Woods Hole

Thursday, great amount of work gets done, auxiliary steering is fitted. SILENT MAID is launched again after new varnish and changed back to cruising mode. I got a zodiac lesson, and then took stuff back & forth to BARNEGAT, who was moored off the dock. Hot and sweaty work, muggy weather, many trips to the trailer, boat, car, dock, sheds, and back. Gear sorted and re-stowed. Sail was swapped out, racing for cruising. They are both heavy. Lucky Liz and a friend just happened to be in Newport stayed for dinner and sweaty sail changing. PFDs go into a gear bag instead of the lazarette. Pete & I take cars to Woods Hole, leave one there and drive back to Melville.

Friday, SILENT MAID left Portsmouth, RI area with skipper and three crew aboard. The crew had a good breakfast, delaying the departure somewhat. All the "Are we there yet?" questions were answered with, "Well, we would have been if we left earlier." And he wonders where the moniker, Ahab, came from. Nice sail over, even though it rained most of the day. Overcast in the Narragansett, sail is set, starboard run all day. Light rain cools us all off at first, becomes steadier and colder throughout the day. Foulies broken out. Everyone gets a well deserved nap. In Buzzards Bay, we try out the new steering. Tackles are rigged from the stern deck to the rudder eye. We all take turns standing on the deck and steering using the handy billy lines. Great view from up on the deck. Lunch is served in the cockpit. Sailing along the Island chain, we all take turns with the binoculars, checking out flora and wildlife. I got to steer through Woods Hole after we took the sail in. Very squirrely currents, standing waves, and big wakes. Add the frequent ferries and much concentration was required. We meet our hosts, are directed through the tiny drawbridge, partake of offered showers, and then batten down. Spaghetti a'la Maid in the grand salon and then sleep comes easy as the rain thunders on the cabin top.

Sat. I get to dress ship! I love to do that. All the flags make her quite a spectacle. Foggy in the am. John runs the cabin heater to try and dry out all the rain soaked gear. It works, but is uninhabitable, sauna like, no, more like a sweat lodge. Pete takes MAID SERVICE out for a row around Eel pond and finds WERE HERE. One of my favorite boat names from literature. John leaves with the computer to find air and wireless. Lunchtime brings the sun and Jamaca & I hang out and gam with folks coming over to see the pretty boat. We invite all aboard and share her wonderfulness. Getting on and off by mid afternoon becomes more athletic as the tide drops and the seawall rises. In the afternoon we walk up to the town library where John gives a builder's talk about SILENT MAID and her relation to NJ catboats. It was a standing room only crowd, reception follows outside with juice & cookies. The skies break open again. I find a lovely example of a "Sarah Schottle" dress in the museum. Just the thing for yachting. The museum's boatshop is building a cape dory and a stitch and glue pram. Dinner follows with a delightful hometown crowd of museum supporters, artists all in one way or another. Science and art blend very well in Wood's Hole. A fresh caught striped bass dinner in an old cape house with lots of new friends is a nice way to end the day.

Sun. Off come the signals, out come the PFDs, and on come the guests. Sailing out through the hole three times with crowds aboard, those who want to steer,do, and foredeck crews are assembled and hoist sail. The ferries are moving objects to be avoided and the water motion is extreme. Under sail though, peace returns and SILENT MAID exhibits her best graces. I have to leave my shipmates and drive back to NJ and miss the last sail. Each was different conditions, illustrating the variability of weather and water condition's.

Summer People Some Are Not

In and Out- The Woods Hole drawbridge into Eel Pond. Nice little salty puddle. BIG boats in here. and little ones too. We went in and out a lot today. The bridge opens every half hour if you call in a request. You have to let them know if you are coming in or going out as sometimes there is a line up on either side awaiting opening and it is a narrow passage. Graffiti under the bridge.

Mystic River to Narragansett River

Monday, June 28.
Left the seaport with six aboard SILENT MAID after a nice oatmeal & fruit breakfast on BARNEGAT. Love that boat. Through the bridges motoring, swing and lift, then hoisted sail with the new crew Peter Seigl and Tony Diaz. Lots of discussion around the navigation table and a fresh breeze. We had a lovely reach rolling up Block Island Sound to Point Judith and then ran up river with the dinghy MAID SERVICE surfing along behind us. Jibe and jibe again kept the mainsheet and backstay crews busy. Under the Pell Bridge and on up to Melville.

Leaving Newport

Here is SILENT MAID in the slings after a new paint job and varnish touch ups. White socks for the crew to keep her nice. Left Melville, RI bound for the Block Island sound. Found some big swells out there and my nemesis returned. Well, it is not the third day (so much for that theory), the wrist bands did not work, and I have tried Dramamine and Bonnine. Tried JohnS'Bach's ginger drink too. So far the only really tolerable solution is discretely heave and then steer. Steering makes you focus on the telltales or the compass and the sail. Keeps your mind and eyes occupied, so you don't think about how yucky you feel. Really helps to stay out of the cabin too. We have a bit of lightning and I tell Max he's safe with me since all of us that have been hit once are more likely to be hit again, The sail is already down and I steer with one hand. Lots of cold rain. We miss the really strong winds thankfully. The malady seems to pass in a few hours and I feel fine by late afternoon, but maybe we have always reached more protected water by then. Up Mystic River, passing the railway swing bridge, then through the lift bridge. The MORGAN is on the hard being preserved. She looks absolutely huge out of the water. Colorful sunset. Red sky at night sailor's delight.

Breakers on the Beach

It is so windy today there were breakers on the beach at the dragon. dead low. That is unusual for the Delaware River. Only tugs (my favorite) make waves like this. The Burlington buoy data shows gusts over 40 kts. yesterday afternoon and up to 30 today. URCHINs cover was still on; Max & I drained his Comet which had collected some water.
Stopped at Centerton Bridge today to check progress. No asphalt yet, decking still being repaired. Tide coming in; 'most high. There were combers coming up the creek with white tails behind. Makes you think about the power of water. Standing on the grating watching the roiling beneath my feet gives me the willie-wallies when I watch.
The poison ivy by the road is huge this week taller than I am, and luscious green. I long to be sailing, away from the ichy stuff.

Sink Bee Bridge

Visited Centerton Bridge again today to check on progress. A dad and two sons were taking their opportunity to fish for bass off the span. Usually it is too busy with traffic. We walked across, the geese had failed and given up nesting. Too much goings on likely. Low tide this time provided a look at creek bottom topography. Bits which had been removed showed a lot of metal corrosion. Interesting that there are two layers of the Armco guardrail. I would think that it would deform less and transmit more of an impact to the bridge structure. Love bridges. Inventoried the greenery on the upper banks & roadside. Amazing how many invasive species there are. Poison Ivy, Catbrier, Virginia creeper, English Ivy, running bamboo, crown vetch, etc. Opening this bridge requires 8 hours prior arrangement.

Created a panel for the sink toady at the shop and paid rent-mowed the front. The grass is growing like gangbusters now. Got two bee stings today. One is swelling my eye. Read some more very funny pieces in Flotsam and Jetsom. Laughing is so good for the soul. Specially when it involves boats. Next on the reading list Bailey White.

Centerton Bridge

A favorite bridge crossing Rancocas Creek has been closed for a month now. In the past the county closes it every year for a few days to make welding repairs to the grating. This year however it has been closed off with concrete barricades. Pete & I were afraid they were removing it. It is one place where you can get close to the water (and sometimes in it at a high high tide). The views up and down creek are spectacular. Seasons are changing with alarming rapidity these days and crossing the creek here gives a person the daily weather, tide and season check besides being the shortest route between the points I go to most. You have to drive down hill through a tree tunnel made from overlapping branches of mature sycamores which suddenly open out onto the mudflats and the wide cedar water creek. The sky opens up.
It is a narrow thing. Novice drivers travel at a walking pace, while locals barrel across knowing that there is just room. Early this afternoon, Pete took me to see what was happening there. We were worried, since we had seen backhoes and lift trucks, more than just the odd welder & pick-up truck. Being Sunday, no one was around and we picked our way out to see what was up.
Relief was granted in seeing shiny new guard-rail going up and bridge decking being patched. I'd known that this was a movable span from the charts, but have never seen it open. Sure enough, on the bridge bipedally, the slow speed revealed some great details like the instructions for opening the bridge. Counterclockwise to open and the toelocks must be rotated the other way. A very large wrench is required. Amazing and simple. Empty grease containers let us know that it is not a thing of the past. There are no barricades for traffic, so the average boatman wishing passage, must have to set things in mothion with the powers that be in the two towns so no one attempts driving across while the bridge is open. The center span rotates. Nice bit of engineering that. Left us wondering if the county has a bridge repairman on staff. I'd like to meet him.