Saturday, August 06, 2011

Nantucket - Not our favorite...

Coming from Edgartown (which we both liked), I was expecting to find Nantucket a bit less crowded and commercialized.  What we found was exactly the opposite.

When we arrived, we found that all the transient moorings were taken (yes, I should have made a reservation.)  We also found that what little area in the harbor left for anchoring was also crowded, shallow, and exposed to some pretty significant currents.



It was pretty late in the day, so rather than move along to somewhere else, we spent about an hour trying to get ourselves anchored in a spot where we felt marginally comfortable.  As we worked on this we got to enjoy watching somebody sail too close to an anchored boat, get tangled in that boats anchor line, crash into the anchored boat, and drag through part of the anchorage while others around pulled up their anchors as fast as they could and got out of the way!


In the end, it was a long night of waking up every hour to make sure that we were keeping a safe distance from our neighbors.  Oh, and I almost forgot we got to enjoy a 35 knot squall that blasted through the anchorage that night as well!


I didn't make it into town until the next afternoon, and when I did I found preppy paradise.  Holy cow, how do they convince those people that it's acceptable to wear red, green or plaid pants.  And, then they cover them in whales or lobsters???  Unreal.  It seemed like one big fraternity/sorority gathering.  Nantucket is obviously not going for diversity!!

If we get a chance, perhaps we'll go back and give it another try, but at this point I think Edgartown wins hands down!

New Game. Dodge Whale!

It's bad when you are in a 50 foot boat, and you keep hearing the line from Jaws, "We're going to need a bigger boat!"

Yesterday evening we left Provincetown (which make SF look tame) and sailed all night to Booth Bay Harbor, Maine. Easy....Not!

We sailed right through Stillwagen Banks, which is a huge National Marine Sanctuary. They have TONS of whales. I saw a Minke whale on the way out of the harbor, and so many Humpbacks, we had to hand drive to miss them. We saw at least 10 whales breaching, and 1 whale must have tail slapped the water 20 times. Jim said he obviously wasn't getting what he wanted, and we couldn't supply it. We also saw a whale flippers and tail in the air, waggling his huge white flippers. Again, we couldn't help. At one point 2 HUGE Humpbacks went by 20 yards away.

There were more whales than Lobster Pots! And this is Maine!

Deb

Friday, August 05, 2011

Monday, August 01, 2011

My new desktop photo

Morpheus anchored in the background

Weekend with Pat onboard

SunRISE at American Yacht Club, Rye, NY

Beautiful 8 Meter sets sail at dawn

Cooking lunch enroute...

Debbie at the helm

It's still aboard!!

"Get out of the water!!!!" - Jaws

It has been a good Summer to see Patrick!

Edgartown Harbor

It took about 15 seconds for him to figure this out.

Sunset on Martha's Vineyard

Heading to shore

Hanging on the boat

"I might be able to get used to this!"

Ita - not happy to see Pat leaving....

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Beautiful Night

Edgartown - Just after sunset.
Debbie, Pat And I are here anchored onboard Morpheus, and are anchored in the outer harbor off Edgartown.  Its close to midnight, no wind, no clouds, and a sky full of a million stars! The Milky Way is so easy to see and we've also seen several shooting stars.
Amazing!!

Jim and Pat

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Race Rock

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On the move again...

Had a nice stay at American Yacht Club, but now we are off again, bound for Newport for a day, Edgartown for the weekend (where our son Patrick will join us), and then Maine!!
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Saturday, July 23, 2011

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Anchor down in Port Jefferson

Its been a long long time since I've been here...

Jim
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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Mutiny - 2011 Nationals

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I used my video camera to capture a bunch of the racing on Mutiny during the Swan 42 Nationals last weekend. This is a sample that I put together quickly. It gives a pretty good feel for what it was like on the last day of the event. Given some time, I hope to be able to do better.

Very Nice!

I wonder if these boats had anything to do with the inspiration behind the Alerion designs??
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Does anyone know what type of boats these are??

Hereshoff12's maybe??
They have about 30 of them here....
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Robert Gregory has left a new comment on your post "Does anyone know what type of boats these are??":

Herreshoff 12.5
Naval architect Captain Nathanael Greene Herreshoff and his Herreshoff Manufacturing Company were in the business of producing the world's finest yachts from 1863 to 1945. He designed the 12 and a half footer in 1914 for yachtsmen who wanted a training sailboat for their children that would handle the strong wind and steep chop of Buzzards Bay. He built what he called the "Buzzard' s Bay Boy's Boat" in his shop in Bristol Bay, Rhode Island until 1939 

Shelter Island Yacht Club

They start them EARLY here!!

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Shelter Island Yacht Club

Who knew??? 14 etchells onsite!!

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Sunday, July 17, 2011

Swan 42 Nationals - Team Mutiny - Out on the town!!

Its was all smiles last night as Team Mutiny celebrated one of its most successful days on the race course!
Big day today as we are tied for fourth place and the RC wants to run three more races.
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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Swan 42 Nationals - Happy!

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Swan 42 Nationals - Last race very good!!

5th!! Tough race. Lots of close encounters, most went well for us! Great fun.
Our speed was good all day and crew work as good as its ever been.
Very much fun!!!
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Swan 42 Nationals - 2nd Race - Not So Good!!

Went left off the line after good start. Apparently, right would have been better....
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Swan 42 Nationals - Pre Race

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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Picture of the Day

Morpheus at anchor in Newport, RI
 With what seems like hundreds of boats standing in line to rent a mooring for $50 a night in the main harbor, it seems that nobody knows about this anchorage near the bridge.  Quite, good holding, and definitely not crowded.  We like it!

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Sunday, July 10, 2011

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Had a great day sailing Lightnings yesterday

I spent yesterday racing with Brian and Kim Comfort on Brian's Lightning.  We sailed out of Niantic Yacht Club in Connecticut and it was the first time that I'd been back on a Lightning since about 1973.  My Dad's first boat was a Lightning and sailing that boat on weekends with him was what initially got me hooked on this sport.  It was a nice deja vu experience for me, made only better by the chance that we ended up second for the day after finishes of 4, 2, 2.  That last second should have been a first, but we ended up losing a photo finish.  I'm looking forward to the next chance to get back out there!

Sunday, July 03, 2011

Start of the Trans Atlantic!!

Rambler, Puma, Leopard, and 2 "kids" from Richmond YC on Vanquish!! Good luck to David Rasmussen and Matt Noble!!!
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Always great to have visitors!!

Brother Bob

Cathy and Megan

Dylan

Debbie and Patrick