A Pure Sailing Day! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

Saturday was a pure sailing day! The wind was out of the north west and dying, so I waited for the predicted noon shift to the south west and went out. It was glorious! Rail down, bone-in-the-teeth,one tack sailing that but for Long Island and Montauk Point would have put me in Bermuda in 5 days! These are the days that make it tough to head for home.

I was entertained on the way out by a race going on over by VIXEN LEDGE. It ran from there to a gate near Silver Eel and back again 3-4 times depending on the size of the boat. There had to be a good 50+ boats and it was impressive to seem them racing. Of course, anyone trying to transit into Fishers Island Sound had to carefully pick their way through the fleet which, after the first leg, really stretched itself out to basically b lock the whole entrance. I am certain that the racers, who are always known for their extreme courtesy, willing sacrificed seconds of time to allow a power boater to pass through, as I am certain the transiting boats carefully avoided doing anything that would force a racer off a hard fought and won position and/or course. It was not that I was close enough to hear the courteous exchanges, that would have entailed changing tacks, but I noticed that no one was sunk which is always a good indication.

The only real excitement, if you can call it that, was the arrival off New London of the ILEKA NIELSON a Liberian Flagged tanker going to the HESS Oil farm in Groton. I say "excitement" because an encounter with ships bearing the flags of certain nations can be fraught with peril. Panama, Liberia, Nigeria and a host of other nations are considered to be nations of convenience, in that their requirements for safety, efficiency, ship handling, ship maintenance and other such things are notoriously lax to say the least. They can present a real danger to all who encounter them. It is also why any ship flying a flag of convenience from such a nation is often accorded the same courtesy as they would receive if the flew a potholder or a bed sheet. I gave her a wide berth and on my way back to the mooring, which is across the river from the Hess Oil terminal, watched two tugs trying to get her into position for loading. It really took them quite a while. Still, it was a pure sailing day!