Skip to main content

Harvest Moon Regatta

Image
By

Hey Y'all! Writing to you from the Gulf of Mexico where the sun is
shining and the wind is up. A perfect day for windjamming in the
Gulf. The term windjammer was actually was used in a derogatory
manner by the early steam sailors to describe square riggers. Of
course we use windjammer as a term of endearment today and to see
Elissa sailing would make any heart beat a little faster. As you
know I am down here on the tallship Elissa where we are sailing along
with a fleet of 260 small sailing vessels racing in the annual
Harvest Moon Regatta. It was an incredible sight here this afternoon
as all 260 vessels converged on the starting line (and Elissa too,
at times). The wind is from the NW about 15 knots and we are off to
Port Aransas, 150 miles distant.

A cold front blew through the Texas coast on Monday when we arrived
just like it does in Maine. The wind went from southerly to
northerly in a matter of minutes and kept us pinned to the dock on
Monday. We finally eased out Tuesday afternoon to the face of the
dock, took on a few thousand gallons of fuel Wednesday morning and
sailed that afternoon.

We will be racing all night long with the rest of the fleet nearby
(we are currently winning in the 3 masted barque class!) We should be
arriving at Port Aransas early tomorrow afternoon and then on to
Corpus Christi on Monday. I get to fly home for a few days in
between venues here. I miss Maine but this is a very beautiful place
to be. The Harvest Moon should be up in a few hours when I take the
watch at midnight.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
It sounds wonderful. As I sit here overlooking the Lake of Mexico, oops that's the Gulf of Mexico out there I wonder where you are and why you have wind and we have dead calm with almost no swell just a few miles away in Alabama.

Is winning the "3 masted barque class" anything like my state championship in the novice, over 40, men's waltz? I won a trophy and a gold medal all because I was the only man entered in the novice, over 40, waltz. And, yes Jen, I really did that.
October 26, 2007 at 5:52 AM
Anonymous said…
Sorry to hear that you are having to endure the blistering heat down there. Here in Salt Lake, the snow has been in the mountains for a few weeks, ski areas are up and running, temps are a wonderful 50 degrees. Hope you win the 3 Masted Barque class!

Keep the wonderful notes and photos coming.

Thanks
October 26, 2007 at 11:18 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

Swimming Anyone?

By
Good morning everyone. Winter is still here in New England though it seems to be taking a rest these days. We have enjoyed a little bit of a thaw. We still have snow covering our field but it is thinning out in the sunny patches. Mary Day rests comfortably in the harbor, bilges dry, cover intact, waiting for the crew to return. Another busy week has passed so I will get you up to speed on everything that is happening here at the global headquarters. Jen is putting the finishing touches on year end taxes. Blockfest 2008 is finally finished. The blocks have received quite the massaging. And while we have the off-white paint out we are starting in on the lifeline stanchions, the davits, and a few other miscellaneous parts. Alex asked me last night how we were doing with our pace. We are doing great but in the back of my mind I know that there is never enough time to do it all. Having perfectionist tendencies is a curse. I want to do it all and know we will never have enough time. There se...
6 comments
Read more

Black Dots Make Me Smile

By
Good morning everyone. Happy Ground Hogs Day to all. If today’s forecast comes true folklore tells us we will see an early spring here in our neighborhood. What does the groundhog say about your weather forecast? We start a new month, albeit a short one but a month in which we gain an emotionally crucial 1 hour and 13 minutes of light. By months end the sunrise will be at 0620, a full 37 minutes ahead of this morning. Jen and I were shocked how light it was so early yesterday even though it was overcast. So while the weather is one thing we spend much time talking about the light is what really makes the psychic difference here. One of the things you will find me talking about in blogs, especially in summer, is seals. We have more lousy, unfocused pictures of little black dots on the ledges and every one of them makes me smile. Each picture reminds us how delighted we are to see seals. Harbor seals (phoca vitulina) are the most common seal here in Maine and their numbers have gr...
6 comments
Read more