairs running up to the house and
> tied up to investigate. Took us 3 approaches in the wind which was blowing
> us off the dock. We had the right spot as Tina and Denise who were waiting
> for Gil to show up came down to greet us. Jim motored over and tied up to
> Fretless.
> 
> Gil arrived around 5:30 having made a convert to sail of Gary Clarey who
> had sailed down with him. Gary's comment on their 8 hour run: "I never knew
> there was so much to do on a sailboat!" Good work Gil!
> 
> Gil had other guests staying at the house. Some of the names escape me but
> they were all interesting folk who welcomed us Rhodies into their vacation
> weekend.  We had appetizers and then a cookout on the deck of the house.
> I'd brought chicken, Gil and Tina provided everything else - what a feast,
> what a view.
> 
> Rain was forecast for part of Saturday. We decided to stay on the boat at
> the dock. Jim decided to go anchor out. The rains came overnight and stayed
> all day. Jim dinghied back over to the dock and later brought Recess back
> over to tie up next to Fretless again. We spent a lot of time talking R22s
> and sailing and telling General Boats stories. Jim had brought the General
> Boats video which Gil had never seen so we watched that. During periods
> when the rain let up we went down to the docks to compare boats. Gil was
> particularly interested in what Jim had to say because Closing Time turned
> out to be Jim's old boat which General Boats had then recycled. It was
> really interesting to see what had changed and what hadn't. We picked up
> several new ideas. Jim used his dinghy to take a line from Closing Time
> over to a piling to keep her off the dock.
> 
> Dinner that night was in the house as it was still rainy. A couple of Gil's
> houseguests run an award winning restaurant in Philadelphia and had brought
> clams and grouper so another feast ensued. We (the Rhodies and Gil's
> guests) talked late into the evening. Jim decided to anchor out again. We
> decided to stay at the dock. Jim made the better decision as the wind
> changed overnight and was banging us up against the dock whenever a fender
> would work loose. Fred got up several times to rearrange things.
> 
> By morning (Labor Day) the wind had died down a bit. Jim decided to head
> out early and left for the Middle River around 7:30 or so. We had breakfast
> and then a shower up at the house. We put Gil's Loos gauge on Fretless's
> stays and discovered they were way loose - well Stan said don't
> overtighten.....;). We'll have to see if that makes a difference in our
> helm. Shortly thereafter we said our goodbyes and set off for Rock Hall. We
> had a great sail back - beam reach all the way with boat speed over 5 knots
> for much of the trip. We were back at Swan Creek by noon.
> 
> Even though it rained heavily on Saturday we had a great time. The sailing
> to and from was great and the company and the accomodations were wonderful.
> Fairlee Point (www.fairleepoint.com) would make a great spot for a larger
> Rhodes Rhendezvous. The house is big, there's a good ramp down the street
> and the docks are adequate. Something to think about.
> 
> We're off for a long weekend today. Planning to head south from Rock Hall
> to the Corsica tomorrow night, then to the the Wye and St. Michael's. On
> the way back we hope to check out the anchorage at Tilghman Creek that
> David Dawson told us about. Of course those are just plans - I just got the
> tides for Annapolis too. If any of you Chesapeake Rhodies are out there
> keep an eye out for us.
> 
> Mary Lou
> 1991 R22 Fretless
> Swan Creek, MD / Ft. Washington, PA
> 
> 
> 
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