In mid-October, was sailing on the Chesapeake With John Griffiths (who owns and is restoring Ariel #1) in rougher than usual conditions: Small craft advisories, 20-25 steady, gusting 30-35 . Double reefed. The boat handled it well, but when I looked below, there was water on the cabin sole. No water on the bulkheads over the bunk area, but I think it came in closer to the area where the winch pads are. Then flowed down and into the bilge.

I suspect the hull deck joint was working under the load and I want to seal it. Can I remove the metal cap rail that covers the joint without compromising the whole joint? In other words, does the cap play any structural role or is it just a cap.

On a completely unrelated note: An interesting thing happened on this trip. We were out in the Elk River which leads to the head of the Bay. It was rougher than I've ever seen it (since 1950) and we saw what looked like a sailboat in distress. Jib flogging and wrapped around the headstay, mainsail streaming to windward and a man standing on the transom. The wind was blowing the tops off the waves.

We went to see if he needed help and then we saw that he was trailing a hard tender and a girl was clilmbing into it from the stern. She hunkered down in the bow and then we saw another girl climbing aboard. We hove to and asked if he needed help. "Just stand by." Was the answer. We stood by and watched as he hauled in the dinghy and one by one managed to get the two teenaged girls aboard his boat. They were looking worriedly off into the area behind the boat and so did I, expecting to see another kid struggling in the waves. Nobody.

I thought, "If there is another one out there, she's gone." Then I called to the rescuer. "Is there another one?" He yelled back over the wind, "No ... They're looking for their canoe!!"

Imagine that! Wherever their canoe was, it was beneath the waves. Lucky that their samaritan happened by. When we left, he was wrapping them up in blankets and trying to deal with his sails. I forget the name of his boat, but I remember its hailing port ... Galesville MD.!!

We made it to our anchorage (aptly called "Still Pond") several hours later and anchored just as a thunderstorm with 45 knot winds and hail struck.

What a day! We had beef stew and a scotch and slept very soundly.