Home Again

SHIP'S LOG:

Thursday:

I left Little Neck Bay for a run up to Milford, CT where my cousin, Bob, lives. I must be getting use to this type of sailing for the wind was blowing a stead 20 knots and I didn't think a thing about upping the anchor and heading out. A year ago, heck 6 months ago, even three month ago I would have stayed put and read a good book. After the Delaware Bay and the run up from Atlantic City to Manasquan, the 20 knots of wind and the accompanying waves really didn't bother me much at all. In point of fact, the sailing was tremendous though exhausting. Lots of waves over the stern port quarter and the wind did gust occasionally to 35 but ABISHAG was made for this type of weather and she took in stride, probably better than me.

The toughest part of the whole trip was cleaning the salt off my glasses in what seemed like every five minutes. After awhile, I took to simply licking them clean and waiting for the wind to dry them which took about 30 seconds. Over the 8 hour run to Milford, this added up to a lot of licking!

It was a bit of a chore getting into Milford as I had to turn such that the wind and the waves came over forward of the beam. This put a lot of waves onto the boat, getting me a bit wet and causing the boat to roll more that I would have liked. But once passed the breakwater, the waves calmed down though the wind was still blowing. Thank goodness for dockhands and a nice straight run onto a "T" dock head.

Bob came by when all was secured and we ran up an $80 bill in the Yacht Club Bar. I also present Bob with his bucket which he promised to take to his studio and do something spectacular with it. What, neither her nor I had any idea!

Friday:

The wind was pretty much the same as on Thursday but basically it was a straight shot sail, once out of Milford, all the way to the Thames River. It was a broad reach but in reality, it was a "screaming reach!"ABISHAG put her shoulder into the water and just took off. I hit sustained speeds of 8.5 knots for must of the trip and even ran for about 30 minutes at 9.3knots! I actually didn't think she could go that fast. Of course the wind and tide helped a bunch and even the waves contributed as I surfed down some at over 10 knots. It was one spectacular sail.

It was strange to see old and familiar sights as I closed on New London. I really knew I was home when I had to dodge two crossing ferries at the mouth of the river. The only thing missing was a transiting submarine surrounded by Coasties in rubber boats with machine guns! I got in about 5:15 and was spent. After tying up the boat at the end of the dock, I walk to a restaurant for a celebratory dinner and ran into two club members who celebrated my accomplishment by buying me dinner.

IT is really good to be home at last. Some people have already asked if I plan to do it again next fall. While I am glad I did it once, I think once is enough, at least by oneself. If I can swing it, I would be willing to help someone else, perhaps do the trip outside, but not alone in my boat. ABISHAG is pretty used and next rest and recuperation and I really have to tackle the endless list of projects which has grown in the last 9 months. The again, summer is just beginning!