Conclusion

8/29/07 – Chris loaned me her van for the day so I went over to the boat yard early in the morning. I got all of my belongings off and began cleaning and winterizing the boat. I went back to the Humming Rock to drop off some of my things. I called the US Airways because I could not find my flight information that I had aboard the boat and they told me that I was now on a flight departing Thursday rather than on Saturday, which I had been planning on. This meant that I had less than 24 hours to wrap up all I had to do with my boat. I rushed back to the marina and quickly cleaned everything, removed the engine and brought it over to the workshop to have them winterize and store it, and put non-toxic antifreeze in the water tank. I was planning on going on the boat of one of Mike’s friends for the Wednesday night races but I had to cancel in order to get everything done. I met Peter Galvin, the broker who is going to try to sell the boat and we discussed the best way to go about that. I went over to Chris and Mike’s house for a good dinner that her mother had made. Chris’ friend, Ady, came over after she was done babysitting at 10:00pm and the three of us took out three kayaks and paddled around the marshes in the area under the nearly-full moon. I went back to the Humming Rock when we got back and went to bed.

8/30/07 - Chris and Mike drove me to the airport and I flew back to Minneapolis.

Final Sail

8/28/07 – Little Bird was over in Scituate Harbor so Chris and Mike decided to sail her back to Humarock and I decided to take Erica J out on a final sail. We both motored out of the harbor and put up all of our sails. We were completely becalmed so we just sat there in the water for a little while. I decided to go for a swim so I jumped in without even taking the sails down. I swam all around the boat and Chris kept telling me about the gigantic sharks that lived around there. I got back aboard and took down the sails and flaked them. I turned on the motor and began to go back in the harbor just as a little breeze came up. Little Bird slowly sailed back to Humarock while I motored through the Scituate mooring fields to Foster’s Rigging and Yacht Services boat yard. I tied up to the bulkhead and met one of the workers there. He told me that I could keep my mast up but that I needed to do a bit to prepare for the crane picking up the boat. I attached the main halyard to the main sheet and tightened it with a block and tackle as much as I could. I then took the backstay off and lashed it to the mast. This made more room for the lifting apparatus on the crane to sit over the boat. After their lunch break, a group of guys came over and put some slings under the hull and lifted her out. They pressure washed the hull and I scrubbed the topsides with a nifty chemical that the owner of the boat yard gave me. They then lifted the boat onto a trailer and towed her over to a corner of the yard. I began to take my things off and packed them into Chris’ van. I had promised to make a dinner for Mike, Mi Sun, Chris, and Mike so I left and went to the grocery store to buy supplies. I then went back to the Humming Rock to start mixing up the pasta sauce. They all came over and we had a good dinner and talked until late.

Dismasted!

8/27/07 – Chris and Mike came up with the idea of taking both my boat and her boat, Little Bird, out on the ocean and taking pictures of both of them. It was a beautiful morning because the sun was out and there was a nice breeze, a perfect morning for a sail. We each got on our respective boats and motored down the South River and began riding the swift outgoing tide towards the North River inlet into the ocean. There was an east wind so it was blowing against the tide in the narrow inlet, conditions that all mariners know can create treacherous tall, square waves. Erica J was in the lead and I was able to slowly plod through them without much fear since I knew that the boat had endured much worse over this trip and that it would be far gentler as soon as we were out of the inlet. I turned my head fairly often to see how Little Bird was doing. I looked back after a particularly large wave and could not believe my eyes, Little Bird had been dismasted. I screamed an expletive and cranked my tiller over to turn around. The mast was laying over the cockpit so I was horrified that the heavy metal pole had hit Chris or Mike on its way down. As we got closer, I was relieved to see both of them looking just fine but with baffled expressions on their faces. Apparently the mast had come down right between their heads. I turned around again so I was following them and I called Chris on the phone since shouting was ineffective. We came up with several ideas but eventually decided to have both of us go to Scituate Harbor to avoid the treacherous inlet again. I followed them there and we found slips at the Scituate Marina. I helped them restep the mast with the toolkit in my boat. Mike had to walk to the local marine store to get a new pin but we were very surprised that the fix was so easy. She left her boat there and I went to a mooring in the harbor. I met Chris and her mother for a late dinner at a local restaurant called the Bridgwaye.

Radio Interview

Here is an audio clip from the show "Nautical Talk Radio" with Captain Lou. His web site can be found at www.nauticaltalk.com

audio clip

Cruising in Seraffyn

8/26/07 – Chris and Mike picked me up early this morning in their van. We picked up Michael Donahue and began the drive up to Salem, MA. There is a classic wooden boat show up there and Mike has a friend named George who owns Seraffyn, a wooden boat with an amazing history. She was built by a couple named Lynn and Larry Pardee and they sailed her around the world and wrote several books about their voyages. George wanted to bring his boat back to Scituate Harbor so Mike and I were going to sail down there with him. We got to the marina in Salem and looked ate some of the old wooden boats for a little while and then got on Seraffyn and cast off. As we were cruising out of the harbor, Mike called in to a radio program called Captain Lou’s Nautical Talk. He handed me the phone and I was interviewed live on the air about my sailing trip. We continued to sail through a relatively light breeze and finally had to turn on the engine about half way to Scituate because of a lack of wind. We got back to Scituate Harbor in the late afternoon and George dropped Mike and I off at the apartment where we met Chris, the other Mike, and Mi Sun. We all ate pizza and talked for quite a while and they asked me to show them some pictures of my sailing trip. We were all sitting on the couch looking through some photos when Chris shouted, “Go back! We [her father and her] built that boat!” I went back to a photo that my dad took in Connecticut of a neat looking tug boat and sure enough, it was one of four in the world that they had built. They eventually all left and I went to bed.

Sailing With New Friends

8/25/07 – I woke up this morning and walked across the street to a little café that Chris recommended to me. I had pancakes, bacon, and eggs and then went back to the apartment. I did some laundry and went into the gift shop that Chris owns and she gave me a Humarock t-shirt. I walked across the South River to a little grocery store where I bought some lunch and went back to sit on the porch. In the afternoon, I went out sailing with Mike, Chris, and Chris’ husband, Mike. We came in as the sun was setting and Chris and I went to dinner at a local restaurant called the Mad Fish that had a porch overlooking the river.

Hospitality in Humarock

8/24/07 – I woke up this morning and ate a breakfast of oatmeal. I had to wait a few hours to depart because I wanted to make it to the entrance of the Cape Cod Canal at slack tide, the time when the tidal current stands still. I went back to Parker’s marina and used the bathroom and then departed northward. Buzzards Bay was much choppier than the previous day because I had a good tailwind. I got to the Cape Cod Canal just as planned and the turning current carried me through in very good time. I had a great wind when I came out the other side of the canal and alternated between a beam reach and a broad reach for the rest of the afternoon. I was a little nervous because for the first time for the entire trip I didn’t have charts that gave me information about the waters that I was traveling on. I stayed a good distance offshore and paid close attention to all the information available to me and it worked out just fine. I came into the North River inlet at around 6:30 and met Mike Donahue on a pier in Humarock. He got aboard and we motored over to his friend’s floating dock in the South River. She was on the dock waiting for us and introduced herself as Chris. I gathered my things and got a ride to shore from a passing motor boat and we all went up to Chris’ house. She has an amazing view overlooking the river and the ocean. We then drove over to Mike’s house and his wife, Mi Sun, had made a delicious Chicken Parmesan dinner for us. We stayed there for quite a while and then Chris and her husband drove me to the shop that they operate in Humarock called Humming Rock Gifts and showed me to the upstairs apartment that they had offered me for a few days.

Cataumet

8/23/07 – I got up this morning and it was cold and drizzling. I gathered all of my things at Max and Vicky’s house and filled my fuel tanks at the gas station. I departed at around 11:00am and sailed all the way to Cataumet. The tidal current through Woods Hole was very strong against me but I managed to get through just fine. I tried to buy some charts for the final leg of my trip at Parker’s marina in Cataumet but they were mistaken when they told me that they had some on the phone. I went out to a mooring and made myself some macaroni and cheese before going to bed.

Last Day in Hyannis Port

8/22/07 – I came up with a plan to sail the boat up to Scituate, MA to a yard there and have her hauled. I will then have a broker try to sell the boat so I can go home. Since I had the plan, there was little for me to do during the day so I made some of the spaghetti sauce that the Kennedys liked last year. Bryan and I met Meaghan, Kaylee, and two of their friends in the evening and we all went to a local bar named Harry’s.

Meeting the Previous Owner

8/21/07 – I spent the morning trying to work on selling my boat but still had no luck. Mike Donahue, the previous owner of the boat came to meet me in Hyannis Port. We went out for a sail and decided to stop at Baxter’s in Hyannis for a late lunch. I had the seafood platter which was delicious. We sailed back to Hyannis Port and I dropped him off at the dock and put the boat away.

Opera House Cup Regatta

8/19/07 – I got up early this morning and took Jaya to the pier in anticipation of our early departure to Nantucket to race in the Opera House Cup, a big regatta for classic boats. I walked over to Max’s house and helped him figure out exactly what the wind and tides would be doing for the entire afternoon. Everyone was busy preparing for the race and we finally got going about an hour later than we had planned. We all got aboard Jaya and motored to Nantucket and hurriedly prepared Glide for the race and cast off. We got out to the harbor and tested out a few sail configurations but the race was postponed for about an hour due to the light wind. It finally got started and we witnessed a very dramatic collision between two large wooden boats on the starting line. We came in around the middle of the pack, which wasn’t too bad for a crew who hasn’t been on the boat in nearly a year. We moored Glide and took Jaya back to Cape Cod after a dinner in Nantucket. As we were coming in to the harbor, Max made a detour and we all went to Baxter’s to meet Vicky and some more of his guests. We stayed for a few minutes and then went back to Hyannis Port.

Voyage to Nantucket

8/18/07 – Max had told Brian and I that the two of us would be sailing Glide over to Nantucket. During the morning, Max decided to captain the boat himself and bring a whole crew. I volunteered to drive Jaya, the 27’ fishing boat, over to Nantucket. I left Hyannis about two hours after they did and was bounced around quite a bit by large waves kicked up by a fierce wind. I saw Glide a little over half way to Nantucket. I came close to them and saw them beckoning me over. I came close and saw Max stripping down to jump in the water. He jumped in and I picked him up. He said that it was so rough that, “everyone is getting sick.” He came up with a plan to have the sickest people jump off Glide and have me pick them up on Jaya. They were terrified but jumped in and I picked them up. We drove Jaya out in front of Glide and Max jumped back into the ocean and made an amazing climb up the bow of Glide as she was bearing down on him. I took the folks on Jaya boat to Nantucket and dropped them off on one of the docks in town. I went back out in Jaya and realized that there was another round of seasick passengers. They also jumped into the ocean and I picked them up. I took them to a different dock in Nantucket before going out a third time. They were nearly in the harbor by then but there were a few passengers who wanted to get on the motor boat so that they could go to the bathroom sooner. I dropped them off at a dock and then motored over to Glide, who had just picked up a mooring. Max got on and drove us over to shore where he rounded up everyone who I had previously dropped off. Meanwhile, I went back out to Glide but just as I arrived, a huge boat came and people standing on the bow told me in a very stern voice that we were on their mooring. I had Brian take Jaya and motor around the harbor. I instructed Adam, the only other person on the boat, about how to grab the mooring when we got close. I had him cast off and I motored Glide around to grab a nearby mooring. We secured the boat and picked up Max on the shore. We needed to find a more permanent mooring so we did that with the little remaining light of the evening. We then got everyone on shore and took Jaya back to Hyannis Port for the evening.

Trying to Sell the Boat

8/15/07 – I woke up on the boat this morning and dinghied in to shore. I went to Max’s house to do some more work trying to sell the boat on the internet. Kenny was leaving Hyannis Port to go back to Maine so he came over and said goodbye. I spent most of the day on the internet working on a way to sell the boat. Kevin Ward and Brando made a delicious dinner of pasta and we all watched a video that Brando had made with footage from last year. Brian and I talked with one of the nannies for a while before I went off to bed on the boat.

8/16/07 – I spent most of the day working on trying to sell my boat. In the evening, I went over to Chris and Sheila Kennedy’s house with Max’s family and Brian. We ate a pizza dinner there and then Brian and I left to pick up Meaghan, Kaylee, and Louise. The five of us went to the Foxhole until it closed and then went back to Hyannis Port.

8/17/07 – I again spent most of the day trying to find a way to sell my boat. In the evening, Brian and I went over to Kaylee’s house to play Apples to Apples with Kaylee, Nate, Louise, and Meaghan.

Cancellation

8/14/07 – I got up and motored my boat to the pier. I began cleaning it out and then walked over to Max’s house. On the way there, I stopped at Teddy Shriver’s house to say goodbye to him; he was flying back to Miami for the year. I got a message from a guy who was going to come to Hyannis Port to look at my boat who canceled his appointment to see the boat. I went online and signed up for many new classified ads in the local newspaper and several web sites. I had to anchor my boat in the harbor since one of Max’s friends had taken the mooring that I was on while I was at the pier during the day. I was in an area that was not as protected because I was just outside the breakwater so I rocked all night long. I hung out with Kenny, Brian, and Sam Bacon on the pier in the evening and then went to bed.

Sailing With the Nannies

8/13/07 – I got up and went ashore very early. I drove to Eddie’s hotel room but it was locked and I did not want to wake him up. I stopped at McDonalds on the way back to Hyannis Port and ate some pancakes and then continued on to Max’s house. I fell asleep on his couch and was awoken to Vicky coming down the stairs. She told me that it was ridiculous for me to sleep on the couch when there were empty beds upstairs. I went up and found a bed and took a nap. When I got up, I met up with Kenny and the nannies and we went on a sailboat ride for most of the afternoon. We sailed over to Osterville and back. I went back to Max’s house for a little while and relaxed. I walked down to the pier to see the sunset and met Brian there. I helped him put several of Max’s boats away and then he and I went to the bowling alley to meet the nannies. We all left after one game and I went out to my boat to sleep.

Football and Meteors

8/12/07 – I rode a bike from Eddie’s hotel in Hyannis to Hyannis Port and went to the yacht club and then Max’s house. Max and his guests were going on a boat trip to Larry David’s house on Martha’s Vineyard. I stayed and hung out with Teddy and Kenny. We heard of a football game being planned at Senator Kennedy’s house so we walked over there. Several of the Kennedys were there so we joined them with a few other teenagers and played the most intense game of football I’ve ever played. After nearly every play there was a frenzy of activity that included insults, disputes, mocking, scolding, and celebration. It was a one-hand touch game but it ended up being the most physical game of football that I have every played. I got many bruises and my muscles and back were sore for several days afterwards. Kenny and I left and met some of the nannies that I knew from last year on our way back to his hotel. We ate dinner and then went down to the pier to meet some of the local kids and Teddy. After a while, I left in Kenny’s car to meet the nannies at a local bar called the 19^th Hole. There was a great meteor shower at night so one of the nannies named Meagan and I took Max’s dinghy out to my boat to watch it.

Sailing With Uncle Luke

8/11/07 – Luke and I were woken up by the sunlight in the morning and it was a beautiful day. We motored over to the pier and then went out on a sail that took most of the morning. We got back to the mooring and took the dinghy back to the pier. We began to walk to Max’s house to pick up Luke’s bike but we met Vicky on the way there and she told us to take their truck again and go to Four Seas Ice Cream. We had forgotten Luke’s plane key on the boat so we made a short detour back out to the mooring field and then went to a burger stand next to Craigville Beach. After that, we took Vicky’s advice and went to Four Seas. I dropped Luke off at the airport and went back into Hyannis Port to drop off the truck. I met up with Kenny and Brian in the evening and we took one of Max’s boats, Jaya, over to Baxter’s restaurant where we had a few drinks. We came back and dropped Jaya off at her mooring and then went over to a house on Squaw Island where we hung out with a few of the local kids before going back to Eddie’s hotel room for bed.

Weird Cult

8/10/07 – Today was cold and rainy so not much was going on outdoors. I went out to lunch with Kenny and Teddy to a place on Main Street called Common Ground. It is operated by members of a commune who work there without pay in exchange for room and board at their communal facility. I talked with one of the members named Tallyhoo (they all had weird names) for quite a while and learned that they were part of a religious organization called the Twelve Tribes. Since they are all volunteers, they can make very small children work in their various business endeavors without fear of breaking child labor laws so the members bring their kids to work. They told me that the kids are free to leave the society whenever they turn eighteen but I couldn’t help but think that there are very few opportunities for them with nothing but the weird commune home schooling that they receive. Everyone working there seemed to be in a trance so it was just very creepy. I will not be patronizing that restaurant again.

I went out to my boat to clean it up a bit and then came back to Max’s house. I borrowed his truck and drove to the Barnstable Municipal Airport to pick up my uncle Luke who was flying in. He got there and we stopped at a Brazilian restaurant in Hyannis. The servers walked around with ton of different types of meat on sticks and cut off a piece whenever you wanted one. It was delicious and we both got a stomach ache from eating too much. We drove back to Max’s house and dropped his truck off and then walked to the yacht club pier and took Max’s dinghy out to my boat to sleep.

Arriving in Hyannis Port

8/9/07 – The wind had shifted overnight and had grown in intensity so that it was blowing right through the harbor entrance, bringing with it large and violent waves. Everything that was not secured on deck was sliding around so I had to get up in the middle of the night to lash everything down. I went back down below and finished the night with broken, restless sleep. I got up as soon as the sun rose and got the boat ready to go for the day. I cast off the mooring at about 7:00am and began my trip up Vineyard Sound. I had to motor for a good portion of the morning because I had a direct headwind and a current against me that would make tacking back and forth a futile effort. I put up the sails between Woods Hole and Hyannis and sailed into Hyannis Harbor at about 2:00pm. I had talked to Mikey, the Hyannis Port Yacht Club tender operator that I knew from last year, and he let me tie up to the yacht club’s floating dock for about an hour while I gave the boat a bath. While I was there, a power boat full of people came up and had a bit of trouble docking. I ran over to help them and heard a voice that I immediately recognized as that of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He and the Shrivers had been out at Egg Island for the afternoon. The tender operator told me to take Senator Kennedy’s mooring for the night since he was up in Maine with his boat for the weekend so I motored out and secured myself to the mooring. The tender picked me up and I went back to shore. Kenny drove me to his brother’s hotel room where I took a shower. Kenny and I ate dinner at a local burrito place and then drove over to Max Kennedy’s rental house. Troy, the guy I worked with last summer, just happened to be there at the same time that I was so we caught up and talked for a while. Max eventually showed up and I talked to him for a while too. Max’s new employee, Brian, arrived after a little while too. Kenny, Troy, Brian, and I went down to the pier and met Teddy Shriver and a few other local guys for a little while. Troy, Brian, and I left after a little while to go to the Foxhole, our favorite bar from last summer.

I went to Eddie’s hotel room to sleep and I found a spot on the floor next to the air conditioner. I fell fast asleep since I was so tired but woke up at about 3:00am, completely soaked. Apparently the air conditioner was dripping lots of water onto the carpet right next to my torso and then blowing very cold air right on top of me. I was about as cold and uncomfortable as I can remember being so I immediately went into the bathtub and turned on the hot water. After I got warm again, I went back and found a different spot on the floor that was drier and continued to sleep until morning.

Cuttyhunk

8/8/07 – I woke up this morning and it was raining pretty hard and the wind was howling. I checked the weather and determined that I would be safe from thunderstorms so I donned my foul weather gear and left the dry, warm cabin to weigh anchor. The visibility was relatively poor but I was able to manage just fine. I rode the ebb current out of Long Island Sound through the passage called “The Race” due to its swift currents and sailed past Block Island. The waves on this leg of the trip were the largest I have seen on the trip but they were not a big deal since I was running with them rather than against them. I briefly saw Rhode Island in the distance as I passed but went most of the day out of sight of land. I made it to Cuttyhunk Bay at around 6:30pm, just in time for a rain squall to pass. My anchor was dragging so I weighed it and motored into the more protected inner harbor. I dropped anchor and had a shouting conversation with a guy names George in a neighboring boat. I went below but soon discovered that my anchor had yet again been dragging and I was nearly on the beach. I quickly motored to safety and went back out into the outer harbor to find another location as the twilight was fading. After several more failed attempts to set my anchor, I finally tied up to a mooring ball as the last rays of light disappeared.

Thick Fog

8/7/07 – I slept in this morning and took a shower at the marina. I left at about 8:45am and found out that Long Island Sound was completely becalmed. I continued to motor all morning and the air began to get hazier. All of the sudden a thick bank of fog rolled in and engulfed the boat. I got out the air horn and sounded it at least once a minute to make my presence known to any other boaters in the area to avoid collisions. I heard several boats respond with their horns but only saw two of them when we passed very close to each other. I used my compass and my GPS to carefully navigate from one navigational aid to another until I arrived in Niantic Bay. I chose an anchorage that was right in between to major rocks in a spot that I was certain that no large or fast moving boats would be coming through because I knew that they would not be able to see me until the last minute.

Yale

8/6/07 – My dad and I woke up this morning and ate a breakfast of oatmeal. We took a taxi to New Haven to see the campus of Yale University. I was very impressed with the elaborate stone work on all of the old buildings. We snuck into a tour group so we got some more information about the campus. After that, we went into the main library which was designed like a cathedral. We ate some pizza for lunch and then took a taxi back to Milford. We had a little bit of time before he had to leave to go back to New York City and it was hot so we walked up to the yacht club’s swimming pool. We got a seat in the shade in the breeze so we cooled down without even having to get in the water. His taxi eventually came and he left. I made some pasta for dinner and then read before going to bed.

Milford

8/5/07 – My dad and I slept in today and then walked into town again. We ate breakfast at a local bakery and bought some bread and cheese to eat on the boat for lunch. We cast off at around noon and went to a big marina on the way out of the harbor to get some fuel. It was the most crowded harbor I have ever seen with boats coming and going so much that it was imperative that I paid very close attention to what I was doing. We got out of the harbor and continued up Long Island Sound. We decided to stop at Milford, a neat little town with a very crowded harbor where we tied up to a dock. We ate dinner at the Milford Yacht Club and then walked around the marina to look at some of the expensive boats.

I began talking to a guy named Joe, who owns a boat in the slip next to ours. He told us all about the local area, including how clams and oysters are caught and how we should use a particular shower in the clubhouse because he took the water saver out of it to increase the water pressure.

Leaving Manhattan

8/4/07 – My dad and I awoke this morning and ate a breakfast of oatmeal. We had invited Margo to join us on the sail around Manhattan so we picked her up at the dock and departed. We went south, passing the skyline and the Statue of Liberty before turning north on the East River and going under the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and several other huge bridges. People had been warning me about the area called Hell Gate ever since I had left Florida and we came to it at around 9:00am. This area is infamous for extremely strong currents (up to five knots) and numerous eddies and horrendous chop kicked up by moderate breezes. Hundreds of ships have sunk there in the past few hundred years. I had planned our departure time from the marina so that our arrival at Hell Gate would coincide with slack tide, the time at which the tide-driven currents are still. We were a little bit late but not enough to make it dangerous so we passed through with ease. We dropped Margo off at a marina on City Island where she took a bus back to Manhattan. My dad and I continued along in Long Island Sound for the day until we got to South Norwalk. We got to a marina and took showers before walking into town. It just so happened that the day we were there was the weekend of the biggest city festival of the year: the SoNo Arts Celebration. We walked around and saw some of the booths before going to a local steakhouse for dinner. We got some ice cream before going back to the boat since the lady playing music at the main stage was not very good. We looked on the internet and found that another band was playing later that night so we waited until they started and then walked back over there. They were called Otis and the Hurricanes and were very good.

Sunset Cruise

8/3/07 – Margo, my dad, and I got up early this morning so that my dad could see as much of the city as possible during his very short visit there. We rented bicycles in Central Park and did a six mile loop and then met a relative for lunch at a café in the park. After that we took the subway downtown and saw the World Trade Center site. Andy flew in that afternoon so we went back up to meet him and then all went to the marina where I had the boat stored. We met one of Margo’s friends named Sarah and the five of us went on a sunset cruise in New York Harbor. On the way back, there was lightning all around us so we hurried as fast as we could to get back to the marina before the storm hit. We dropped Margo, Andy, and Sarah off at the dock and then my dad and I went out to the mooring field and secured the boat about two minutes before the storm hit. There was lots of heavy rain, strong wind, and loud lightning but we had little to worry about in the mooring field. We watched the storm for a little while and then went to sleep.

Times Square

8/2/07 – I slept in this morning and spent the morning doing my laundry and cleaning up Margo and Andy’s house. Margo flew in and arrived in the early afternoon. I went to the grocery store with her and then we went on a walk around her neighborhood and to the school where she teaches. My dad flew in later that afternoon and we met him at her house. All three of us took the subway down to Times Square and saw what was going on there. We decided to take a cycle rickshaw ride around so we flagged one down. That was a fun ride but the fellow was a very reckless driver; we weaved in and out of traffic and even knocked into the mirror of a big bus. We tried to go into a few ice cream shops but the lines were all very long so we decided to go back to Margo’s house and eat the ice cream that I had bought earlier that day.

Broadway

8/1/07 – I slept in this morning since I got home so late the previous night. I ate a good breakfast and then took a walk around the neighborhood. I then came back to the apartment and did some laundry. I wanted to see a Broadway show but they are very expensive so I decided to try to enter a ticket lottery that some shows put on. I figured that I could be in the lottery for the show Wicked and then do another one about a half hour later. I began to get very discouraged when people kept coming until there was a huge crowd of at least a couple hundred people also looking to win this lottery for the twenty eight seats. I began talking to the group in front of me, two ladies and one of their husbands. The three of us came up with a ticket sharing scheme to increase the likelihood that some of us would be able to see the show. As luck would have it, both of the women were winners so they each got two front row tickets for $25 so all four of us were able to see the show. We had about two hours until show time so the four of us went to a restaurant that my aunt Margo gave me a gift certificate for called Havana Central. We went back to the theater and got our seats. I was surprised to learn that my seat was not only in the front row, but I was straddling the very center of the stage. The pit conductor came out and I chatted with him for a minute before it started. The show was amazing. I didn’t know anything about it beforehand except that it was a bit of background on some of the characters from the Wizard of Oz. I expected it to be dopey and mildly entertaining like the movie was but was very pleasantly surprised to see that it was an extraordinarily well developed story with very serious characters. Afterwards, I took the subway back to the apartment and went to bed.

Frank Marino

7/31/07 – I got up this morning and ate some leftover pizza for breakfast. It has been months since I have used a microwave so I had nearly forgotten how convenient it is to have one. Andy had snuck out to the airport before I woke up so I was alone again. I took the subway down to the American Museum of Natural History where I spent most of the afternoon. I then walked into Central Park where I took an afternoon nap.

I have been wanting to see a musician named Frank Marino ever since he came to Madison a couple of years ago. I was very excited to learn that he would be playing at BB King’s Blues Club in New York City at the same time that I was in town. I took the subway to the club and was walking to the box office when I was stopped by two scraggly looking fellows. They told me that their buddy couldn’t make it to the show and that I could buy his ticket for $20. They had arrived far longer than me so they had some of the first choices for tables. I accepted this offer and we went to the bar to wait for the doors to open. This was a dinner club so we were seated at tables in front of the stage. On the way in, they gave everyone a very thorough pat down to make sure they were not carrying any contraband. My table was in the second row so I was about fifteen feet from the stage. The cheapest thing on the menu was still very expensive so I ordered a couple of drinks to fulfill the ten dollar minimum purchase per person and took what the door men must have assumed to be a “smoke break.” I walked across the street to McDonalds where I ate a filling meal for five dollars and went back to the club a much happier person. The show started promptly at 8:00pm and lasted about three and a half hours with no intermission. I went to the bathroom at one point and they had a guy in there whose job was to squirt soap on your hands and hand you a paper towel. The show was one of the best I have seen and I had a great time.

After the show, I met up with a friend of mine named Jeff Polley who lives in New York. We went to a couple of bars and he had all sorts of interesting stories about the work he’s been doing recently. We finally parted at about 3:30am and I got on the subway back up to Margo and Andy’s house. I was very tired and it was a long train ride so I fell asleep almost immediately.

Change of Plans

7/30/07 – Andy left early this morning for a business conference. Paul and I went over to Central Park where we saw the John Lennon memorial among other things. Paul had to catch his plane back to Rochester, MN so he took the subway to LaGuardia while I walked back across Central Park. Andy called me that evening and told me that his flight had been cancelled after being postponed all day so he was coming home. A few seconds later, I got a call from his wife telling me that she had made dinner reservations at a Greenwich Village restaurant for Andy and me. We went to this place called the Chow Bar and had a good dinner before walking around the Village.

Exploring New York

7/29/07 – Paul and I left the house in the morning and got on the subway. We fell asleep and missed our stop so we got off at the following stop in Brooklyn. It was raining but was otherwise a nice day so we bought really cheap umbrellas and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. We walked to the World Trade Center site and went to the visitor’s center there. We then did a bit more walking around before heading back up to Margo and Andy’s house. Andy, Paul, and I ate some pizza from a local pizza place named Fivo’s while we watched a documentary on the Enron fraud.

Daysailing

7/28/07 – I got up early this morning because I was taking Andy and two of his friends on a sailboat ride around New York Harbor. I took the subway down to the World Trade Center stop and then took another train under the Hudson River to New Jersey. There were no taxis around so I just walked to Liberty State Park from the train station. I arrived about an hour later and a big black fellow named Charlie was putting his nice fishing boat in the water. I went down to talk to him and asked him f I could bum a ride out to my sailboat when he departed. I helped to get the boat off the trailer and then we cast off the dock as another boat was backing down the adjacent ramp. As soon as a woman stepped out of the passenger seat, Charlie got very excited and began to utter grand explanations about how great her bosom, among other things, was. I was a bit confused by this since the woman in question much more closely resembled Jabba the Hutt than Helen of Troy. He proceeded to spend the next fifteen minutes slowly circling the area while I sat helplessly on the bow waiting for the 100 yard ride to my boat. Perhaps swimming would have been a better idea after all. I finally got to the boat far behind schedule, untangled the anchor lines, and set out. I had planned to do the trip up to the 79^th Street Boat Basin at slack tide but since I was behind schedule, it took far longer than I had expected. I finally made it up there and met Andy, Paul, and Andy’s two friends, Angela and Talus.

They had seen a helicopter make an emergency landing right next to them in a baseball diamond so as we were preparing to leave, they all talked to a New York Times reporter who later wrote an article quoting Andy. When that was finished, we went out on the boat and sailed all the way down to the Statue of Liberty and motoring back against the current. I decided to keep the boat on a mooring there even though it was expensive because I wouldn’t have to worry about it at all for the remainder of the week. Paul, Andy, and I went back to his house and rested a bit before Paul and I went to Pangea for dinner, a restaurant that my aunt, Margo, suggested for us. We then continued to walk around the East Village for a while before going back to bed.

Swimming in the Hudson

7/27/07 – We got up this morning and packed our bags to prepare to go ashore. I dropped Paul and my bag on a dock on shore and I took the boat back out to the anchorage where I set both anchors. As I was about to jump in the filthy Hudson River, I heard Paul call out to me, saying that there was a small colony of rats living in the rock pile that I was planning on climbing up to get ashore. I only hesitated for a moment before realizing that my other option was to pay extraordinary amounts of money to dock in New York Harbor so I quickly jumped into the quagmire and made it ashore.

I put a shirt on and then we walked over to a guy that was fishing to ask him where the nearest place to get public transportation was. His name was Ralph and he told us that it was a very long walk but that he would be happy to give us a ride part of the way. We got into his van and he dropped us off at the end of a path that appeared to lead into a junkyard. We walked down the path and over a short bridge going over an awful smelling swamp. We finally made it to the New Jersey Transit light rail line and took that to a train station. We got on a train that took us under the Hudson River and into Manhattan. We ate lunch at a pizza place and then went to my uncle Andy’s office to pick up the keys to his house.

We took the subway up there and dropped our stuff off and I took a shower to wash the Hudson River off me. We then took the Subway back down and visited Chinatown. We were getting hungry so we decided that the one criterion for a good Chinese restaurant was its dumpiness. We finally found the perfect restaurant: the shadiest little nook of a restaurant that we had ever seen. The food was delicious. Then we went to Little Italy and bought a cannoli. We then went over to Times Square before heading up to Margo and Andy’s house to go to bed.

Sailing Into New York Harbor

7/26/07 – Paul and I woke up this morning and got going early so we would have a fair current when we reached New York Harbor. We motored through a canal and under several bridges to the Manasquan inlet where we left the Intracoastal Waterway and continued northwards. The wind was nearly dead calm so we were forced to motor most of the way to New York. Entering the harbor through the Verranzo Narrows Bridge was one of the greatest feelings I have ever had. We motored up the harbor and dropped the anchor directly between Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, just outside the security zones surrounding each. I had called the Coast Guard and the state police the previous day to make sure that I would not be breaching any laws by anchoring here and both of them told me that they were not aware of any regulations that I would break before telling me to call the other agency for the definitive answer. The view was spectacular but the wind and passing boats made the surface a bit choppy so we decided to move so that we would be in the lee of an island. I checked my charts to make sure that the water was not too shallow and that I would not breach any of the numerous security zones in the area before we motored over there. Less than 60 seconds after we dropped the anchor in our new location, a large and fast police boat came screaming towards us with its lights flashing. They were not happy because I was apparently in a prohibited area. I decided that no good could come from debating my position so I just weighed anchor and went back to our original spot. We stayed there enjoying the scenery until evening when we decided to move to a protected basin right behind the Statue of Liberty. As we were motoring in, a different police boat came speeding down the channel right towards me with his lights flashing. I was even more certain than before that I was not breaking any laws so I was beginning to get upset. Luckily, he sped right past me and went to the end of the basin where a NYPD helicopter and a CBS news helicopter were circling. We never figured out what was going on. We ate a dinner of pasta and then sat and looked at the city for a while before going to bed.

Bay Head

6/25/07 – Paul and I got up and weighed anchor at about 9:00am and motored and sailed throughout the day. We got to a neat little town called Bay Head at around 4:00pm and got some fuel at a marina. We then motored out into the harbor, anchored, and ate dinner. In the evening, we swam ashore and walked into town to buy some eggs and Slurpees from the Seven Eleven. We swam back to the boat and sat out on deck for a while before going to bed.

Surf City

6/24/07 – Paul and I got up this morning and got going on the Intracoastal Waterway. We went through some more neat little seaside villages and anchored in the harbor of Surf City. It was a very picturesque little anchorage and we had a good pasta dinner before going to bed.

Crew Change

6/23/07 – I woke up this morning and was disappointed to hear strong wind and heavy rain outside the boat. I told Kenny that he could stay below while I sailed for the few hours until we got to Atlantic City. We wandered through some very windy canals and went under many bridges to get to Atlantic City. We finally arrived at our dock and promptly got warm showers. I took a taxi cab to the Verizon store to get a replacement for my broken phone. We walked around the downtown for a bit and then Kenny took a bus to New York City to meet his sister. I walked around town for the afternoon and then went to the casinos in the evening while I waited for my friend, Paul, to get into town. He got there and we took a cab back to the marina and went to bed.

Rough Day

6/22/07 – Kenny and I ate a breakfast of oatmeal this morning and weighed anchor at about 8:00am to get on the ocean. We went out the Cape May inlet and had a 20 knot wind that was from the northeast, exactly the direction that we wanted to go. We tacked several times but made five hard-fought miles toward our destination in four hours. We finally decided that enough was enough and turned around back towards Cape May. We flew there with the wind at our backs and took the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway north. My charts say, “Vessels that draw more than five feet and have a bridge clearance of more than 34 feet can not pass through this section. I draw four feet (no problem) but my bridge clearance is about 32 feet, something to worry about at high tide, which it was. The reason I decided to avoid this section of the ICW in the first place was the long, winding path and numerous bridges that I either barely fit under or had to have opened for me. I had about six inches of clearance from the top of my mast (my flexible antenna hit but that’s why it’s flexible) going under the first bridge and the tide was still rising with two other bridges to go. I slipped under the second bridge with about four inches to spare. The third bridge was the closest with what we estimated to be about two inches…we really hoped that no wakes would come while we were passing through. We tried to motor into a creek to anchor but the entrance ha shoaled since my chart was published so we ran aground. We backed out and found another place to drop the hook and had a great pasta dinner while we watched what both of us agreed was one of the best sunsets either of us had ever seen.

Delaware Bay to Cape May

7/21/07 – I woke up this morning and weighed anchor at 5:30am. I wanted to take advantage of the three knot ebb current for the journey to Cape May and keep from being stranded in the middle of the bay when the current switched. We cruised at record speeds because of the currents and made it to Cape May in the early afternoon. We motor sailed through the Cape May Canal and made it into Cape May Harbor at about 2:00pm. We picked up some fuel at a local marina and then anchored just east of the Coat Guard station right next to the main channel that serviced the harbor. I was a bit unhappy with the spot I had chosen but there were few other options that would be suitable. I set out a second anchor to deal with the strong tidal currents ripping through the Cape May inlet. The anchorage soon filled in with other boats and there was a constant flow of boats traveling by us in the channel. We ate a dinner of pasta with pesto sauce and then enjoyed the picturesque harbor during sunset. A very good band started playing across the bay from us and the sound carried perfectly over the water so we sat on deck and listened to them for a little while. It has been getting a bit chilly the past two nights so I had to dig in the v-berth for the fleece pants I brought with me for the first time this summer.

Chesapeake and Delaware Canal

7/20/07 – I got up early and weighed anchor at about 5:45am. Kenny continued to sleep for the first several hours of the day; he said that sleeping under sail was extremely restful due to the gentle rocking, a sensation that would make most people sick. We had a great wind of about 15-18 knots and were on a close reach for the remainder of our time in the Chesapeake Bay. We entered the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, a waterway that connects the Chesapeake Bay to the Delaware Bay, in the early afternoon. I had to time it properly so that the very strong tidal currents would be pushing us along rather than hindering us. I usually cruise at around five knots under power (you are not allowed to raise sails in the canal) so a 2-3 knot current makes it imperative that a slow boat plans their transit accordingly. We made it through and anchored behind Reedy Island. I knew that the currents in the Delaware Bay were just as strong as in the canal so I set two anchors so that the other would hold me when the tide switched.

Kenny made some pasta for dinner and we watched a great sunset and some of the best stars I’ve seen this entire trip.

Slipping By a Storm

7/19/07 – We woke up at anchor this morning and motored into Herrington Harbor South to get some fuel. I talked with a guy named Bill that offered to let me use his facilities pass (this is a resort marina) if I were to stay there. I declined, partly because I could never afford to stay there but also because I need to make good time to Atlantic City, NJ. I found out that there was a West Marine at the other branch of Herrington Harbor, about two miles away on the opposite side of Herring Bay. We motored over there and I was disappointed to find out that the book I wanted was not there. We sailed out of the harbor and continued sailing for most of the morning. There was a storm system coming through but the severe portion of it was down near the Potomac River, well south of us. We continued along and just got a little sprinkle and a great tailwind for the remainder of the day. We passed Baltimore and anchored in a nice little harbor and watched another great sunset.

Herring Bay

7/18/07 – We woke up and were still being bounced around by the waves. We ate a quick breakfast of oatmeal and then got going. We were able to sail out of the harbor but as soon as we made it out, the wind promptly died. We turned on the motor and continued along for a few minutes but I was confused as to why we weren’t going faster than we were. A look down the transom revealed the problem: I was dragging a fisherman’s pot. I got out the gaff hook and got it untangled and the performance was greatly improved. The wind continued to be light and variable so we had the sails down for the majority of the time. We anchored in Herring Bay and watched a sailboat race as we were eating dinner. It was a relief to be in a good anchorage in the lee of a wooded shoreline. We watched a good sunset and did a bit of reading before bed.

Crossing the Potomac

7/17/07 – Kenny and I ate some oatmeal for breakfast and then weighed anchor. We motored through the Milford Haven harbor and tried unsuccessfully to buy fuel at two marinas but one was closed and one only sold diesel fuel. We continued along until we got to Deltaville, where we stopped at a marina that sold us fuel and ice and let us use their courtesy car to drive a few miles to buy some groceries. We got going again at about 11:00am and motored north for the afternoon and evening. We had a very light north wind all day so the sails would have been useless. I dropped the anchor just west to Lookout Point, knowing that the light north wind would put us in the lee of the point and make for a very comfortable anchorage. As soon as we had finished our dinner of pasta, the wind began blowing at around ten knots from the south. We had about fifteen miles of open water directly to the south of us so we began being tossed around by the ever increasing waves. We both had a cigar in recognition of the fact that we had just crossed into Maryland and then sat and relaxed before going to bed. It was a very rough night. We were bounced around so much that I sometimes had to hang on to keep from rolling out of my bed.

Into the Cheapeake Bay

7/16/07 – We walked over to a breakfast restaurant this morning and got filling but cheap breakfast. We cast off from the marina and motor sailed out of Norfolk Harbor. We had a hot day but there was a good tailwind of 5-10 knots that pushed us about 53 miles. I decided to make a risky entrance to a perfect anchorage despite very shallow shoals. I was able to make it through without touching once. We had a dinner of pesto and mandarin oranges and listened to some music before going to bed.

Kenny Arrives

7/15/07 – I woke up and began talking to the guy on the boat next to mine. He had a Leopard 40, a neat catamaran that I had seen in Thunderbolt, GA when my grandpa was with me. The guy was pretty nice and told me about his trip. My friend, Kenny, arrived this morning and took a taxi from the airport to the marina. He came aboard and we began stowing his things aboard but it was so hot that we decided to wait until evening. We went to lunch and then began walking around downtown Norfolk. We then went back to the boat and read and talked for most of the afternoon before walking over to dinner at a sports bar. We then walked back to the boat and read before going to bed.

Guest Entry: Kathy Bassett

Tuesday July 10, 2007

Norfolk, Va.

When Zach and his siblings were young I often read to them a story called, The Runaway Bunny, in which Mommy Bunny did whatever necessary in order to follow her Baby Bunny when he tried to get away from her. Later, as they dreamed about where they themselves would go someday I reminded them, “Remember the Runaway Bunny!” And so, on July 10, I flew out to the east coast to visit my son during his sailing adventure.

Zach’s sister Shannon and I arrived in Norfolk, Virginia on the afternoon of July 10 eager to see Zach and his boat. Zach and I had agreed that I’d be more comfortable sleeping in a hotel rather than on his boat so he planned to stay in Norfolk during my visit. In the time that it took for me and Shannon to go up to our room, drop our bags, and return to the lobby, the skies opened up. We were soaked to our undies by the time we arrived at the marina to find Zachary, who was wearing nothing but a swimsuit and lots of facial hair. It was so good to see my boy!

After Zach endured a long, wet hug from his mother the three of us traipsed down the dock to Zach’s slip and there she was, the Erica J. I had seen pictures of the boat, but standing next to it, it looked a little smaller than I had expected. With the rain still coming down hard, Zach instructed Shannon and I to rush inside as soon as he opened the hatch so he could close it up quickly and avoid having all of his belongings soaked…again. Lots laughter, a flurry of activity, and suddenly the three of us were standing inside, afraid to sit down since we were all soaking wet and the seating area was covered with navigational maps, fraying straw hats, a jar of half-eaten pasta sauce, and a few dollar bills laid out to dry. Did I say standing inside? There was just enough floor space for our three pairs of feet, and just enough head room for us each to hunch over—way over—if our knees were bent. There was no room for any of us to move. It was hilarious!

With me sitting on the step/cooler and Shannon sitting on my lap, I watched my 6’7” son contort his body in this very small space in order to put on a t-shirt. I tried to see past him to the head and the v berth, but with the three of us in the cabin this was impossible. The only way I can imagine Zach being able to stretch out while he sleeps is by putting his feet in the sink.

Sopping wet and squeezed into that dimly lit and cluttered little cabin one thing was crystal clear: Zach was completely content with his living quarters, was very self-sufficient, and was quite pleased with how his adventure was unfolding. I was so happy to see this! I was also happy that I was staying in a hotel. We left three wet spots in the public transportation van while returning to the hotel to dry off before dinner.

To demonstrate the physical dimensions of the boat’s living quarters, below is a picture of Zach standing on the floor of the cabin (on a drier day) with the hatch wide open. One can imagine how he folds himself up once inside.

Wednesday, July 11

Norfolk, Va.

The highlight of the day was a tour of the Norfolk Harbor aboard Zach’s boat. Although we tried to put up the sails for a bit, there wasn’t much wind and there was quite a lot of commercial traffic so we motored most of the time. It was really fun! We saw a number of huge ships in dry-dock, and many military vessels. Shannon and I were also fascinated with the jellyfish.

I planned ahead for the heat and wore my swimsuit and a wide-brimmed hat. Forty minutes into our ride, with Shannon basking in the sun on the bow and Zach handling the tiller looking cool as could be, I had resorted to dipping an empty water bottle into the salt water and sprinkling myself. After 42 minutes I was repeatedly dumping salt water directly on top of my head.

When we finished our tour of the harbor—which I really did enjoy—I dashed into the air-conditioned building next to the marina and drank cold water. I followed this with a mercifully cold shower in the marina locker room. Zach seemed to have anticipated my limitations more than I did. He was prepared to join us at the hotel and do some sight-seeing during our visit. At home he normally uses brown paper grocery bags as luggage. Since his current home is surrounded by (and occasionally filled with) water, he has graduated to using large ziplock bags to transport his few possessions. The man lives simply!

At night we enjoyed dinner in a neighborhood seafood restaurant on a small inlet away from downtown.

Thursday, July 12

Virginia Beach, Va.

We spent the day at the beach! We swam; we snoozed; we saw dolphins! It was a perfect day. The fighter jets flying overhead every so often added a Star Wars effect to the scene. Zach stepped on a lady while trying to fly a kite.

On the boardwalk in Virginia Beach we saw an unmistakable resemblance between Zachary and Poseidon.

Friday, July 13

Berkley Plantation, somewhere near Williamsburg,Va.

After a pleasant drive through the countryside, we visited a plantation rich in history. Shannon was impressed that most of our first presidents had been hosted at this home; I was impressed that thousands of Union soldiers had camped on the grounds; Zach was impressed because the distillation of bourbon was perfected here. Go figure!

We ended the day by having what should have been a relaxing dinner. Instead, Shannon and Zach had a contest to see who could eat the most breadsticks at Olive Garden. I was so proud.

Saturday, July 14

Williamsburg, Va.

By the time Shannon and I boarded the plane to return home this evening, we were pretty tired. Zach spent the entire day with us at Colonial Williamsburg. Yes, this was my idea, but Shannon and Zach seemed to enjoy it too.

When Shannon and I arrived in Norfolk Zach had just passed the 1000 mile mark on his journey. The buoy below, in the Norfolk Harbor, is mile marker zero on the intracoastal waterway that has brought him this far north. It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet up with him during his adventure, even if I wimped out on the sailing!