Recent odd pics:

Here are some pics from the last week or so:

Sjogin
Sailing near Reedy Creek last weekend. Tried to sail south to the morning A-Cat races off Hankin’s Island but the fickle southwesterly wouldn’t cooperate.

Old Palace
Went for a paddle last Sunday, the first one in a couple of years. Finally fitted the backrest to replace the odd cushion I’ve used in the past. My first Winter rental can be seen in the center of the pic; about a hundred yards from our home. Great place to watch Nor’easters.

Mill Creek 15
The Mill Creek 15 I built a few years ago. (And took three years to build!)

Ourhouse
Our home as viewed from Stockton Lake. Yes, there is a house back there.

Joe
My friend Joe sailing on Sjogin yesterday. First time on board in a while. Along with Wally we went south of Swan Point and hove to for a bit. Nice seabreeze, early for a change.

Wally
Here’s Wally enjoying a nice Saturday morning sail before the Bay got too crowded.

Cheryl, Julia and Dave
Friends Dave and Cheryl joined us last evening for drinks and dinner. The lilies in the background are starting to fill in.

Sjogin 01.06.07
Finally, a shot of Sjogin taken last January I just found on the camera’s hard drive.

WoodenBoat Show 2007

Julia and I have just returned from the WoodenBoat Show held at Mystic this weekend. Perfect weather after last week’s heat broke.

Mystic was full of terrific boats in addition to the museum sights. Besides the boats we had the pleasure of meeting up with a number of our WoodenBoat Forum friends capped by a party Saturday night at one of the local Forumite’s home. There were about 30 of us in attendance. Here’s a link to a Forum post with lots of pics. Flickr photos here.

Pics and details follow:

Woods Hole Spritsail Boat
Julia and I with Steven and Gavin Bauer in a Woods Hole Spritsail Boat. We rented her for an hour from the Mystic Small Boat Livery. Cast off, tacked once and ran smack dab into the center of a nun buoy. Light breeze, no planks started. Fun sailing among others while all are gaping at the boat flesh.
Photo by Joe Foster

Dragon
A beautifully restored Dragon.

Jet drive Lobster Boat style launch
A very cool Jonesport style Lobster boat. Cold molded with a fine hull. The neat part is the owner took a jet ski, got rid of the boat parts and mated it to the easily driven hull form. Looks like fun.

Aphrodite
Julia and Aphrodite reunited. We saw her last in Brooklin this past April having her Spring makeover at Brooklin Boatyard.

Anna
Julia and Steve White on board the new Stormy Weather recreation, Anna.

Sandbagger
The Mystic Seaport Sandbagger.

Forum friends
WoodenBoat Forum friends at our Saturday night party.

The WoodenBoat show will be back in Mystic next year and so shall we. Beyond the location and boats, the chance to gather with friends to celebrate what we love is the chief draw.

Gracie celebrated her 90th Birthday

with a surprise party at our house on Saturday, June 23rd. A gathering of 50 family and friends joined in the celebration. More pics here.

Gracie arrives

Raymond and Gracie
Gracie recovers from the surprise and gives her son, Raymond, a piece of her mind.

Annie and her kids
Aunt Annie and her offspring came from far and wide to help with the celebration.

Original Grands
Gracie sits back while her grandchildren and their spouses have a chat.

The
The “Chips” also came a distance to join us.

Gracie and Julia
Gracie spends a moment with Julia.

Gracie and Annie
Gracie and Annie enjoying.

Everybody
Annie, Russ, Gracie, Julia and ALL the great grandchildren.

Serena had her first sail today

with her sister-ship Charlotte. Less than ideal conditions; a sloppy southwesterly. Up and down and showing the classic instability before a seabreeze sets in. Didn’t happen. Tom Beaton and his son Tom sailed with the Bauer family. Julia and I had Charlotte to ourselves

Beat down bay for a bit, reached along the marsh and eventually back to Beaton’s. Here’s a few pics. Greg Bauer took a few of us. When received I’ll post here.

Serena
Greg driving for the first time.

Serena marsh
Reaching along the marsh showing a nice quarter wave. What would L. Francis say about those nails?

Julia Serena
A nice sunny day. Julia worked the backstays; old skills for this A-Cat girl.

Update: Here are a few of the pics taken by Greg last Sunday:

Sailing in style
So graceful and stylish.

Reaching
Sailing off Swan Point.

Tom and Tom
Tom and Tom Beaton

Surf Boats on Stockton Lake

Julia and I went for a garden tour this evening and ended up at the lake. As we crossed the road we saw a local surf boat rowing by, then another, and about a dozen more. With the setting sun against the marsh it was quite a sight.

surf boat
Out of the dozen or so boats just one was wood. And glued lapstrake at that. This was apparently a late Spring tune up, getting ready for the pending season.

Julia
Enjoying the parade.

Serena, the new Beaton built Flatfish,

was launched yesterday. Great party by the Bauer family with a good sized turnout. Every few years, slow but steady, the workers at David Beaton and Sons produce boats worthy of comparison to the best in the world. Serena is a sister ship of Charlotte, built to a design taken from the Herreshoff Fish by Joel White. He was son of the author E. B. White thus the use of names of characters from his books.

More pics here.

My brother was down for the weekend so we went out for a bit in Charlotte before the launching party.

Reaching
Reaching home to attend the launching party. We were out for a couple of hours, just sailing around the upper bay.

Manheimer Brothers
The Manheimer boys.

Trimmings
Serena was fully fitted out for a traditional launching.

Paul and Pete
Proud builders, Paul Smith and Pete Schell.

Champagne moment
Sometime it takes two. Greg Bauer and his mom breaking the traditional bottle of bubbly over the stem.

Launched
And her commission begins. She’ll have her first sail against her sister soon.

In slip
Resting in her element. There’s buzz on the Bay about third one being built.

Recent pics:

Here’s some odds and ends from the last week or so…..

Mary Ann
A-Cat head gear. This is Mary Ann’s, original from 1925.

Ghost
Ghost The metal Stem Band work is by my hand.

A-Cat head gear
Lighting

Painterly
Out of focus but has a painterly look to it.

Solomon's Seal
Hostas, False Solomon’s Seal, Sweet Woodruff and the nice cream and green variegated plant Zsa gave us.

Raven
Raven, moored under Swan Point

Nelson joined me for a quick sail last Sunday.

He’s a friend of ours through Dave and Cheryl, down for the weekend with his wife and the rest of the international crew.

Even though the wind was light from the east and the summer boat traffic wakes almost put us ashore on Swan Point, he enjoyed it as it was his first sail in a year and a half. He’s even offered to come down for some scraping and sanding later this Summer.

Needless to say it was too hot for a fire.

Charlotte, my brothers Flatfish, was launched Monday to be there for the launching of Serena, the new Beaton built Flatfish to be launched in June.

Garden continues to fill in; little bare ground left. In some places too full. We have a few to many Siberian Iris’ and need to give some away this Fall. Zsa, you interested?

Pics follow:

Nelson
Nelson at the helm. (No, not that Nelson.) Poor old Sjogin was not at her best. When going to weather in a light chop she tends to bob up and down and slide off to leeward.

Mary Ann and Charlotte
Mary Ann and the soon to be launched Charlotte

Irene Tansy
Quiet Memorial Day morning with one of my favorite catboats.

Backyard
Our backyard. Wiegelia, Hostas and lots of moss. The white flecks on the ground are Honey Locust flowers. In a gust of wind they look like a snow shower.

Iris
Iris, Barberry and Peonies. The structure in the background is our Tomato frame. (Not soon enough>)

Roses
Rosa Rugosa walk. They’re in their full glory now. I make a point of literally stopping to smell the roses most mornings.

Serena launching pics next week. Hopefully shots of her and Charlotte under sail.

Also note that the Louis Vuitton Finals start tomorrow at 9:00am EDT. The best of 9 series determines who faces Alinghi for the America’s Cup. Go Luna Russo!

I just found the IACC Rule.

Luna Rosso wins;

a Dicksonless BMW Oracle is done with LR going on to the LV Finals. Read all about it here. The Spanish boat won and gets to fight another day. Race 7 is Tuesday at 9:00am EDT on Versus.

A gardening weekend mostly with a visit to Sjogin and a quick fire and tea Saturday; no visit Sunday. Here’s some recent pics:

Azealea
Path by the porch. Species Azalea in full bloom. Nice late afternoon light.

Bunny
Rabbit with bocce balls.

Sizzle
Just cool enough for a sizzle and a cuppa’. Nice conditions for a sail but our beds have the priority this time of year. Will try to go out after work this week.

Green
Certainly green enough. Iris getting ready for their show; poppies not too far behind.