#$%^&*SNOW! !! !! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

I knew this was going to happen. For three weeks since Columbus Day Weekend, I have been waiting to get ABISHAG hauled. So today, with what our Commodore calls " a significant storm" hitting the area, I get a call from the boatyard telling me that my boat is at the dock so that they can begin the winterizing and inquiring whether or not they want me to take the sails off the boat. That little task, of course, would be a service that they would do for pay, so I hustled up to Portland to do the job myself.

The trip wasn't too bad until I got above Essex on Route 9 when the snow-rain mix became real SNOW. And it was wet. And it was heavy. And it was sticking. It was also cold!! I haven't seen snow in two years and it was traumatic!

Getting the sails down wasn't difficult but with the deck covered with slush it was slippery work. The cold made turned my fingers numb and with all the little wire ties that had to be cut and the little bolts in the shackles that hard to be removed and then replaced, the job was awful. It is funny how you can loose the feeling in your fingers and have them hurt at the same time. I didn't bother folding the sails. I merely stuffed them down the nearest hatch and let it go at that. Naturally, the yard workers had more sense and were not working in "that type of weather." Can't say that I blame them. Just walking on the slush covered dock was an exercise in focused concentration. One little slip and I would have gotten a first person experience of just how cold the Connecticut River is on the 29th of October! But it all went off without a hitch and sometime in the next few days, ABISHAG will get hauled and washed and placed on poppets for her winter snooze. When she is, I will remove all the gear that needs to go and wrap her up and that will be that. It was in the 70's down in Virginia a year ago today! Maybe I should have gone south again! ! ! ! !

A Good Day Redux

SHIP'S LOG:

As I sat here at TYC this morning, sitting in the Northeast Wind about 15mph and the cold rain, I wondered what I was doing one year ago on this date. So I went back through the Blog and found out that I had spent the previous night in Willoughby Bay of of Newport News and its Naval air station. I had actually been there a couple of days and had decided it was time to leave. I passed through Hampton Roads and passed Hospital Point which is Mile Marker "0" for the ICW. I was making my first foray into the ICW and had to deal with my first opening bridges and made it all the way down to Great Bridge, Virginia.

I don't want to say that I was "green" in the ways of the ICW but just reading through the Blog reminded me that I truly was. I can remember how hard I was gripping the wheel, not letting ABISHAG stray even a few feet off the "Magenta Highway" and swiveling my head right and left checking every bit of the banks and the surface of the water. It was certainly not a restive and relaxing trip that's for sure.

I noted that the first few miles of the ICW were "disappointing" in that it was like any back water channel off a harbor, filled with boat yards(mostly naval) and oil storage centers and repair facilities. But after 7 miles it turned into what would be most of the ICW, unrestricted and filled with natural, unspoiled(for the most part) beauty.

Strangely, the weather then in Virginia was pretty much like it is today up here in God's Country. Lousy! But then, why should anything really change? But then, I rally haven't looked much at the weather recently and haven't heard "Perfect Peter" or "Debbie Diction" in a long time. With ABISHAG 20o0 feet from being hauled, it really doesn't matter all that much anymore. I couldn't tell you how accurate they have been recently or are today, but then at this point, who cares?

Took the time yesterday to consider replacing the refrigeration on ABISHAG for the simple reason that what I have doesn't work. Rather than replace the evaporator and the condenser and compressor which are all individual units, I am considering replacing the mechanical and the box itself with a complete unit, much like a home refrigerator. This will also allow me to close off one thru-hull, the one that brings water in to do the cooling for the system. Basically, it is air cooled. I checked it out with AL at West Marine and it looks promising though it is not anything that will happen before spring. The fun part with be "dismantling" the old box and removing the mechanicals and get the new unit down the companionway and maneuvering it into place. Still, it would be nice to have ice. But then, it must wait until spring if it is to happen at all. Ah, dreams of next season have started already!

FROST ! ! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

When I stumbled out to Dunkin' Dounts to pick up breakfast yesterday, my car was covered with dew. Or so I thought. When I tried to wipe the "dew" off, I found that it was FROST!!!!!! I was shocked! SHOCKED! And totally unready for it and it drove home the fact that I am going to have to deal with "cold and snow", that is WINTER for the first time in two years. ARGH!

Aboard Again For A Visit

SHIP'S LOG:

I had to go back aboard ABISHAG yesterday to pick up a few items that I neglected to take off when we moored at Yankee in Portland. ABISHAG is still out in the river on a mooring as the week has seen a number of boats making the up river trek for hauling and the yard in planning on exactly how to do it. It is not just a matter of hauling a boat out and sticking stands underneath it. Boats have to be brought into the dock for winterization of engines, water systems, holding tanks, batteries, etc and it takes a certain amount of time to accomplish. Yankee doesn't have a particularly large number of docks and slips and a number are still occupied by people who rent them for the season. They also are limited by having only one marine railway - the slip where the boats are gathered up by the travellift so they can be washed down and then transported, rather slowly, to whatever spot has been selected for their winter rest. Smaller boats are set closer to the river and larger one farther away. In addition, those whose owners want to get back into the water early in the spring are necessarily placed infront to those who have no such plans. As a result there is a slot of shifting and maneuvering and shoehorning that needs to take place and if they can get five boats done in a day that is a lot. The yards crews are also the ones who have to do the winterizing for each boat in addition to the hauling and they are also engaged in whatever repairs and work that needs to be done in the way of maintenance and repairs and all this makes for a very busy time. Weather of course also plays a part and it has only been "fair" this week. Indeed Saturday saw a lot of rain and wind in Portland, a real fall day.

I got taken out to ABISHAGwin a work boat, gathered up most of what I wanted and got back ashore. It was cold and raw and I think I have seen that last of "the Days of Shorts" for a long time. There is nothing I can really do until she gets hauled which will hopefully be this week. Til then, it is just time for waiting.

Vermont ? ? ? ? ?

SHIP'S LOG:

Well, ABISHAG still floats so winter isn't here yet, but it be commin' for sure! I was wondering and a little bit anxious 'bout where I would be spending the winter. The prospect of "living on the boat" again for the winter, especially considering what happened this past winter, was not something that filled me with joy! Now, if I was back in Florida that would be one thing, but ABISHAG has been in the water for two years now and there are a number of projects that require her to be high and dry, so Florida was not an option. That plus the fact that the thought of making that journey all by myself again was not something that was even close to being appealing. Going with someone else is another story but it is not something that could be arranged. Tom Welsh, who was taking his parent's 42 Pearson ketch south, first step down to Newport News, VA, had a list of 12 people who said that they were up to make the trip. Tom wanted to have a crew of 6 so that there would be an easy and comfortable split of watches. One by one they all begged out and Tom eventually headed off with his wife and two others, one who was "shanghaied" at the very last moment. I possibly would have considered going south with another boat, like the trip up the Connecticut River to Portland, but as far as I could find, no one I knew was headed south. Those who seemed to have the interest evidently lost it, so it would have been a "Lone Ranger" trip again and I simply wasn't up for it. Thus AB is getting hauled and I'll get to see snow one again.

So where to spend the winter. Truth be told, I had no idea until last night. I had dinner with Karen, Howard, Skip and Nancy. Skip and Nancy own a place in Vermont and Skip asked if I might "house sit" for the winter. Evidently, the "damage" done to the place during the winter months when it is shut down would be better handled by having someone in residence. Skip and Nancy also have friends who live right across the street whose place could also be "watched." So if my Italian friends don't come through in the next few weeks, after I decommission ABISHAG, I'll probably be heading to the wilds of Vermont for the winter. Talk about your opposite side of the weather spectrum from last year's ! It is all still up in the air and decommissioning needs to be taken care of first. Only after that is done will I be able to make that choice. It sounds interesting prospect though . . . so long as the temperature doesn't get below say 60!

Cold! Rain! Winter Is Nigh!

SHIP'S LOG:

After several days of crappy weather, it turned beautiful last weekend and Fred & Bob(the Pukers) took the weekend to move our boats up to Portland for haul-out. The weather for sailing was perfect but the difference between a ketch of 11 tons and a sloop of 6 tons showed up dramatically. The wind was blowing up the Sound and Fred plotted a course to sail inside along the coast. Once out into the Sound at the mouth of the Thames, Fred & Thalia's sloop bounced over the waves while ABISHAG tried to plow through them. It meant that every wave slowed ABISHAG and it took time for her to build up and keep up speed. TAHKEELAHH is a Catalina 30 sloop simply pointed better than ABISHAG. A ketch just doesn't point with a sloop but would be better off the wind when she could use her Mizzen and Mizzen Staysail. Unfortunately it wasn't how we were sailing. It also didn't help that she pounded through the waves rather than ride over them. Then again, that is her design. She is build for heavy weather and rough water and her hull design deals well with it, very stable but it costs her speed. And going with no crew, I was not able to handle her as efficiently as I could have had I crew. So I eventually went to "the Iron Genoa" and motored to the mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook. Fred, Thalia and Bob had a great sail and we began motoring up the River toward Hamburg Cove.

It was an easy motor . . . except for the powerboats. It was amazing that so many of them were total ignorant or were completely disregarding the "rules of the road." Evidently the fact that a boat is LEGALLY responsible for ANY damage caused by their wake was completely foreign to them. While it was more of an annoyance to us, those who filled the river with canoes and kayaks were actually in danger of swamping and capsizing and those causing the wakes and waves paid no attention. I failed to photograph the most egregious. I suppose I should have but the idea only came late in the trip.

The trip up the river was very reminiscent of the trip on the ICW. Even "Bubba & Scooter", or at least their northern cousins were present. My visit to Hamburg Cove was a first for me. It is a beautiful spot but it was as crowded as a Walmart Parking Lot on Black Friday! Two raft-ups just behind us carried 8 boats on one and 14 on another. We arrived after dark and were lucky to snag a mooring for the two of us. Bob's wife, Livy, provided us with a gourmet treat of a Chateaubriand which was cooked on the grill. Thalia provided the equal compliments to it and we feasted and were stuffed. It was decided that the partiers that surrounded us, who made a lot of noise, were all younger than us and that the noise was a function of age. Thank goodness they ran out of gas and quieted down. I slept like a rock though I gather that for some reason, the others did not.

Sunday morning, watching the sun come up in the still waters of the Cove, was wonderful. It was something I have been doing for over a year now and, with the fact that I am now facing a winter, I really soaked it up.

We left about 10am and motored slowly up the river. We had the chance to experience tricking the bridge tender. At the East Haddem Swing Bridge, a bridge that opened on the half-hour, we probably wold not have made it as TAHKEELAHH was limited on her motoring speed. I was able to get close enough to the bridge to reqwuest and by waiting until the bridge was fully open and motoring through as slowly as I could, it allowed TAHKEELAHH to get close enough so that the tender left the bridge open and let her through. I participated in a few of those on the ICW.

We stopped for a late lunch of grilled marinated chicken and wine in a small creek and really sucked up the wonderful weather. We probably should have passed it or taken less time because by the time we got to Portland, it was dark. I never did like mooring in the dark but you have to do what you have to do.Thankfully, the dock master stuck around because there were boats other than our, who were behind us, and because we were all going on moorings in the dark. He also provided us with transport to shore after the boats were all secure. It was a great but sad trip for it was the last of the year.

Winter should happen in the next day or so, winter being when ABISHAG is hauled out of the water. Then the real fun begins - decommissioning the boat. That really makes winter a reality!

Foggy Thoughts

SHIP'S LOG:

I wish I could tell you something wonderful about the sailing in the last few days, but I can't. There wasn't any. Every morning has begun with fog and I mean "FOG!" Usually it isn't until about 10 in the morning that it lifts enough to see the shoreline and even then it is little more than a hazy outline. Before then, there is little more than a few feet around around the boat that one can see through and other than that it is like sitting in a light bulb. It usually goes away as I said by mid morning, only to begin to return toward the end of the day before then thicken over night. And amazingly, a surprising number of people come down, sit on the porch, drink wine, and watch it. Something like staring at a fire in a fireplace I suppose, a very relaxing. peaceful time.

The main topic for conversation right now among the members is "Where are you hauling for the winter?" It is interesting how people ask the question, in a sort of cautious manner as if they are looking for some sort of affirmation of their own winter hauling plans. Very few people it seems have absolute confidence that they have or are going to make the right choice. That includes people who have been going to the same yard for years. Of course it involves more than just the cost for the hauling, washing, storage and re-launch in the spring. It is important to some that they be able to do the work on their boats themselves. Others want to have the yards do it all and in both cases they want to know that the yards are OK with what they want. There is also the factor of how far the boat is not only from TYC but also how far it might be from where you live. If you are too far from your boat it makes decommissioning - taking off all the stuff and haul it home for the winter when you button her up - and re-commissioning - preparing the boat for relaunching - painting and the like - and hauling all the stuff back to the boat again from home. It seems as though no one feel completely comfortable with their decision and their choice. Sailors are such a pessimistic lot at times.

Well, the fog that faded away 20 minutes ago is back with a vengeance. NOAA is call for showers at noon, with thunderstorms likely, a least an 80% chance. In other words, who knows?