Food, fixes and notes from the casual coastal sailor.

[monkphunk]

September is the best sailing on our coast. More consistent wind I believe.

The holiday 3-day weekend was my perfect forecast: 5-10, 5-10, 5-10. Little difference to me the first two were South and the last, North.

I took a leisurely leave and left Saturday at lunch time, then sailed Northeasterly for several hours. I anchored off a small uninhabited island, thinking for the night. I thought better of it after I felt the swell, so pushed on to better protected Butter Island. That was a first (Butter) for me, very pretty and well protected:

We thought we saw you at Butter. We were on the beach having dinghy'd over from the Barred Islands to hike up the trail. The fact that you were sailing off your anchor gave you away.

I didn't know exactly where the beach was at Butter. Having now seen that anchorage, I would have spent the night there with the NE wind, but our guidebook led us to believe it would be too exposed.

That said, the sunset in the Barred Islands was incredible on Saturday.

 

[Kris Cringle]

We thought we saw you at Butter. We were on the beach having dinghy'd over from the Barred Islands to hike up the trail. The fact that you were sailing off your anchor gave you away.

I didn't know exactly where the beach was at Butter. Having now seen that anchorage, I would have spent the night there with the NE wind, but our guidebook led us to believe it would be too exposed.

That said, the sunset in the Barred Islands was incredible on Saturday.

View attachment 539452

Great photo. That yawl looks like NORA, an S&S design that sails locally.

 

[Cruisin Loser]

I'm in Texas now, but Restive is cruising around without me I maybe Perry Creek last night, there was a mention in a text of Pulpit. I have 18" clearance at dead low on the MacLeod moorings in Perry Creek.

My PA just got out of the ICU today, moved to regular care. It's been a brutal 3 weeks, at times it wasn't day to day or even hour to hour. Every 15 minutes was a big deal.

 

[Elegua]

Sorry to hear the news CL.

Just made it to City Island. Wonderful, if wet sail, down. Not every passage can I surf the shitbox at up to 10kts.

I’ve been planning my travels for some time, but I really got it in the feels when I transited the CCC. Maine and all the cruising for the past 10+ years are behind me and I’m not sure when I’ll be back.

 

[accnick]

I'm in Texas now, but Restive is cruising around without me I maybe Perry Creek last night, there was a mention in a text of Pulpit. I have 18" clearance at dead low on the MacLeod moorings in Perry Creek.

My PA just got out of the ICU today, moved to regular care. It's been a brutal 3 weeks, at times it wasn't day to day or even hour to hour. Every 15 minutes was a big deal.

We just finished putting the boat to bed after our truncated season, and are headed home to FL tomorrow. We were headed back to Perry from Camden when the engine croaked.

I spent yesterday morning making detailed engine room measurements, since I plan to switch to a modern electronic tier 3 engine which is totally different from our old one, even though it is almost the same displacement, configuration, and hp. Hope I can squeeze it in!

Getting engines and gearboxes is a challenge right now, but I am optimistic we will be back on the water next summer.

We like Perry, and our club has three guest moorings there. The problem is keeping the interlopers off them.

We were there a few weeks ago—saw Kris Kringle’s Christmas—and the place was packed.

Had one last dinner at the pub at Brooklin Inn tonight. Hope to see you there next year.

 

[Kris Cringle]

Sorry about your engine woes, Nick. Was it showing any symptoms or just catastrophically quit?



Just in fun , let's analyze this claim:

"We like Perry, and our club has three guest moorings there. The problem is keeping the interlopers off them."

What is an interloper?

NOUN

1. a person who becomes involved in a place or situation where they are not wanted or are considered not to belong:

Does your club own water access on Perry Creek? Why does your club feel they have the right to permanently own the right to anchor - whether your club is using the moorings or not - in public waters (a preserve no less)?

Who is the interloper?

 

[Cruisin Loser]

Mr. MacLeod maintains 3-4 free moorings there, he lives in the tug yacht and is a lovely guy. He would prefer people stay off HIS preferred mooring.

If I poke my nose in and it's crowded, I'm happy to anchor outside the creek. We mainly go there for the hiking trails.

The place is now pretty gridded out, lessening it's allure. People have started setting a lot of private moorings at Holbrook , as well. Again, we like to anchor.

The founder of the Vinalhaven Land Trust is a friend, she and her husband live across on Calderwood Neck, and sometmes come over to the creek when they see us to visit or invite us to breakfast and coffee. Nice folks. His great, or great great, grandmother founded the Audubon Society and was painted by John Singer Sargent.

Sorry I didn't catch you before you left, Nick. I would have liked to go sailing. I'll probably make one more trip, but it will be a short one, partly to retrieve my passport from the boat.

The very best day of this season was spending a rainy, blustery NE day at anchor in Orcutt with the wife, wind howling, rain beating on the deck, napping, snuggling, playing music, sipping whiskey by the fireplace.

 

[10thTonner]

This brings up the debate over what it takes to be sure that a boat has an actual soul. The boat pictured here obviously does, but where does one draw the line?
Years ago, when they were little, my kids asked why my Laser didn't have a name. I replied that it didn't have a name because it wasn't really a boat with a soul, but instead one of nearly 200,000 mass-produced plastic pieces of sporting equipment, like a pair of skis or a surfboard. Optis are different, I said, because even though they are mass-produced, they are loved by their little kid sailors, whose imagination breathes life and soul into them, and so they deserve names.

I hated my Opti and I loved my Laser.

 

[Israel Hands]

Technical SA posting question: has the photo size limit changed? I've tried several times to post photos that are under 1MG, but the icon below the post says "insert" and the photo will not post.

 

[Ajax]

Wife and I rendezvoused with friends who recently bought a very nice Caliber 40.

Every weekend after Labor Day is the Eastport Oyster Boys charity concert in Shaw Bay to raise money for the local riverkeepers. The band gathers on a huge motorsailor equipped with a shitload of solar panels and audio equipment and plays for 3-4 hours. Their uh, genre is what I'd call "Jimmy Buffet-esque." All the boaters anchor, jump into their dinghies and tie up to the stern of the motorsailor in a huge raft up of dinghies. Total strangers tie up to each other, pass around snacks and drinks and generally have a good time.

The weather was perfect for such an event. Unfortunately, snotty weather was forecast to move in today, so I upped anchor and blasted for home as soon as the concert was over. We had a smooth, peaceful crossing of the Chesapeake and arrived home at 11pm.

 

[Ajax]

@Elegua is rounding Cape May. I think his intent is to continue up the Delaware Bay.
We have been in touch regarding current, wind and anchoring behind Reedy Island to time the canal.

 

[Elegua]

Well some errant debris plugging the raw water intake delayed us enough to miss the tide up the Bay. Ajax wisely pointed us to Lewes.

May the black flies not eat us alive.

 

[Beer fueled Mayhem]

My dog likes to sail.

View attachment 464246

View attachment 464247

Saw this in my feed this morning.
Is that little guy who I think he is?

 

[Kris Cringle]

Saw this in my feed this morning.
Is that little guy who I think he is?
View attachment 541459

That's him! Taken 9 years ago making him 5 at the time.

 

[Beer fueled Mayhem]

That's him! Taken 9 years ago making him 5 at the time.

I think you told us his name. I can't remember if you did. I remember Ajax meeting him and someone told a story about why little dogs can be a bit...aggressive. Just another thing I learned here on a sailing forum!

 

[accnick]

I think you told us his name. I can't remember if you did. I remember Ajax meeting him and someone told a story about why little dogs can be a bit...aggressive. Just another thing I learned here on a sailing forum!

I can tell you that he is still a very good guard dog. He may be deaf as a post, but that doesn't stop him.

Let's put it this way. In an anchorage, he will let everybody around know that someone is too close to Christmas.

 

[Kris Cringle]

I think you told us his name. I can't remember if you did. I remember Ajax meeting him and someone told a story about why little dogs can be a bit...aggressive. Just another thing I learned here on a sailing forum!

His name is Tommy. He came pre-named by his breeder and my wife insisted on keeping it.

She also insisted on naming our son, Thomas, he being the 4th Thomas Oswald Young.

As if that wasn't enough of a problem, our daughter's boyfriend's name is, you guessed it, Tom. I've named him New Tom.

I can top that though! My wife is one of 7 Marys born into an Irish Catholic family. But they all have tag names, hers being Mary Ann, so nobody is called Mary. But that trend continues with my daughter, Mary Jane (she is called Mary Jane as there is only one).

But Tommy only stuck to him. And he doesn't bite,...hard. But he will scare the shit out you if you pet him below the shoulders for some odd reason.

 

[accnick]

His name is Tommy. He came pre-named by his breeder and my wife insisted on keeping it.

She also insisted on naming our son, Thomas, he being the 4th Thomas Oswald Young.

As if that wasn't enough of a problem, our daughter's boyfriend's name is, you guessed it, Tom. I've named him New Tom.

I can top that though! My wife is one of 7 Marys born into an Irish Catholic family. But they all have tag names, hers being Mary Ann, so nobody is called Mary. But that trend continues with my daughter, Mary Jane (she is called Mary Jane as there is only one).

But Tommy only stuck to him. And he doesn't bite,...hard. But he will scare the shit out you if you pet him below the shoulders for some odd reason.

View attachment 541542

He is a true terrier, and a gorgeous little dog. Perfect for the boat.

 

[Fleetwood]

I think you told us his name. I can't remember if you did. I remember Ajax meeting him and someone told a story about why little dogs can be a bit...aggressive. Just another thing I learned here on a sailing forum!

Small dog syndrome. Common enough around our dog parks. (Also with halfbacks in footy (rugby)...)

 

[mgs]

dog parks. (Also with halfbacks in footy (rugby)...)

That’s a wee harsh, making the dogs play with rugby players.