A Tale of Two Chemists: The Reality of Running “Sail Cotinga”

The Reality of Running “Sail Cotinga” … Sunday – Monday June 28 – 29

When we were planning this charter sailing business I don’t think we envisaged that the weather would ever be bad. What planet were we on! Sunday was one of the foulest days that we have spent on board – it poured with rain and blew at 25+ kts. The one good thing was the wind was out of the NE so there was very little swell in the harbor during the day. We took a couple of trips to shore, in the morning to shower and in the afternoon to eat dinner at Anna’s Restaurant. Both trips required us to put on full waterproof gear and we wore life jackets for the dinghy ride to the dock.

Then Monday morning dawned with fine weather and it seemed like a different world. With no sailing trips of any sort on Sunday there seemed to be pent up demand, so we were really busy. There was a “Pirate trip” on the Ruth at 9 am, followed by a lunch trip on Cotinga and then an afternoon sail on Cotinga, and we finished up with a sunset trip on the Ruth. Apart from an hour break in the afternoon, I was working from 8 am to 9pm! The lunch trip was great. We were joined by a couple from Annapolis and Michelle Lamb (a friend and former colleague from AZ) and her son Malcolm. We had a blistering sail (7kts+ most of the way) across the bay and anchored near the cut between Orrs Island and Bailey Island. Our guests ate soup, sandwiches and rhubarb/strawberry crisp for lunch. Then we headed back eastwards planning to take a more southerly route. However, the wind had piped up some more and there were unpleasant swells rolling in from the south and breaking in shallow areas, so we quickly decided to head closer to land and somewhat more protected waters. We arrived back just in time to pick up our second set of guests (6 people), which included Michaela, the daughter of the resorts managing partner and a friend of hers. This didn’t go quite so well as one of the other guests became sick within 30 minutes. We altered course and took a scenic motor sail in the sheltered flat waters of Quahog Bay. Michaela did post a couple of photos and a nice review and the resorts facebook page.

We sail in the same area every time, but I can honestly say that each trip seems different. The wind, waves, sunshine, wildlife and route all vary and contribute to a different experience. Overall I would say things are going pretty well … so far.