Well, the team-building exercise part of the trip didn’t turn out to be much, but my director’s unit from the office (software engineering, QA, documentation, and network operations) spent an enjoyable sail on Chesapeake Bay on the Woodwind II out of Annapolis—at least most of us had a good time.
The Woodwind II is a schooner, fitted with two masts and four sails: aft to fore, mainsail, staysail, fisherman’s, and jib. According to lore, the fisherman’s sail evolved from the practice of hanging fishing nets in the area above the staysail on the mainmast and aft of the jib sail at the bow: sailors found that the nets caught some extra wind, and so this space was filled with another sail.
The idea of the team-building exercise was that we would split into four teams, two on yards controlling sails, one at the helm, and one navigating. Captain Duncan and his crew would teach each team the elements of the station, and then the teams would rotate around and we would teach each other. This didn’t work out so well in practice, but it did mean that most of us got a turn at the wheel as well as duty pulling rope. The crew were very good-natured about leading a group of clumsy office workers through the necessary tasks, along with fetching blown-away hats. And it probably didn’t hurt that one of us was an experienced sailor (Jody); there was lots of time on this 4-1/2 tour to kick back and swap stories. Captain Duncan kept up a good patter of historical lore (how Bloody Point got its name, for instance), bad jokes, and “tips” like “a stationary object [like a bridge piling] always has the right of way.”
We sailed as far south as Bloody Point light (at left), which marks the shoals at the southern tip of Kent Island, up and down the South River, then a turn at Thomas Point light (at right) and back into port. On my turn at the wheel, I was beginning to get the feel of steering to trim as opposed to steering to course (or to a landmark) as we moved up the South River. I think it was when we crossed a stretch where a scattering of crab pots were set that crew member Rachel took over for me.