What A Day! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

Monday was a "no sailing" day as there were small craft warnings up once again. It has been a strange couple of weeks as the only days when it didn't rain were the wind was blowing so hard that small craft warnings were posted. It is not that I can't sail in such weather, indeed as a boat built for the waters of the North Sea, ABISHAG would be perfectly at home in such conditions. Rather I never saw day sailing as a survival sport. I really enjoy a nice relaxing cruise, enjoying the interplay of wind and water and sun and me. Bashing just doesn't fit in that image. Now if I had a crew or two, pounding through can be a lot of fun but crew tends to be rather thin at this late time of the sailing season.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was perfect. The breeze was out of the south-west at about 12knots and it was crystal clear. There were few boats out nice long tacks were the order of the day. It was fast down the river, out to Seaflower Reef , hardening up to the Silver Eel Bell of fishers Island and then a great close hauled run on port tack to Barlett Reef, then another tack and back into the Thames on a run all the way back to the mooring. It was a perfect spoiled only by the guys in the orange zodiac escorting a sub out as I as coming in. Now a days, you have to stay way far away from all naval vessels and just to make sure you do, they are escorted in and out of the river by armed guys in zodiacs inflatables. I must have been a little too close (or perhaps they were just bored) and the zodiac zipped over. Rather than just call on the radio and telling me to change course and move farther away which is the standard procedure, they pulled up nearly along side while the guy manning the 60 cal. machine gun on the bow yelled, "Move it or loose it!" Very non-professional. Just give a guy a 60 caliber machine gun and they loose all sense of propriety and perspective.

My own inflatable, the dinghy, needed to by inflated a bit as it was loosing air somewhere. A slow leak somewhere, nothing of a worry except for the fact that every once in a while one had to do the "One-Footed- Hoppity-Dance" in order to pump it up. There is no graceful way to do this which is probably why most inflatable dinghy owners invest in an electrical air pump to handle the job. Needles to say, I do not own such a device though I am trying to figure a way to convert my Craftsman Tire Pump so that it can do double duty.

I made the journey over to the West Mystic Shipyard to get a contract for winter storage. I will fill it out today and then try to figure out how I am going to pay for it. Perhaps I will win POWERBALL. Doubtful, as the last year and a half has seen me get not one number right!

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

As much as I hate to admit it, the acceptance of wintering again in New England this year came rather easily. While I was really looking forward to going south, undertaking the great journey, I was also hesitant to do so. After last year, that is completely understand able, but it is not really the fear of something going wrong that causes the hesitation. I had the same feeling last year but it slowly disappear as I left New London for the first step south. The joy and excitement of being underway at last slowing superseded the hesitancy and it was completely gone by the time I dropped the hook in New Haven that night. of course, after that little "difficulty," it came back full bore and so there is a little bit of a feeling of relief that I am stuck here. So I will winter here, plan, and get the boat ready for spring launch, and then I will try it again. It will be interesting to see the ways in which God weaves whatever plan is on the drawing board this time. I have got to do this eventually