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Harvest Moon Regatta

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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.

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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
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