Yeehaa, Sailing!!! Friends, sunshine, sand dunes, ocean breezes and Prosecco! Oh, and dolphins on the bow wake, buckets full of clams and mussels, bluefish on the line. Oh, and scary lightening storms, heaving seas and heavy winds, especially when you are far offshore, when you think you might actually die. Oh well, there is a price for everything.
Mother and daughter time, boat time. Relaxing on the bow, sailing to Cuttyhunk, a little island off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. This was my birthday cruise, with five aboard, along with lots of good food and spirits. There is nothing as important as good crew moral. And on this cruise, the moral was especially good. As they say, the beatings will continue until moral improves!
All the sails set for light winds - Genoa, main and mizzen -and heading for Cuttyhunk Island. At first, I found it hard to do everything myself on a 37 foot sailboat - anchor, dock, handle sails/navigate/keep watch/man the helm (often all at the same time), cook, maintain equipment and gear, and a dozen other things. But as time passed, I learned to handle everything, although not always gracefully. In my experience, two compatible people is the best crew size for a 37 foot sailboat.
Sunset off Bassetts Island, in The Anchorage. The sunsets were often spectacular here. Stacy relaxing after a long day at work. Unfortunately, work really gets in the way of proper sailing. And a lot of other things. I've come up with a prototype for a society that operates on a 20 hour work week, but I will have to go into that later . . . when you're not so busy working. Or wasting your time reading silly blogs.
My friend since second grade, Lilan, and her husband Marc, visiting for afternoon drinks on Cotuit Bay, Cape Cod. Lots of people like to visit the boat for a day, but the thought of those tight spaces for long term? Maybe not. Some people have bigger closets!
Hungover and feeling a little green? Not me! Nor me, or me . . . Okay, maybe a little? Heading for Nantucket with Stacy, shipboard physical therapist and yoga instructor.
Its raining? Who cares! Cheese always tastes better in the rain! Just ask the French. Don't bother Goggling that, I just made it up. Lilan and Sophia on Cotuit Bay, after the kids played mermaid in the cold bay water. Kids love boats and the ocean, there are so many fun things to do.
Another semi-gourmet meal made by First Mate/Galley Slave/Rumdog Ian. Anything is gourmet when you're hungry! Unless, of course, the sea is rolling terribly and you're seasick. In which case you might not eat anything for days.
Sunset in Pocasset. I love the town names on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard - Sippewisset, Lobsterville, Teaticket, Mashpee, Cummaquid and my favorite, Squibnocket! My boats tender, or dingy, is named Squibnocket. Saying that word just makes me smile. Squibnocket! See, you're smiling, right?
Fresh from the grill! Good food, good company, good beer. Who could ask for more? Me! Where's the steak?! And the beer?! Well, at least there was good company. The grill gets used a lot - fish, steak, chicken, shishkabobs, oysters, even blue crabs and lobster.
A schooner sailing out of Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard. I had to call the 'Vineyard Haven Harbor Master' on the VHF, and trying to say that three times quick, on the radio, led to an insurmountable tongue twister and teary laughter. I seems easy now, but at the time it was impossible to say without messing it up terribly.
We left Annapolis an hour before sunset, and had a beautiful full moon sail all night long up the Chesapeake Bay. For the first voyage I had a four man crew, with four-hour watches, two crew on deck at a time to keep a lookout for shipping traffic and crab pots. It was a bit scary to turn around and see a seven-story-tall tanker silently bearing down on you in the darkness. 'Why are half the stars gone? That's not good.'
First Mate Ian (left), who I've know since we did a wooden boat building apprenticeship in Rockport, Maine when we were eighteen. Ian is the best first mate possible - always good for a laugh, handy with the rum bottle, quick to take the helm and make breakfast pancakes, even when its rough.
The sail from Annapolis to Cape Cod took 3.5 days, most of it spent sailing, with only 10 gallons of diesel used. Conditions were very rough on the Delaware Bay, as they often can be, with short steep waves. We then headed offshore, straight for Cape Cod, and had light to moderate winds for two days, with an ocean as calm as a lake.
The Crew - Ian, Dave, The Cowboy, and myself (aka Captain Jack). Dave and The Cowboy were found through a Crew Wanted posting on Cruisers Net, and they worked out well, despite the very different personalities (one was extremely cautious, the other a bit reckless - so they balanced each other out nicely).
We reached Martha's Vineyard on the evening of the third day, in the dark, in a pretty bad storm. Due to unfamiliar waters and channels, darkness and notoriously shifting sand shoals, we decided the safest course was to tack offshore all night long, waiting for first light. The wind gusted up to 45 knots, the seas tossed the boat around like it was in a washing machine, sleep was nearly impossible, and an hour at the helm, fighting waves, was exhausting. With a scrap of sail up the size of a large beach towel, Aquinnah was going her hull speed of over 7 knots. It was a very long night. The morning dawned clear and calm, and we reached Cape Cod safely, greeted with flower leis and champagne at the dock.
