Hove to off Swan Point – Page 31 – and sailing as slow as I can….

More WBS pics

Mixing it up on a Friday afternoon. That’s Mickey Lake in the sunglasses with the Bauer girls. Holly, on the right, (sorry if I got it backwards) built a Nutshell Pram with her Dad, Steven. They brought it to display in the I Built it Myself exhibit. Fine job with a bold royal purple sheerstrake.

In the white boat to leeward is Joe Foster (CSoH). He’s driving with Mary Bauer enjoying the view.

Joe to weather
Joe and Mary to weather. Lazy sailing; plenty of time for gawking. Nice ballet with all the water taxis, row boats and of course the 24 ton steamboat Sabino.

Julia and I were ashore having a smoke when the great rum swap and seizure took place. As mentioned below, we had cocktails on the LGH Saturday at 5:00; fog right on cue. I brought Goslings Rum and Regatta Ginger Beer. The Goslings ran out far too early. Providentially, a Caledonia Yawl built by Two Daughters Boatworks stopped by as they needed ice for their rum. Presto; a quick barter and enough rum for another round of D&S’s.

While that was going on Joe, Phil and Paul commandeered a passing outboard skiff, pics somewhere, to go to Airlie. She’s a Nova Scotia built swordfishing schooner owned by Forum member Jamie, and was moored conveniently a few hundred yards upstream. Most importantly, she had a gallon or two of rum on board. More rounds!

More later,

Thanks for stopping by.

The WoodenBoat Show was in Mystic again this year

Julia and I drove up last Thursday, home yesterday afternoon. We had a delightful time with old and new WoodenBoat Forum friends. There’s a Set on Flickr here.

We stayed at the Whaler in downtown Mystic. Nice suite with a porch for post show gatherings.

Doug and Carter's
We started the weekend Thursday at Doug and Carter’s for their second and hopefully Annual WoodenBoat Show Party. Neat spot in the woods of Guilford.

NY 30?
One of dozens of beautiful boats afloat and on the hard.

Sea Harmony, an Albert Strange Canoe Yawl belonging to friend and Forumite, Thad. Wonderful old Shipmate stove on board.

At the helm
Classic picture taken by Jonathan Krabak, Port Captain of the Lettie G. Howard and Forum member.

Juia on the Lettie
Julia holding my Dark and Stormy on the Lettie while folks enjoy this treat. I managed to wrangle an invitation for a visit, bringing our own libations. The fog was appropriate…sometimes it’s just a matter of timing.

Our crowd
They’re everywhere. After an hour or so of this we all drove over to Abbot’s in Noank to eat some bugs.

Clubhouse
WoodenBoat Magazine had the Seaport arrange for Forum members to use the Oyster House as a meeting spot. Nice shade with plenty of breezes. Pleasant to sit and watch the livery fleet sail back and forth. (And listen to old and new friends chat.)

Beetle sailing
Friday afternoon a group of us rented three Beetle Cats and chased each other along the waterfront for an all too quick hour.

Rumor has it the show will be back in Mystic again next year. Some fun.

A few Sjogin pics

but no more till we return from content harvesting.

Gear failure! The 39 cent piece of tarred marlin gave up the ghost. Looked fine last fall…… When it let go (I was hove to on Starboard) I tacked, pulled out another .39 piece and replaced the lashing.

Shiny
Varnish still bright but starting to lift. Will this be the year for a wooding?

Sailing by Mary Ann, one of the original four.

Summer’s here

and our beds are showing their best. Day lillies are coming into their own and the last of the climbing roses are dropping petals. A true Rose Walk.

Petals
Literally. It’s a very light pink variety climbing rose. It was here when we moved in almost 20 years ago. Struggles with the shade but blooms reliably.

Day Lilies starting
Common Day lillies and Clematis ?. Roses just done.

Stella
Stella D’Oro Day Lillies enjoying their moments

Kousa
Good show from the Kousa this year; starting to fade now. The white plank in the lower left is a boom crotch; washed up at Beatons years ago. It supports one of the lower limbs. One of these days I’ll elevate it but some floatsam works for now.

Astible
Astilbe, Heavenly Bamboo, Greenleaf Holly, Kousa and a new Begonia. View from the couch in the TV room.

Library view
And early last weekend. The Astilbe will be in bloom for a few weeks.

Sjogin pics soon but not from this weekend. Bit too breezy to go down and watch the first start for Spyder. Went out early Saturday though but left the camera home. Just as well as I missed my landing for the first time in a while. Had to back the jib, fall off and jibe. Good practice.

Later.

It’s time for some A-Cat racing.

Season starts a week from this Saturday. If all are ready, there should be a dozen A-Cats looking for the Committee boat end on the 21st.

Here are a few pics on the subject from the last few weeks.

Lightning the 2003 Beaton built a-Cat,ready for the season. Beatons works on the boats in the Fall and Winter, maintaining and occasionally renewing finishes and repairing battle scars. These boats can take a beating in the closely contested Championship Series on the Bay.

Ghost and Lightning
All rigged and ready to go. They’ll never look any better.

Spyder, the new Brady A-Cat.

Mary Ann and her Tennis Racquet tiller.

The A-Cats are in Island Heights this weekend for the pre-Season weigh in. Those under weight must add lead to meet the fleet minimum.

On Barnegat Bay

yesterday morning. Went out from 9:30 or so, back by noon. Had my first encounter with the afternoon “hot dogs”; seems they wake around 11:00 and then go forth to go round and round and round the Bay.

Still, there was a nice southerly tending to a sea breeze, about 4 to 6 kts. You could feel the heat building but enough of an air to cool you off. Managed to catch the start of an E-Sloop race on the Bay south of Swan Point. Video later (maybe.)

There’s progress on Quest, it’s A-Cat season and I went to the beach. (Noteworthy for my usual absence.) Pics follow:

Quest
Progress on Quest; planking continues. I saw a pile of nice cedar flitches in front of the shop last week. The best will be for Quest.

They’ll never look better. Ghost and Lightning waiting for battle.

Fine morning, coolish breeze. Too warm for the usual fire; finally.

Slick
Hove to off the marsh near Reedy Creek, waiting for the E-Sloop race. Note the slick as Sjogin crabs her way to weather.

Elevenses…..just right.

Watching the race from my easy chair as it continues hove to on the Starboard tack. With a good breeze, the severe degradation of sail shape does no harm.

Master E-Sloop skipper Peter Wright sails by to say hi.

Bang!
Clean start for the fleet. This was the Runnie Colie E-Scow regatta; The BBYRA season starts on the 21st.

I just may try to sail down for the A-Cat start; Bay Head and Manasquan co-host the first race of the ten regatta season. Last time I tried there was 0 air that morning. Nice tactical breeze this morning.

Finally, evidence of my first beach visit this year:
One...
and counting.

Julia
And Julia at the edge as always.

Sjogin pics from the last few weeks

Floating barge
Derelict barge progress. From Memorial Day weekend.

No barge
And poof! Barge is finally gone, now more room for me to run aground.

Last Thursday before going out for a quick sail.

Summer position
When I got back I set her up for summer sailing. Easy in and out with the summer southerlies.
Frisky

Frisky, the 1938 Beaton Sneakbox, the first boat they built. Restored by Beatons in 2007.

Meet Spyder,

the new John Brady A-Cat. She was built at the Independence Marine Museum in Philadelphia for a member of Seaside Park Yacht Club.

She’s caused a bit of a buzz on the Bay as she was built with longitudinal bulkheads to form a box structure instead of the usual hanging and lodging knees. Both methods are used to resist twisting. This is very important in large cat boats as the mast carries a huge load all the way in the bow where there is limited structure to counter the twisting moment. John’s method uses these bulkheads along with the cabin sole and decks to create a type of box girder. Interesting boat.

Spyder
Spyder afloat and waiting to be finished. Seems like a tradition for these boats to start the first Bay race with tacky varnish or some item being installed on the way to the starting line.

Knees
Note the laminated knees tying the cockpit/cabin sole and the longitudinal bulkheads together.

Spyder's cockpit
I imagine there will be seats along each side of the cockpit. Maybe not for the first race, but eventually. Don’t ask how I know the name of that tune….

Should be an exciting time June 21st; there will be 12 A-Cats on the starting line.

A guest is expecting

After work yesterday I did a bit of clean-up, pulling up the spent Virginia and Spanish Bluebells. As I bent over near the Epimedium under the kitchen window a female Mallard flew off inches from my head. Some thrill!

Weeding tools
The Mallard’s nest is in the Epimedium to the right of the bucket.

Eggs!
After my heart rate returned to normal I noticed these lovelies.

Mom's watching
Mom returned in a few minutes, watching from the roof.

Back on duty
You’ll have to take my word for it but there’s a duck in there. No idea how long she’s been sitting on eggs so we may find little ones in a week or so.

Happy Memorial Day

Sitting here on the porch with our flag waving in the brisk breeze, thinking of my father on this beautiful day. He was in WWII on a Coast Guard troop ship the Joseph P. Dickman, a converted Moore McCormack freighter, built in the 20’s. The stories he could tell.

Joseph P. Dickman
This is a photo of a pen and ink drawing I did for him years ago. He had copies made and would hand them out at the reunions.

_________________________

Here are some pics from the last few weeks. Been busy with spring garden duties. The bind weed in the rose beds is getting out of control.

The barberry needs shaping but when it glows like this with the early morning light I keep putting it off.

Our side yard; outdoor shower on the left. Just six steps from the kitchen door; a delight from May through October.

Fine prospect
Lake side “garden” cleaned up and well weathered sling chair installed. Absent the summer high tide infestation of jet skis, it’s a pleasant place to watch sunsets and such.

Bagatelle returns
Bagatelle is 20′ sneakbox once owned by our good friend Wally. One of my first paying boat jobs was to help him fix some stubborn leaks. She’s back at Beatons looking for a new home.