Talk Like a Pirate, Maties

Aye Maties! It's International 'Talk Like a Pirate' Day. Shiver me timbers!

Yesterday Scallawag Norm and his Wench put the bikes in the dinghy (a first - they fit just fine folded up) and biked the roads of Shelter Island (near Sag Harbor). It was gorgeous. We stopped for lunch in Derring Harbor at Dory's overlooking a pond - very picturesque. Also took a 6-mile hike at the Mashomack Nature Conservancy Preserve. We're anchored just off the preserve and got a view of the boat through the trees.

We've discovered that our preferred style of cruising is to select a destination to be at for a few days or more. It's more leisurely, we don't feel as rushed, and the dinghy doesn't have to go up and down as often which is a hassle for Norm. That's better than going to a new place everyday. We got tired and bored with arriving at a place in the afternoon, taking the dinghy down to go into town, walking around town for a while, going back to the boat and putting the dinghy up. There wasn't enough reward for the effort - the towns are lovely, but we're not big on shopping, we've seen enough museums for a while, we don't usually stop at a bar or restaurant because they're expensive and we're watching our wastelines. So we partake real home-made good-eatin on board. We love grilling and watching the sunset (not necessary together). We've seen several sunsets like this one lately.

Our next destination is New York City. We'll leave tomorrow (Saturday) and will be there Monday. In between, we won't feel compelled to dinghy in to each town which might make us want to walk the plank! We'll be back in Delaware in early October. The plan has us arriving around October 1. Doctor appointments have been made for the week of October 13. That allows ample time for weather or mechanical delays. We plan to leave Delaware October 18 or a few days later, going to the Annapolis area for electrical work, then Washburn's in Solomons Island Maryland for a few maintenance items, then on to North Carolina to buddy up with Rick and Lynnie aboard Rickshaw for the trek to Florida and the Bahamas.

"Girl"noculars and "Boy"noculars

When we arrived in Jamestown at the Clark’s Boat Yard mooring in a driving rain, we thought we saw a yellowish lobster trap buoy about 30 ft from our boat. Then, it was gone. Where did it go? We reported the sighting to the owner and the harbormaster. We all arranged for a diver to come out to the boat and inspect. Yep, there it was on the bottom, but with no painter line. We must have cut it with our spurs on the shafts—designed for such events. Or, what we saw was already afloat and cruising by at that moment. Sam, the diver, ripped open the cage so no crustacean would get caught and starve to death. He also did an inspection of our hull and all was good (paint, no barnacles) with the exception of a shaft zinc anode that was loose. So, we had him replace it. (These zincs are placed on metal parts of the boat that are under water to protect those metal parts from electrolysis.)

We were in good company in Newport. This cruise liner was there and left the day before us. We are continually amazed at the size.

Yesterday, we cruised from Jamestown RI in Narragansett Bay to Montauk NY on the eastern tip of Long Island. We had a very nice cruise and due to the currents and winds, we averaged 7.1 knots using only 1500 RPM. We timed the notorious currents around the tip of Montauk well and arrived with little or none. We anchored in Montauk Lake in 12 ft of calm water. Needless to say, we got some good “ZZZZ’s” last night. We dingied to town and walked around among all the restaurants and shops. We spent most of our time there at Gossmans, a compound of restaurants and shops and a fresh fish market. Norm tried to make contact with a friend of our friend Roy Adler (from Annapolis), but could not get an answer on the VHF radio. Very unusual since this guy has a Sea Tow franchise up here. However, it is very “dead” up here now that the season is over. While the restaurants and resorts still seem to be open, we saw very little auto and people traffic. We had the whole town to ourselves.
We also got a tour of the Montauk Coast Guard Station – very cool – went on two boats - a small red one we see often on the water and one of the all-aluminum self-righting cutters The cutter is designed to right itself if by chance it rolls over. Occupants sit on seats that are mounted on air springs so they’re not jarred by the waves (hey- we could use that!) and they are strapped in like they’re in a fighter plane.Yesterday’s cruise was the first opportunity to use our new binoculars. They are fabulous – the automatic focus feature is ultra convenient. The ‘girl’noculars are now distinguished from the ‘boy’noculars by orange polka-dot ribbons attached to either side – very pretty.

Need Some Shut-eye

Saturday’s trip from Martha’s Vineyard to Narragansett Bay on the coast of Rhode Island was calm. Norm timed the currents and we were flying down Vineyard Sound at over 8 knots –whoohoo! The Sakonnet River forms the eastern part of Narragansett Bay. We tucked in behind Sachuest Point and anchored for the night. What looked on paper to be a great stop based on expected winds, turned out to be a mistake! The swells rolled around the point and prevented us from getting much sleep. It felt like the carnival fun-house where the floor shifts all around. We left early (6:30) Sunday morning because we just couldn’t take it anymore and to try to outrun incoming storms.

We cruised a few hours yesterday over to Jamestown RI across the Bay from Newport. It was an overcast day with seas around 2 ft. We cut a corner to make up time and ran into a “box canyon” of fishing nets suspended by barrels. So, we lost the time we had saved by circling back. The captain of the fishing vessel called to thank us for making the “U” turn. We arrived in Jamestown just in time for the storm and we moored in a blinding shower at Clarks Boat Yard. We took the ferry into Newport for the Newport Boat Show and had a great fish sandwich at the Brick Alley Tavern. Spent the afternoon at the boat show talking to vendors about some of the things we’ll be purchasing before crossing to the Caribbean (e.g. water maker, larger anchor). We also purchased a block and tackle for $100 less than West Marine was asking. It will be used with the Life Sling to hoist a person out of the water and (perhaps – we have to try this) to lower and raise the kayak from the boat deck.

The most exciting purchase was his and hers binoculars. Bushnell 7x50’s. They are too cool. You set each lens for your eye and never touch a setting again. The binoculars automatically focus on whatever you are pointing at. Amazing! What a convenience – no messing with dials to bring the object into focus. We had to each have our own pair because our eyes are so different (Vicki has monovision: one eye sees distance, one close up). Vic will be decorating hers to distinguish them apart…perhaps bicycle handlebar streamers and a bell?

Last night brought more sleep deprivation. The wind was gusting up to 35 knots at about 4:00 this morning. The boat was dancing around the mooring giving us a rolly/jerky ride… and the mooring line was making unsettling stretching sounds. All that kept us awake for a few hours. At one point Norm felt a “jerk” and wondered if we had dragged the mooring. He went out to check on the tie up and all looked secure so we just waited it out.

It’s a beautiful sunny morning. We’ll be here in Jamestown for another night because the winds are still strong. Perhaps a nap is in order.

On the Road Again

All is well. The inverter was successfully installed yesterday. This morning we cruised to Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard. Took the shuttle from Vineyard Haven to Oak Bluffs and to Edgartown. (It was a grey day threatening rain so we decided to forego our original plans to bike.) Got a taste of each town. We've been thinking that the cute little towns are starting to look the same, but these three were really similar. The same coffee shop (Motts), ice cream shop (Mad Martha's) and many other shops were in triplicate on the island, one in each town.

Tomorrow we're heading over to Narragansett Bay... should be in Long Island Sound early next week.

Rx: Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownies

Once again our cruise is stalled by a maintenance issue. Crap! The inverter has gone belly-up and our cruising is delayed until we can replace it. A new one will be here (in Falmouth Mass on south shore of Cape Cod) by noon tomorrow and should be installed by end of day.

We cruised from Falmouth to Hyannis on Monday with plans to go to Nantucket and then to Martha's Vineyard this week. We walked the town and to the JFK Memorial built by the people of Hyannis. It was a lovely park setting overlooking the beach and another mooring field in the Hyannis Harbor. Here's Vicki overlooking the harbor. And on the right, Norm in front of the fountain. We understand that Ted was staying at the Hyannis compound but we did not see him. We also understand that his 50ft sail boat is moored in the same place we are, but we did not see it either. We were hoping he would be on his boat and we would swing by in the dinghy and get invited up for afternoon tea, but no luck.

Monday night Norm noticed that the inverter wasn't working and smelled an electrical burning odor at the inverter. Not good! He did all the troubleshooting and nothing worked. We called around and decided the best place to go for installation was a boatyard in Falmouth. So, back to Falmouth we went on Tuesday.

Norm ordered a new inverter from Bob Campbell, the electrical guru in Annapolis, who was already working on a proposal for our boat to make some modifications to the electrical system. He has worked on several other boats like ours and was able to quickly recommend the inverter that would be best for us and had it shipped to us.

Resilience seems to be a key ingredient for successful cruising. It's important to bounce back when things go wrong or don't go as expected. In that vein, we decided to have some fun this morning and took the Shining Sea bike path to Woods Hole to the Pie in the Sky bakery and had what had been described to us as “amazing” pecan rolls (and they were). You can see our transportation in the picture on the left. (You thought you'd get a picture of the pecan rolls, didn't you?) Then we toured the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute exhibit. We learned all about how they discovered the Titanic, and the amazing research submersible “Alvin” that explores 3 miles down. Fascinating.

Our resilience was also aided by making the Ghirardelli double chocolate brownies that Robin had given us the mix for. There's nothing like a chocolate stupor to make you forget your troubles!

Let’s hope the inverter arrives on time tomorrow and the installation goes smoothly. We plan to go to Martha’s Vineyard on Friday. If something prevents that....well, we have brownies in reserve!

Happy Birthday to Vicki's Dad. He's one of our most faithful readers and we love chatting with him about our cruise.

Hanna Was a Non-Event

Hanna was pretty wimpy here. Looks like the majority of the weather went west of here. We didn’t experience anything like 40-50 mph winds. We watched a movie on cable until midnight, then Vicki went to bed. Norm slept on the couch for a while, expecting Hanna’s fury to arrive at any moment, but it never came. When he woke up on the couch at 3:00, everything was quiet outside. We’re thankful and yet, in a twisted way, after doing all that work to get ready for the storm, it’s a bit of a let down.

We slept late and walked into town for a hearty breakfast at the diner – the sign in the window says “eat heavy” and that’s just what we did. We spent the rest of the day cleaning and putting everything back in its place aboard Tide Hiker. Tomorrow we’re heading to Hyannis, then on to Nantucket and to Martha’s Vineyard. The weather is supposed to be beautiful this week – sunny and 70s.

Preparing for Hanna!!

Our First Tropical Storm
Today was spent preparing for Hanna. Tonight she will be unleashing sustained 35 kt/40 mph winds with gusts to 45 kt/52 mph. Yikes! We’re in a slip in Falmouth, MA on the south shore of Cape Cod. It’s a pretty protected harbor for waves, but the winds will still beat on us but to a lesser degree.

How do we prepare for a tropical storm? We had no idea! Luckily we were aided by the DeFever Cruisers Forum. An experienced member had posted on the forum a list of hurricane storm prep activities. That was incredibly useful. We had a few other questions that were answered by a call to fellow cruisers Steve and Di Koch who have a boat like ours based in Florida but are currently in Long Island Sound (and also preparing for the storm). A big decision was whether or not to take down the isinglass from the bridge—we decided to do it —putting it back up may be a BIG JOB. It kept us warm while cruising in cool northern winds and sheltered us from rain, but we may not even want it up when we reach southern climates. (We can always drive from the pilot house in inclement weather.) The big question is how the freezer will fare in the rain, unprotected by the isinglass. That’s a question for tonight, but also a question long term. We may need to find a different location for the freezer if we don’t re-install the isinglass.

Here are some of the things we did to prepare for Hanna…(you won't recognize Tide Hiker--she's Bare. Doubled the dock lines. Placed fenders to keep us away from hitting dock and the boat next to us.
Removed everything from the bridge and boat deck that could blow away. The bikes are sitting on the dock tied to pylons; the new kayak is stored in the marina shed; the lounging chairs and settee cushions and dinghy cover are stored in the forward stateroom. Everything else that could blow around is stored in the eyebrow (really, the eyebrow! – boat people like to speak in code - it’s the name for the storage area on the front of the bridge (that’s the sky scraper top of the boat that we drive from).
More…………..we taped down the instrument covers on the bridge and anything that could fly up, open, or allow water incursion. Our first moment of consternation was when we discovered that we didn’t have any of the right kind of tape aboard. We had duct tape which leaves tear-your-hair-out sticky residue and painter’s tape which would fly off when wet. Luckily, the West Marine across the street had ‘clean removal’ duct tape. We’re counting heavily on the ‘clean removal’ description because we bought the giant roll and used the whole thing! If it doesn’t live up to its promise, we’ll be counting on Roger and Lisa (our friends in Delaware) to once again come to our aid when we get there. (They removed much of the sticky residue from last winter’s escapade with shrink wrap tape which was used to seal doors and window—now that’s a good friend! )
More……………we removed pop-in screens from the portholes. And a bunch of other stuff.
Storm preparations were done by 3:00. So, we won't miss cocktail hour at 5:00. It took 6 hours with about a 10-minute lunch break. We decided to take a walk down the dock to check out everyone else’s preparations. It was evident that people had removed or tied down things that would fly around, but no one had taped anything – not hatches, not doors, not nothin’. Several still had biminy tops up and many had isinglass. The word ‘overkill’ came to mind as we compared our preparations to others’. We’ll see. At this point, we’re comfortable with our readiness, and hope for some sleep and that no one else breaks loose and careens into us. We’ll let you know tomorrow.