Skip to main content

Memorial Day

Image
By

Good morning everyone. We have enjoyed two great days of sailing.
Saturday's sail was highlighted by one long tack up the bay.
Yesterday we enjoyed numerous tacks and a "man overboard" drill. The
crew did well and recovered the "victim" fender in jig time. Heaving
to (stopping forward progress) under sail is accomplished by backing
the headsails and easing the foresheet. I am delighted to see how
well the schooner is sailing. We have passed 9 knots on both days
beating to weather. And that ain't half bad.

We managed to get Mary and her friend Hank, an amazing fiddler, to
play some tunes for us Saturday night. Sawyer loves to hear the old
time fiddle tunes. His favorite is "Smash the Windows", perhaps more
for the title than the tune. My poor guitar is coming apart after
the long dry winter so I will need to get it in for repairs this next
week but I managed to follow along just the same.

Last night we feasted together on an old-fashioned turkey dinner.
The conversation was as warm as the candlelight. Great to see people
from all over the world enjoying each other. We had a couple from
Australia, two friends from Greece, a young woman from Canada, and
the usual amazing assortment of people from all over this beautiful
country. We had several couples celebrating anniversaries with us,
which we celebrated with one of Mary's delicious chocolate cakes,
home made ice cream on top. How sweet it is.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Such a pretty flag America has, this one really deserves one's attention!

Our fallen brothers and sisters would be proud.

Remember your memorials.
June 1, 2007 at 9:38 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hail Mary

By
My heart is heavy with sadness as I write this particular blog. Since the beginning of August our dear friend and cook for the last 12 years, Mary Barney, had been struggling with cancer. I have intentionally respected Mary’s privacy and I apologize to you for not sharing any news about Mary’s health sooner. On Monday afternoon Mary passed away very peacefully at home, surrounded by friends and “family”. Her departure was as graceful as the rest of her life. Many people, including Jen, have been doing heroic work to support Mary these last few weeks. Oddly enough Mary was never very excited about transitions though this was about the fastest transition she ever made. And as I struggle to let go of Mary I realize I am terrible with transitions as well. We used to joke about how we liked things just the way they are, thank you very much, so why change what is working already even if it might be less labor intensive. Hard works is its own reward. I used to joke about getting Mary a Cui
28 comments
Read more

Fall Maintenance

By
Good morning everyone. The sun has been kind to us these past few days and the crew has been spending much time aloft prepping and painting the mast heads and tarring the rig as part of our annual fall maintenance schedule. They were a little silly on tar fumes by the end of the day hence the rat board dance moves. Am I the only one who is reminded of Willy Wonka's little friends at the sight of the crew in their tyvek suits? Schoona-loompas? The smell of tar, after all, is what we sailors live for. Extracted from the stumps and roots of pine trees through dry distillation pine tar will cure what ails you especially some skin conditions and any emotional maladies from being too long away from the sea. All we know for sure is that Mary Day’s rigging is kept hail and hearty by coats of tar mixed with boiled linseed oil. Notice that I specified boiled linseed oil and not raw linseed oil. Tar mix with raw linseed oil will not “kick”. Don’t ask me how I know this… just take my wo
5 comments
Read more

Oh Captain, Oh Captain, Please Don't Rumba!

By
Good morning everyone. Another 6” of snow fell this weekend and we took a few hours to enjoy the wonders of winter here in New England skiing in the woods. The full Wolf Moon on Saturday causing astronomical high tides plus a 1’ tidal surge brought by the low pressure system meant we had tides over the bulkhead in Camden. At low tide just the opposite happens and the tides dip well below normal. I was able to step to the docks from the beach and get aboard the schooner on Friday after work and all was well. I had an interesting email this morning from a wonderful gentleman looking for a vacation to replace a now defunct “windjammer” sailing experience that formerly sailed in the Caribbean. He sent us a very humorous swashbuckling note, complete with colorful pirate party images, wondering if we might be able to fill the void, complete with canons and limbo parties and would the captain be leading the rumba line? I regretted to tell him that we probably did not offer the booty he was
10 comments
Read more