We headed west around 9:00 am (three hours after John!) with a roaring current (full moon), averaging 8 to 9 kts over ground (GPS speed) all the way. We had reserved a mooring at the Essex Yacht Club ($40/night) and had a late lunch at the Black Seal. A tour of the Essex River Museum was next on the agenda, an excellent, hands on type of museum.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Essex - Matthew Leaves for School
We headed west around 9:00 am (three hours after John!) with a roaring current (full moon), averaging 8 to 9 kts over ground (GPS speed) all the way. We had reserved a mooring at the Essex Yacht Club ($40/night) and had a late lunch at the Black Seal. A tour of the Essex River Museum was next on the agenda, an excellent, hands on type of museum.
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Thursday, August 30, 2007
Stonington - We Meet Up With John McKinney
We left Block Island with no wind so we motored to Stonington. The day was with bright sun, beautiful but with no wind! Upon entering the harbor we found McKinney's mooring empty so we picked it up. It was apparent it had no been used for awhile with the growth on the lines. We settled in with wine for happy hour when John arrived on his way back from Maine! It was the first time he used the mooring in a month and won't for the rest of the season. We decided to
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Wednesday, August 29, 2007
A nice day all around. Matthew swam off the back of the boat, at the beach, off the back of the boat, etc. - busy, busy, busy.... Block seemed to empty out some, I guess Wednesday is a slow day here. I still couldn't see any empty moorings but we're far from the main cluster so I could have missed a few. We off to Stonington tomorrow and, guess what, more swimming for Matthew.
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Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Block Island - Some beach time for Matthew
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Monday, August 27, 2007
Newport, RI - 25 Mile Sail!
On Monday morning, ice was a priority! The refrigerator is kaput! However, we still have the insulated freezer and refrigerator as well as the ice chest we took along for use when we had guests aboard so all we needed was ice. Well, Cuttyhunk doesn't wake up until around 11:00 am so we took off without the ice, hoping everything would stay cool enough until we arrived at Newport.
The winds were great today off the aft starboard quarter and we sailed the entire 25 miles to Newport. One crew member got sick (Matthew) when he paid too much attention to his Gameboy but he felt better once he used the aft swimdeck! As we neared land, the seas calmed and we glided on. We had called ahead to reserve a mooring at Jamestown but was told the cost would be $75/night - rather high! With that we headed for Newport instead and picked up a mooring for $45, still high but less high than Jamestown. The ride into town on the launch is now $6 per person roundtrip, also rather high since we have to make multiple trips with Lance. There were the typical super yachts in abundant evidence.
I first called the Newport dealer for Alder-Barbour and he said me might be able to get to me sometime next week! Big help he was! In calling the Alder-Barbour national rep later I learned that the unit I have was designed 20 years ago and is no longer made. He's to give me a call back on whether they can braze an adopter on the coil in the freezer so I can reuse that part. Otherwise, it's a custom made new unit! Oh the pleasures of boating.
Tomorrow we're headed for Block Island since Matthew likes to swim off the back of the boat about as well as anything and Block is excellent for that. We plan on anchoring out instead of getting a mooring.
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Sunday, August 26, 2007
CuttyHunk - We Explore and Matthew Swims
I think Matthew was in the water more than he was out. When he wasn't at the beach, he was swimming off the back of the boat. The cool water temperatures of low 60's didn't seem to deter him. I never got in but Ann waded in a ways at the beach.
I spent most of the morning redoing the mast tensioning and finally got it straight to my satisfaction. I bought local swordfish (fresh, never frozen) and we grilled it off the back of the boat, perfection! Shortly thereafter, we saw the most brilliant sunset I've ever seen. Everybody in the anchorage was on the bow of their boat watching the display!
While Ann and Matthew were doing dishes, they said they heard a grinding sound for a short period. I didn't think anything of it at the time. Later that night I got some ice out of the freezer and noticed that the frost had disappeared from the cooling coils, humm.... I could hear the fan running on the compressor but couldn't hear the compressor itself. I unscrewed the cover and found that the compressor was not running. It was getting electricity since the fan was okay and all the fuses were likewise in good shape. We're headed for Newport tomorrow and we'll need a new compressor I'm guessing. The grinding noise Ann heard must have been the compressor giving up the ghost! Oh well, the life of sailing is filled with adventure...
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Saturday, August 25, 2007
As you can tell from Matthew's blog, we had an adventure today. At first the adventure was the sailing with 10 to 15 kt winds and 2 to 4 ft waves (wind against current: short, steep waves). After awhile it became obvious that we would never make Cuttyhunk at that rate since the wind was exactly out of the direction of Cuttyhunk (what else is new?) So we pulled in the head sail and turned on the iron genny. With that "sail change" we made 7 kts towards Cuttyhunk although not without occasionally taking water over the bow and some pretty good splashes. Matthew enjoyed the spray and splashes!
All was well until we neared Cuttyhunk and decided to take in the mainsail. I noticed that the roller furler was rather stiff, unusual since it's always been an easy pull in the past. Looking up I was astonished to see the boom on the coach roof, free of the mast! Seeing something so unexpected, you're a little dumbfounded for a few moments before your mind re-engages. Once it did, Ann and I went forward (engine in idle on autopilot) and Matthew stayed in the cockpit. I called for a screwdriver and Matthew went below to locate one. A couple of the lines had to be released and Matthew did that from the cockpit, he was a big help. Meanwhile, Ann and I were wrestling with the boom in the waves and wind, trying to reattached everything and finding got it cobbled together after about 20 minutes of tossing about.
Well, everything is back in place now. I put a ring cotter pin through the hole in the pin so it will not fall out again!! Meanwhile, fog has returned and we can't even see the shore and Cuttyhunk is a small anchorage! We plan on staying one more day before heading west to Newport, RI. Such an adventure is sailing...
Follow our progress at Return Trip
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Friday, August 24, 2007
Marion, MA - Matthew Arrives!
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Thursday, August 23, 2007
Sandwich, MA - At the Cape Cod Canal
We're at the Sandwich Marina ($2.00/ft) which is run by the town of Sandwich. There's no place to anchor so you have to take a dock.
Follow our progress on Return Trip.
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Scituate, MA - the Satuit Boat Club
We needed groceries so he offered to drop us off at the town dock near a grocery store and he came back to pick us up later. What a friendly club! Ann prepared a chicken dinner and we relaxed on the back of the boat.
On Thursday we plan on getting to Sandwich at the mouth of the Cape Cod Canal. Monique will meet us there with Matthew in tow. He's really looking forward to once again spending some time on the boat. He has to return by Labor Day weekend since he starts school the following Tuesday. One of his assignments from school is to restart his own blog which I'll publish each night.
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Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Gloucester, MA - Where "Perfect Storm" happened
After eating out several nights, we grilled lamb chops on the back of the boat - back to basics on the food! It's been a little rich the last few days. We never tire of the sunsets since we seldom see them back home due to the high trees all around. Tomorrow we're on the move again with a good forecast, perhaps we can sail, we've motored the last two days due to light winds.
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Monday, August 20, 2007
Portsmouth, NH - Wentworth by the Sea Marina
The Wentworth is old New England. They have class. Their courtesy car was a Mercedes-Benz! There was no charge for its use so we took a tour of Portsmouth before dinner at the Wentworth. Tomorrow we are suppose to have more wind, hopefully, and we're headed for Cape Ann.
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Sunday, August 19, 2007
August 19 - Portland, ME
On the way in we saw a huge Coast Guard cutter pull right in front of us so we veered off to port and found that the cutter was leading a parade of equally large tugboats! It was tugboat day in Portland and we just happened to hit the start of the harbor parade! One of the tugboats sprayed water all over and nearly reached us. At the end of the parade, they all met in the middle of the harbor, bow to bow and let out a blast of their horns, all at once, deafening!
Follow our progress by clicking on Return Trip
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Saturday, August 18, 2007
Boothbay Harbor - Reprovisioning
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Friday, August 17, 2007
Boothbay Harbor - Whale Watching
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Thursday, August 16, 2007
Boothbay Harbor - A Work Day
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Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Boothbay Harbor - Busy Place
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