There Is Nothing quite Like An Early Morning Swim!

SHIP'S LOG:

       Saturday and Sunday were almost mirror images of one another. The winds were the same; the wind direction was the same; the tides were the same; and both days were really quite good for sailing. There were times when the wind went light and other times when we had some real gusts, but overall the wind was perfect.

     There were a surprising number of boats out over the two days, both sail and power. I say surprising because it seems as though a lot of boats of both kinds are still on the hard. I would say we have about 80% 0f the moorings filled at TYC but as I sail and/or drive along waterfronts, I still see lots of boats still under wraps. I find it strange as it can't be much if any of a savings to leave the boat ashore. You still have to pay for storage and insurance, so you might as well put it in the water.  At the very least you can go and sit on it from time to time and enjoy the cool breezes. I can understand powerboat fuel costs. A "cabin cruiser" type of boat on an overnight to say Block Island will eat up $300-400 in fuel alone, but one can still "lounge" at the marina dock and commune with friends of a summer's day. After all, with all the money one sinks into a boat, pretty much any boat, all the cost of maintenance, fuel, storage, hauling & launching, taxes, insurance, dockage, etc, one could never financially justify the cost-per-hour-used of boating. The only thing worse would probably be an airplane. So you don't try to justify it, you just enjoy it!

     I went for my first swim this morning . . . unintended. I was motoring into the dock from the mooring in a dead flat calm when I ran over a mooring and got hung up on the pennant. I simply didn't see it and that was after two cups of coffee!I tried reversing the engine but I was hooked for sure. So it was drop the boarding ladder, done swim suit and face-mask, and go over the side to unwrap the pennant from my prop. thank goodness there was no damage to the prop, the shaft or the mooring pennant. Actually, the water wasn't too, too bad . . .for the top four feet or so, but below that, BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Sort Of Summer . . .Sort Of!

SHIP'S LOG:

     The season's weather so far has been a bit strange. Perhaps more than a bit strange.  Monday it was like August, but then the storm raged through around 6pm dropping rain and the temp and it wasn't August no more. Tuesday started out fine, not quite August but then the sun went away, the wind picked up out of the north east and it was wind and rain and rockin' & rollin' all night long. Wednesday dawned bright and clear though the wind continued. According to Ledge Light, it was out of the north-north-east, at 25 with gusts to 35. Then it died off to a whisper just in time for the Wednesday night races. Thursday was great but no wind in the morning, though it picked up to about 10 in the afternoon. It has been hot most days but cool-cold in the evenings. More rain than we need. It has just been strange.

     I had a chance to sail on Tom Doyle's boat, BAGATELLE, a 43ft custom KISS. It is basically a daysailer that is very, very fast. It is definitely built for speed and not for comfort. It was difficult to find a comfortable place to sit and there were lines and winches and clutches running everywhere.  In a pinch it could be sailed by one person, if they knew the boat, but getting underway and back to the mooring would be "exciting" to say the least, especially in any type of "weather." Unfortunately for Tom, the boat has presented a whole host of little pain-in-the-but problems. The roller-furling system he has for his asymmetrical spinnaker somehow manage to roll the sail up in two different directions at the same time. It must have taken a good half hour getting it unwound by hand on the foredeck. then there was a little problem getting the transmission to go into reverse. Like I said, a whole host of little but exciting and aggravating problems. But when all is right, she really, really goes!

I Don't Recall Seeing Purple Before! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

      It was August today. Perhaps late July, but it was definitely mid-summer. The three "H's" were here early this morning as I brought ABISHAG into a slip. By the time I was through securing here, I was soaking wet with sweat ad it was only 6:30am!

     NOAA called for a sunny day(check!), little in the way of clouds (double check!!) high humidity(triple check!!!) and wind in the 10knts range! well, you can't be right all of the time. During most of the day, the wind was a zephyr, occasionally get up enough gumption t ripple the water. sad to say, it is not ABISHAG's element. It is one of those days you want a multi-hull or a small racing boat, something that will, as they say, "move when a moth farts in Montana!" At 11 tons, that ain't ABISHAG!

     Still in all, it was pleasant working on her in this weather. A tiny cool breeze wafting through the boat.  Then again, that should have been the warning. Hazy, hot, humid and cool breeze mean one thing in the summer, a nasty line squall, probably with thunder and lightning. And as sit here at 7:37pm, some really ugly, nasty black clouds are converging on New London and the rumble o thunder can be heard. The weather radar is showing a squall line of thunder storms heading our way and, since it is in color, it is almost beautiful . . . .  except for the purple! I can't remember the last time I saw purple in a color radar scan, but if I have seen it before, it certainly was not a good thing. Nor is it this time either.

     As these things go, one can not say exactly where this line of storms is going to hit except for the fact that unless it makes a really radical turn, we are going to get wet at TYC. Hopefully, we will be spared the "quarter size hail, . . . . the torrential downpour, . . . .  the 60mph winds," but one has to deal with what comes your way. That means extra lines for ABISHAG ad a nice and cozy spot in the clubhouse for me. Here's hoping it goes south pf us as it appears to be doing.
   

Can One Day A Summer Make?

SHIP'S LOG:

       Yesterday was a perfect summer day. Not a cloud in the sky. Neither too hot nor too cool. Plenty of wind but not enough to make sailing a lot of work. It was just perfect. Strangely, the sound was bereft of boats and those of us who were out there enjoying this perfect day pretty much had the place to ourselves.

     Sailing on such a day is rater special. There really is no drive to go somewhere or anywhere for that matter. One simply lets the wind fill the sails and off you go, on one long tack until you get the urge to go in some other direction simply to see what that is like. You do this several times and before you know it, you have eaten up much of the day and so you slowly start to make your way back home. It was wonderful and peaceful and eminently enjoyable. It was a perfect day.

     Today on the other hand was/is not. It was a "not enough" day -  not enough wind, not enough sun, not enough warmth, and too much humidity.  It is amazing how much can change in just 24 hours. Most people probably didn't even notice but those of us who live by wind and wave and sun saw it all too clearly. I am hoping that yesterday and not today is the model for the summer.

A Day For A Little Sail

SHIP'S LOG:

     The Sun is Out!  The Temp is warming. The Sky is Clear.  Looks like a perfect day to go for a sail. Now all I need is WIND!

     Yesterday, the wind didn't die down until mid afternoon. It eventually became calm, so calm that it didn't blow at all. Strange weather, what? It gave me a chance to do a thorough cleaning of the clubhouse and rearrange everything to a post-gale state. Aside from that, not much transpired.

     It still doesn't feel like summer. Yes, I know it is not summer by the calendar, nor by the astronomical measurement, but summer is really when it feels like summer and right now it just doesn't. Here's hoping that it will soon!

And It Sure Did Blow! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

     We got socked pretty good yesterday, probably another 4-6 inches of rain and wind that clocked at a steady 34mph with gusts to 40! It wasn't a pleasant day to spend on the boat . . . .so I did not, nor the night either. I have spent more than enough nights rockin' & rollin' when I had to do so. Now that I do not necessary have to do so, doing so makes no sense.

     The boats that were going to participate in the Off Soundings Series never showed up with the exception of those from the club. Three of the four took of for Stonington about 9:30. They left early to beat the wind and rain and waves. The fourth was unable to get any member of her crew down before 6pm(people do work you know). I was willing to go but there was no way to get back save walking and Stonington is much to far on a good day.  She didn't want to make the trip by herself, one smart lady, but she really had to be there as she was running the social and dinner for the assembling crews on Thursday night in Stonington. By dint of a lot of p[hone calling, she was able to find crew to go with her and I went over after they got there to bring the crew back. in the end, it all worked out.

     The weather continued to deteriorate all day and the Force 5's even decided not to race. As one sagely noted, "Racing a Force 5(small racing dinghy) in 25- 30 knots, in 3 foot waves is no problem when the water is turquoise blue and 8 degrees, like in Key Largo, Florida, but it is a different, and not a good thing, when the water is slate gray and 52 degrees(off TYC)!"

    By morning the club skiffs were filled and needed pumping out. When the wind dies off some more, I will put the porch furniture back outside and get around to picking up the wind-blown debris. The SUN is rumored to be coming out this afternoon and tomorrow is actually supposed to be sunny and warm all day. That's what NOAA says. Me, I wait and see.

About That Wind!!!!

SHIP'S LOG:

     The Off Soundings Sailing Club is running a series of races over the weekend. TYC is the most convenient place to load crew and stores for people coming any distanced and a  number of participants from around the area usually head here to dock their boat before heading off. This meant that I had to get of the dock to free up space an normally that wouldn't mean a great deal except for the fact that in this case the wind was really blowing. The readings from Ledge Light near the mouth of the river were 30knts steady with gust to 38knts. The wind was out of the North West, right down the river, and  as such it was blowing straight down the river and straight into the slips. This meant that I had to try and back out against a lot of wind. No sailboat backs well to begin with and when there is  lot of wind, they like it even less. There is also the problem that if you can get the boat moving backwards, as soon as you start to move broadside to the wind, it is very easy to loose control. And unless you keep the boat straight into the wind, getting swung broadside is very, very easy.

     I kept waiting for the wind to ease up a bit and while it seemed to do so at times, it never was quite long enough to get the job done. Finally, Chuck the Launch Driver, came up with the idea of using the launch to keep ABISHAG stern-to-wind during the back out, allowing me to get away from piers and other boats, before turning her broadside and going forward. So I started the engine and waited for a "lull." One eventually came, or the closest thing we were likely to get, and I rushed about, dropping lines and climbing into the cockpit and backing her out. It was a lot less dramatic than a lot of other maneuvers I have undertaken and, with Chuck's help, turned out rather easy.  So ABISHA is back on her mooring, safe and sound.

      And  it is a good thing too as today it is supposed to rain all day, with small craft advisories until 6pm when they will be upgraded to gale warnings. It appears that the next few days are supposed to continue to be crappy as well. This spring and summer have so far been rather crazy weather-wise. I hope it all settles down into something approaching "normal" soon.