July 2-July 11,2007
Newburyport and Provincetown MA
Roger
Having reached a suitable stage in boat preparations ( see the boat if you are interested in these details ), it was time to get in the water and head to Provincetown, MA for our annual July 4th celebrations. First however we had to launch my other winter's project, Amy's kayak We chose a 13 foot Pygmy Osprey for both its beauty and ability to fit on Shango's coach roof. It was my first boat building experience which I very much enjoyed. On a beautiful Saturday July 2 we launched "Little Boat" and surprise surprise she floated and maneuvered like a kayak The pictures below attest to this fact.
After our kayak launching we then brought Shango up the river to the American Yacht Club at the mouth of the Merrimack River where she is moored each summer. Our plan was to spend the night on the boat in order to acclimate first mate Milo, our 12 year old cat, who although he accompanied us on our first trip to the Bahamas, is not always a willing sailor especially if the first day is a bit bumpy. We loaded the car and drove over to the AYC with gear and cat and had a wonderful evening watching all the boats go by.
We awoke to a windless day and successfully continued an easy transition for
Milo from land to sea. He actually seemed to enjoy the morning sun and
gentle
vibration of the engine and sea. This spot under the dodger
seems to be his most preferred location while underway. On our last boat
he liked to lie right under the glass of the dodger up by the traveler
controls.
All day long we had barely 5-8 knots of wind dead on our stern. It was
a long
motor. But since it was our first day on the water we really didn't mind too
much.
Our usual time from Newburyport to Provincetown is usually 10-12 hours. But
since Shango moves so well under power and flat seas we made it in under 10
hours. We arrived in time to watch the sun set set over the monument which
commemorates the Pilgrim's first landing here back in 1620.
The first couple days in Provincetown were beautiful and then it deteriorated. We did the usual boat chores, had dinner at our favorite restaurant, the Mews, and watched the great fireworks display. Our two annual traditions were also maintained. We dinghyed over to the beach and Amy took her 4th of July plunge. I couldn't quite get the courage up to brave the 61 degree water. Before leaving, I had picked the cup plus of cherries that we get from our small backyard tree and Amy baked a 4th of July pie for friends who came over to our boat for the fireworks. A good time was had by all.
On our way back we again had to motor most of the way. We had a bit of excitement as we rounded Cape Ann about 12 miles from home. NOAA was warning of severe thunderstorms all the way home. Well for once they were right. As the skies darkened, we picked up the familiar S shaped form of a storm on our radar. We soon had an amazing display of thunder and lightning right on top of us, 40+ knots of wind, and blinding rain. We only had the main up as we were motoring so we screamed off on a beam reach with Amy at the helm. I managed the sail and traveler while Amy kept us from heading too close to shore. We had a real Nantucket sleigh ride. Shango was great. She buried her shoulder, heeled a bit and just roared ahead on the reach. In our two years of owning her this was the most wind we've seen and we both were quite encouraged by her performance and sense of stability.
Our depth sounder went fluky during all the lightning but later recovered as the lightning stopped. Not sure if there is a relationship there but we're glad that we don't have to replace the sounder.
Shango is now sharing time between her mooring at AYC and Merri-Mar as she gets her final prep for the trip and begins to move lower in the water as provisions and stuff move aboard. We are now focused on getting the house ready for the tenants who arrive on August 1. We move aboard then and will stay at the AYC until we leave after Labor Day.
Sunday July 15th 2007
Newburyport, MA Pedro's
Adventure
Amy
On Sunday our friend Pedro and his parents, Renee & Andy, joined
us
for an afternoon sail. After loading up the boat at the mooring (and
retrieving our forgotten lunch)
we were organized and ready to go.
Pedro was traveling with a tidy assortment of amusements
befitting a five year old.
His personal favorites included Legos (not to go in the head), coloring books
and of
course a representative from his vast stuffed animal collection. On this
occasion a
miniature orange stuffed kitty was chosen. We were fairly certain that the
full sized
orange cat that we left lounging by our back door was not jealous of this
interloper.
The forecast was for plenty of south wind and possible
thunder showers in the
late afternoon. We weren't planning a late day so this sounded fine to us.
Engine on and mainsail set we headed out the mouth of the
river with Pedro watching
with excitement as we passed an assortment of Sunday boaters.
All was going according to plan until, as sometimes
happens, things got a little quiet
onboard. As veterans of many day sails we knew the signs of mal de mer.
Both
Renee and Pedro looked a bit green. Renee opted for the "breeze in the
face" approach
while Pedro began to silently nurse a soda from the refuge of his Father's lap.
"Perhaps a u-turn and lunch at the mooring?" we proposed
after the first forty minute
reach. The suggestion was roundly applauded and the big boat headed home.
Regular
announcements of speed and distance remaining "three miles left at 7.8
knots..." comforted
the queasy crew.
This was not to be the end of the adventure however.
Once we were back safely
secured on our mooring in the river Pedro got a second wind and out came "kitty"
the
stuffed animal for a guided tour of the cockpit. Well, the breeze was
still blowing pretty
hard and this particular stuffed animal was small and...slippery. Suddenly
there arose
the cry of "MY KITTY!" All eyes turned toward the stern only to see the
small and,
might I say, especially buoyant kitty floating out to sea.
Having left our dinghy at the dock our only recourse was
to call "DAVE, SUPER
LAUNCH OPERATOR"to the rescue. Andy and Roger boarded the launch with Dave
and went off in
search of Kitty.
Pedro waited anxiously for the return of the rescue
launch. Would they find Kitty?
Would Kitty end up in
Portugal? After several tense minutes the launch made its way
back toward
the nervously waiting crew. The launch men looked pretty somber but, lo and behold
Andy raised his hand
triumphantly aloft with a very
wet plush toy clutched within!! Hurray for the launch crew!
After that a calm fell over the tired group. We ate
several chocolate chip cookies and called it a very good day.
Upon consideration Pedro thinks another sail might be ok.
July 17-July 23,2007
Provincetown and Martha's Vineyard, MA
The Guy's Cruise
Roger
For the last three years Chris Flinchbaugh and his brother-in-law Jack Alexander, and I have gone on a guy's cruise to Maine. Given all the preparations underway for our trip and house rental, this year's trip had to be shortened so we decided to head to Provincetown and Martha's Vineyard. The forecast was absolutely terrible. Rain, rain, and more rain.
We left bright and early on Wednesday the 18th after having provisioned the previous night and stayed aboard at the mooring. As forecast we left at 7am in the rain and fog. The picture below shows the dismal morning as we passed by Thatcher Island and it's two abandoned lighthouses just off Rockport, MA.
We made good time to Ptown under power, had the first
of our evening feasts, and decided to go ashore the next day before
departing for the Cape Cod canal to inspect the status of Chris's
renovation work at the Library some 20 years earlier.
Next morning's inspection revealed that the entire east side of the Library was
still in good condition so after buying a few gifts and a paper we were off
again.
We headed for the Canal with Chris deciding that he'd take us through and let
Jack
bring us back. We timed the tide pretty well and found ourselves doing almost
10 knots over ground toward the west end of the canal. I always enjoy passing
the Mass Maritime
Academy with it's array of seagoing training vessels at the
west end of the canal. This year we also noticed
that they have added a big wind
generator.
We spent the evening at Bassett's island in Pocassett and enjoyed a 71 degree
dip in its warm water. The next morning we
awoke to small craft warnings and 20+ knot winds pretty much on the nose for our
trip down Buzzard's Bay, through Wood's Hole, and over to Vineyard Haven. I
warned the crew to stow all their gear carefully and prepare for a bumpy
ride down Buzzard's Bay. After we motored out to the Bay from our anchorage we
encountered the classic Buzzard's Bay southwester with it's 3-5 foot chop ablaze
with white caps and blowing like stink. I went forward to raise the main and
despite my usual attention to the task, I
somehow lost
my grip
on the main halyard and off it went swinging wildly around the backstay.
Knowing that we could not reach it with our boat hook, I tried to
slowly raise the halyard in sync with the boat's rocking hoping to
untangle it from the backstay. No luck, and the halyard was now
further up the backstay. I came back to the cockpit cursing myself
and suggesting we go back to quieter waters to haul a "volunteer"
up the mast. As we headed before the wind and with the seas at our
back toward our anchorage, Chris, harkening back to his Ptown
renovation work with a steeplejack, volunteered to go aloft now that
the boat had become stable. I said OK it will save us a bunch of time
but let's take no chances. Any bad motion and swinging and you're
coming down. The whole process went well and despite a bruised and
bloodied knee Chris had his usual smile as he landed back on the deck. Job
well done and we were back on our beat down the Bay with Jack at the helm.
After Shango acquitted herself well beating into 20+ knots with a single reef, we headed into Wood's Hole for the reach across to Vineyard Haven. I told the crew that Wood's Hole was not my favorite spot. The bouyage always seems confusing to me since I go through infrequently and the current can be difficult. This trip was no exception. As we threaded our way through, we suddenly found ourselves being swept toward a red can. Jack gunned the diesel just in the nick of time and we avoided a red tattoo on Shango's topsides. Jack was then rewarded for his helmsmanship with a screaming reach over to the Vineyard. We were seeing 9+ knots on a broad reach in now flat water. We anchored and enjoyed the sights and sounds of a busy Vineyard Haven with all its sailing craft, ferries, a pretty sunset.......and a few beers. The biggest entertainment for the evening however was
from the neighboring boat's skipper. He came by to check out our wind generator and its mast since he was considering installing one as well. After discussing the generator he began to tell us his life's history. As my father used to say, "when someone tells me his whole life's history on the way up the chairlift I'm always a little suspicious." Well this fellow was an unemployed mechanical engineer who was in the process of selling his new company to Bank of America for either $10 or $100 per share which would net him $10,000,000 or $100,000,000. His company provided encryption software for all of Bank of America and all he did was stay at home while his software and servers hummed away on their own. Jack being a 20+ year engineer at HP had all he could do to keep his mouth shut and go below . We continued to listen to his tales and learned further that he had another company which was on the brink of finding a cure for Arthritis. He had chosen to cure Arthritis since it had such a large market. The next morning on the way back from breakfast at the Black Dog we dinghied past his boat and became even more suspicious when we saw the condition of his boat and the many large black trash bags stacked against the stern pulpit.
It was then off to Ptown again since NOAA was saying that the next two days would again bring wind on our nose as we tried to get home. Jack took us through the canal this time and after getting a short sail in as we approached Ptown we anchored and enjoyed another good evening of libations and food. The next morning we awoke to 15-20 knots on the nose to Newburyport ,as predicted, so we decided to head off to Boston and Great Brewster Island allowing us to sail more comfortably and to enable the crew to see the Boston Harbor Islands, Boston Light (the only remaining manned light house in the USA), and the Boston skyline. Amy and I have been to great Brewster many times and have always enjoyed it.
.
The next morning we we wound our way out of the harbor in developing fog and rain and with our radar avoided several tugs in tow. We decided to go around Cape Ann and not through the Blynman Canal since the weather seemed to be improving and if it did we might get a broad reach to Newburyport once we got by Rockport. We were only partially right. The rain and fog continued so we had to dodge the occasional fishing boat around Cape Ann but the sail was indeed a great beam reach to the mouth of the Merrimac and home.
It was a great time had by all. Our southern trip had been a nice change from Maine allowing not only Jack and Chris to see Martha's Vineyard for the first time but also Chris was able to inspect his renovations to the Ptown library some 20 years after the original work.
We're all hoping that Amy's and my return next year will be in time for another guy's cruise.....