Bay Retriever made it home Friday afternoon. After a quick stop at HHS for steak tacos at Ketch, we were safely in our slip by 5 pm.
During the race, some time between 3 days close reaching on starboard and the excessive heel we had taking the main down in 56 knots we took a bunch of seawater into our fuel tank, probably from the vent. The engine ran great for charging during the race, but after our exciting finish crossing tacks and passing Leopolis in the last two miles, we had issues starting and no power. I tried emptying the fuel water separator but soon saw seawater at the bleed screw. We got towed in to St George's, had the fuel system cleaned, then discovered we needed new injectors.
I flew home two weeks ago, Voss Marine in Annapolis had the last 3 injectors on the planet overnighted from the main warehouse in Belgium, and I flew back the next day to get things prepped for the turnaround. The crew flew out last Saturday, we had dinner, then got started Sunday morning on our way back.
Because we were so focused on engine and rig issues we never really got to wash the boat down. That became immediately apparent as the vang expressed its displeasure quite loudly with the amount of salt on the springs. A quick disconnect and flush with precious fresh water and we were back underway.
As expected, Monday night into Tuesday we hit the front that later reached the tail of the Newport fleet. Sustained high 20s, lightning all around, indescribable noises below deck, a fairly typical ocean crossing. At least we were still close reaching.
Finally the winds settled and we had a decent Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday night.
Winds built as we reached through the stream, giving us 2 hours of sustained 26s, and several hours over 20. We also hit the wind shift to the northwest while still in the stream, giving us confused waves from two directions.
Near the end, the winds dropped to 6 knots. If you've never been in waves leftover from 20+ knots with almost no wind, it's hard to describe how much it sucks. We motored for quite a while with the main down - the slapping back and forth from the rocking is awful otherwise.
Thursday the winds finally broke, giving us glassy conditions as we motored into the Chesapeake. We got to dodge "Navy Warship 7" (USS IWO JIMA) a few times, but an otherwise uneventful trip.
Friday we were expecting winds to build first from the north then quickly shift to the west. The northerly start was there, but the 15-17 the forecast called for was closer to 22-25, with a waterspout in the squall a few miles west of us. We unfurled part of the jib and were finally back sailing after nearly a full day of motoring. The winds kept dropping to the low teens, we got the main up, and had a great ride up the Bay, the last few hours under Code 0 reaching at 7-9 knots in 8-11 knots of wind.
Aside from the delays getting home, we have a few minor running rigging things to address, but we're excited to return to racing next week! Long term, we'll add a second fuel water separator to prevent the engine issues, and we have a few other quality of life improvements we're discussing.
Bay Retriever was one of the smallest boats in the fleet (second only to Revolution), but she handled everything thrown at her like a champ.