Sail Pandora

>It’s hard to believe that it’s been several weeks (yes, I know that it’s actually been longer, so don’t rub it in) since my last post.  However, nearly every extra minute has been spent on trying to do the whole life-work balance thing and continue to get Pandora ready for the season of sailing.   While some of my friends are wrapping up their season in the South and heading home, us poor soles in more temperate zones are just now getting ready to head out.  As I have mentioned in past posts, we are going to keep Pandora in Mystic for part of June after launching the week prior to Memorial Day and then will head to Maine for July and August.  For a while I was uncertain if work would allow me to stay away for two months, while working remotely from the boat, but it is now looking like a visit to Maine for both months will only be interrupted by a quick trip to Las Vegas for business in late July.   It’s actually ironic to imagine leaving Maine to head to a location of such great contrast but, hey, I still have to make a living, for now, I guess.

Well, back to getting Pandora ready.   After being fabricated in Canada, Pandora’s new radar came down a few weeks ago on a truck.  To save on shipping (always looking for a way to save where I can) I arranged to meet the driver at an exit off of the NYS thruway and we made the switch.  I constructed special brackets on the roof racks to hold the arch.  It just dwarfed the car.  I was fearful that I would hit something as I drove home and later to CT where Pandora is stored, but nope, no damage.

With a little help from my friends and a lot of pushing and pulling, the arch was installed.  Beyond that I had to run wires for the radar, GPS and aft running light.  It proved to be somewhat easier than I had expected and it’s all completed now and the radar is in place.  No photo of that yet but will come soon.  In this photo the radar is still on the back stay but has now been moved to the center of the arch.   It’s now fully out of the way and securely in it’s new home.

I also put the two new holding tanks in place along with a bit of elbow skin as I pushed and pulled them into position.  In spite of the very complex looking shot of the forward tank, that one was actually the easiest to fit in place.    

While the forward tank was more straight forward, the aft tank was a bear to squeeze into it’s new home.  Hard to imagine so much work to hold a mess of S… aboard while I look for a place to pump out.

I challenge anyone to have a more solidly constructed holding tank on their boat.  However, my ulterior motive in learning to do this sort of work is to make a hard dodger for Pandora based on Bob Perry’s plans next winter.  Now, that’s a project.  And the design, that I don’t have a photo of unfortunately, really gives a muscular look to the boat.  Really impressive.   For much of the winter the boat was really torn up with all the work that I was doing was being completed.   At some points, I have to confess that I didn’t expect to ever be finished.  Take a look at this shot and you will probably agree.  What a trash heap.

Alas, as they say on the nation’s highways when the roads are all torn up, “the inconvenience is temporary, but the repairs are permanent”.  Well, it’s sort of true, as with the roads, boat projects aren’t very permanent either.  But, it does look a lot better now.   Check out the new Ultrasuede cushions.  No, I didn’t sew them.  There’s a limit to what I am willing, or should I say able to take on.  They look really great.  In 30 years of boating, no make that 40, we have never had new cushions that I didn’t make.  That’s to say, really nice ones.

With Pandora nearly ready to launch I have just a few more weeks to finish up these projects and get ready to head out for a week aboard.   We have never splashed her and immediately headed out for a week so we will have to see how that goes.  

Finally, now that we are nearly into the commissioned season, I expect to begin getting into a more or less weekly blog post.

Before I sign off, how about a sunset shot?  No, perhaps I should call it a sunrise shot.  In fact, I took this years ago when we visited St. John in the BVI.  It’s my hope that in a few short years I will see this same view, if a bit closer to the water, from aboard Pandora.  Now, that’s something to look forward to.

>With all my weekends consumed with work on Pandora over the last few months, Brenda and I decided to take a vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, to stay at a friend’s home.  As if that’s not great enough, both of our sons came and brought their significant others.   Our oldest Rob has his birthday, Chris, you youngest (I guess that’s self evident as Rob is the oldest) has his 35th birthday today, April 9th.  How is it that he’s so old and I am so young?   Lauren, Rob’s wife, also has an April birthday so we were all set to celebrate.  We’ve been to MV many times over the years, in every boat that we’ve owned, beginning in the late 70s in TAO, our 20′ Cape Cod catboat and in more recent years in Pandora.  


Coming over on the ferry the other day was a very new experience for us as we’d always visited on our own boat. It’s certainly a lot less weather dependent aboard the ferry.


While it was plenty cold, I went out on deck to watch the sights go by.  Oddly, I was the only one that wasn’t inside where it was nice and toasty.  Perhaps it was the 20kt winds and temperatures in the 40s.  Hmm…


A nice crisp afternoon in April.  That’s Naushon Island in the background as we are leaving Woods Hole. 

Just outside the inner harbor is a really nice little draw bridge.  It’s been replaced in the last few years as the old one tended to stick in the closed position when the pavement got really hot in the Summer.   This one is so  over built compared to the old one,  I’ll bet that it will function well for many decades.

This shot, taken outside of the breakwater, and heavily exposed to the northerly prevailing winds of winter, was a lone sailboat on a mooring, complete with dink tied off of the stern.  Obviously, a liveaboard I would say.  It’s hard to imagine living aboard in such an exposed place over the winter.  I can only imagine how rough it gets, not to mention cold, when the wind pipes up.  It must be even more fun getting to and from shore in that little dink. 

Inside the breakwater it was a lot calmer and there were many more boats sitting on their winter moorings.   There are a good number of wooden boats that call their home Vineyard Haven harbor and the best place for a wooden boat to spend the winter is afloat.  This harbor is a particularly good home for wooden boats because of the yard Gannon & Benjamin, a well respected wooden boat yard right on the waterfront in Vineyard Haven.   There’s a great book about the yard that’s well worth reading, Wooden Boats: In Pursuit of the Perfect Craft at an American Boatyard.  It’s the story of a classic boat and her rebuilding at the yard.


Among the many boats launched at G&B over the years is this lovely catboat, the only craft sailing the waters when we arrived.  

In front of the catboat is one of the two schooners owned by the founder of the Black Dog, a very successful business started back in the 70s here on the island.  He started the business back in 1971 as a bar but has expanded to include a bakery, two schooners for day trips as well as a store with a Black Dog line of apparel.  While the store in Vineyard Haven was the first, they have expanded and now have local operations in most major New England ports.  They even have a webcam where you can see live photos of the harbor.

It’s a real treat to be here with our family and it’s likely to be a long time until we are all away together again.  A particular goal that we have is to have them visit us when we are in the Bahamas or Caribbean.  Something to look forward to but that’s a topic for a future post.

>It’s been a very long winter and the last of the (record?) snows are now melted.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that it’s 25 degrees out and it’s 11:00.  Not what you’d expect for late March.  Alas, I digress.  The really good news is that I continue to make progress, if slow, on the projects for Pandora.  The fridge upgrade is done with a newly installed compressor and cold plate so that we will have a true freezer instead of the wimpy little box that couldn’t even hold ice cream. Can you imagine a proper vessel that doesn’t have the ability to keep ice cream? Hmm…  On the true other end of the spectrum, literally, I am also making progress on the holding tanks.   While the going is slow, with work being very busy (another good thing) there’s just not a lot of time for projects like this beyond the weekends.

One evening after work this week I did take some time to enjoy a few hours in the shop constructing the framework for an ottoman for the main salon of Pandora.  My friend Marc who lives aboard his SAGA 43, and has for many years, showed me this idea on his boat and I had to have one.  The ottoman is constructed out of 5/8 marine grade cherry plywood and is designed to have a full hight cushion that will match the new cushions being made for the main salon.  The box is lightweight but sturdy and has internal supports made out of 3/4″ oak.  The entire box is fastened with #6 pan head self tapping SS screws.

This shot shows the box in it’s rough form.  The next step will be two coats of varnish on the interior and then I will drop it off at the canvas shop to be covered with a nice contrasting cover of Ultrasuede.  The top is designed to be removable so that we can use the interior for storage.  The interior is 18″x18″x12.5″ so that’s a decent amount of space.

Before I drop it at the canvas shop, I will put a few coats of varnish on the interior.  I wouldn’t want to have those chips and cookies stored in a compartment that isn’t varnished, would I?  Only the best for Pandora’s Pringles.

As the plywood is relatively thin, I needed a structure to screw the fastenings into, so these stringers, rounded of course, will serve nicely.

The cover will have the cushion affixed to it and the interior lip will fit nicely into the base of the box.   When we are under way the ottoman will nestle between the dining table and the port settee.

While I try to do most projects myself, the new radar arch isn’t something that I can tackle on my own.  Sorry about that.  However, I could make a great looking arch out of wood.  Perhaps not.  Anyway, my arch is being made up in Canada by a terrific fabricator Klacko Marine and will be shipped down in the next two weeks.  The owner of Klako, Doug, did all of the stainless fabrication for Pandora when she was built.  Doug’s work is really first rate.  While the arch isn’t yet done, Doug sent these photos as an update on his progress. Notice that there are horizontal bars on the side of the arch that we can climb up on to escape rising waters, no make that to service the radar or other instruments.  Perhaps some will even choose to jump from the arch for a swim.

This photo isn’t of my arch, but it shows how the radar will fit on top of it once I move it from it’s current spot on the backstay.  The nice part of this is that I won’t have to purchase another mount and will just be able to  slide the Questus unit on top of the bar that will be welded directly onto the arch.

My holding tanks are progressing slowly but surely and are now ready for two coats of gelcoat to ensure that it’s not only water tight but vapor tight as well.  Black water tanks (aka: sewage) must be really well made as they tend to become stinky over time.  Now that all of the interior work is completed I will secure the lids with epoxy paste, lots of screws and several layers of fiberglass mat.  I will also cut an access port into the lid so that I can clean the tank as needed.  These tanks will be first rate, I hope.  I should note that I wouldn’t have been able to make this project happen without the help of the folks at LBI.  While their main business is doing industrial fiberglass and other fabrications for the Navy and others, the owner is an old friend of mine as he sold me and Brenda our first boat, a Legnos Mystic 20 Cape Cod Catboat.   We had a great time aboard “TAO” and cruising on that boat took us from Western Long Island Sound as far away as Nantucket.  This article from the Chesapeake Catboat Association shows photos of her sister ship Gull who was owned by our great friend Bill Hoover.  He did love that boat. Yikes, another digression, and a major one at that.  Back to LBI.  Along with the fabrication business, they have a terrific line of fiberglass and resin supplies. You can view this source to get an idea of these resin supplies.  Deb, in their customer service area, was a great help to me in making this project possible.

There are several fittings that will provide an inlet and outlet for the “stuff” to get into and out of the tank.  These fittings are fiberglass reinforced plastic and are bedded in several layers of fiberglass mat.  These guys aren’t going anywhere.

It’s good that I like this sort of work as these projects are time consuming.  However, as much as I like working on Pandora, I much prefer sailing and that’s likely to happen soon with warm weather just around the corner.

That’s all for now.

>I haven’t posted since December, first because I was so busy with the holidays, and second because I couldn’t get into the site.  Frankly, I often not sure what to writer about when Pandora’s not in the water.   Then I had password problems with the site.  I had difficulty with my password in early January there wasn’t anywhere to turn to solve the problem.  When I set this blog up 4 years ago I was using a different e-mail address which I don’t have access to anymore.  Well, tonight I was reading a friends blog (more about that later) and I decided to try and log on again.  After a few tries, I stumbled on the correct password.  I really don’t know why it didn’t work before as I thought I tried it.  However, clearly I didn’t.

Well, I’m back and I am becoming very excited about this coming sailing season aboard Pandora. For those of you who have read past posts, you are aware that I started a new business with a partner just over a year ago.  My goal was to continue to work but to be able to do so with less focus on “being in the office”.  With all the communications gear available these days, why not work aboard?

I am happy to say that things are going very well now and we are very busy.  While I fully expected year one to be really tough, and I wasn’t disappointed on that point, things have really picked up now and we are very busy.

That’s the good news.  The bad news is that it’s going to be a busy summer but at least I can continue to work aboard Pandora where I have set up an office complete with a cell booster, internet access and even a printer.

For this summer, the plan is to launch a few weeks before Memorial Day and head to Mystic CT where we have access to a mooring.  Our cruising plans through the end of June include eastern Long Island Sound, Block Island and the waters around Newport RI.    After that we will head up to Maine where we will be sailing through Labor Day.  There will probably be a few trips home to see clients, but it will mostly be a waterborne summer.  The big challenge for me will be keep up with the demands of work while being on the water.  Plenty of distractions from both, I am sure.

It’s been a busy winter or work on Pandora.  In spite of the really cold and snowy weather, I have been aboard Pandora for a day or two most weeks working on one project or another.

Here’s what I have been up to.

First.  I built a new spice rack behind the fridge.  I went to great pains to be sure that the cabinetry was exactly like what SAGA built elsewhere aboard which definitely slowed things down.  However, I am very pleased with how things came out.  This photo gives a good feel for how it’s situated.

I also purchased a new refrigeration system to augment the one that came with Pandora from the factory.  While the original unit was great for keeping food cool, it wasn’t really set up for sub-zero freezing.   This required the addition of a freezer box within the fridge compartment and a really powerful DC driven cold plate.   The system that came with the boat had three evaporator plates secured in an aluminum box (like you would expect to see in an old style small refrigerator).  In order to make the system work better for my new arrangement, I separated the plates from the box and secured them to the sides of the box.  This set up is a much more efficient use of space and will actually allow me to put more items in the fridge.  This means that we have one system for the fridge and another for the freezer compartment. Learn more about woodworking and how to get the perfect finish as the info is Continued here.

All and all, this is a much better arrangement.  You can see that the panels don’t take up much room at all.  Notice that they are secured in the top of the compartment so that they won’t come in contact with food which would cause freezer damage to delicate produce.  There’s a full foot of space below what you can see.  The good news is that SAGA put in 4 inches of insulation so I won’t be cooling the entire world when I crank this baby up.  However, this setup is still the biggest energy hog on the boat, by far. You can look at this site for more information on the procedure for insulation.

This shot shows the new freezer compartment, made of one inch of foam insulation sandwiched between two sheets of white plexiglass.  It’s just outboard from the fridge shown above.

You my be asking yourself how much power this will consume but fortunately, my solar panels put out loads of power so I expect to be able to turn things on when Pandora goes into the water and keep everything frozen all summer.  This is particularly notable given the fact that she’s always on a mooring or on the hook.  No shore power for Pandora, that’s for sure.

You can see here that the solar panels are indeed big.  At peak output I have seen 35amps.  Each panel is rated for 135 watts.  That’s 540 watts and no, I don’t understand the conversion from watts to AH into the batteries.   BTW, I have over 700AH of gel batteries so I have loads of capacity.  With the panels, I generally get over 100AH per day in northern climes which is plenty to run all the equipment on board.

We also purchased a hard bottom inflatable dink which will be somewhat heavier than our current tender so we had to have a more substantial davit system.  With this in mind, I have ordered a new radar arch/davit setup which will look like the one on Firecracker, sistership to Pandora.  You can see here that this is a much better system and one that I can operate from my electric cockpit winch when I want to put the tender into the water or pull it up.

You can see Pandora on the right and the other system on Firecracker.  The davit setup is very different and  I am very excited about this upgrade.

As they say “but wait, there’s more” as I am also making new holding tanks to replace the crummy aluminum ones that came with the boat.  I have never done fiberglass layup on a “large”, for me, project before but with good guidance I am very excited about this.  The tanks will be formed inside of melamine coated molds from 5 layers of 5oz fiberglass mat with vinylester resin coated, inside and out with two coats of gelcoat.  I am a bit anxious about the project and intend to tackle it this weekend.  Here’s one of the custom molds that I made.

Finally, I also needed a place to store cell phone, hand held VHF and my air horn so I built this nifty holder to go inside the companionway.  We will see if it gets in the way.  Time will tell on that one.

There are other projects but I will cover them later.

>One of my favorite places to visit in Maine is the island of McGlathery, located just under three miles south east of Stonington Maine.  Brenda and I have been visiting the island for nearly 20 years as we have explored many spots along the Maine coast.

Stonington and McGlathery are both located in Merchant Row, a collection of islands that were once a hotbed of granite quarries that were teeming with commerce prior to the introduction of concrete as a preferred building material.

While there are a number of sheltered anchorages in the area, McGlathery is one of my favorite because there is a cove on the northeast side of the island and a gently sloping beach that’s easy to land on.   This satellite photo of the island clearly shows the cove on the north east side and it’s well protected from the prevailing winds as well due to the tall pine trees covering the island.   The island is owned and managed by the Island Heritage Trust, a group that’s dedicated to preserving islands like McGlathery for all to enjoy.  The island is also a popular spot to visit with sea kayakers and is highly recommended by www.paddletrips.net.  Here’s a link to the specific part of their site about the island and features a good map of the area.  

Even though this photo was taken nearly 100 years ago, Stonington doesn’t look a lot different now than it did then.  However, there are a lot more boats in the harbor and they are nearly all lobster boats.   This link gives an interesting history of the area. 

 Nearby is also Crotch Island, named because of a slot in the middle of the island that makes it look like a pair of short pants. It is the only currently active quarry in the area and has supplied granite to many notable sites in the US.  In particular, it’s stone has been used in the George Washington Bridge, Kennedy memorial in Arlington as well as a recent installation in the New Yankee Stadium.  This is an interesting article about Yankee Stadium and Crotch Island’s involvement.   As I look at this photo of Stonington above I believe that it was taken from Crotch Island itself.

>In response to my last few posts, my friend Tom from Marblehead MA wrote me to suggest that I write about one of his favorite places to visit in Maine, Frenchboro.  It is indeed a great spot and one that I really like to visit as well.  Frenchboro is a great stopping place if you are headed east from the Boothbay area on your way to Bar Harbor.  It’s located just south of Swan island and is one of the outlying islands that is inhabited year round.

Frenchboro is the name of the town itself (the only one actually) and is located on the island of Long Island.  It’s quite remote and there’s no place to buy groceries or get fuel.  However, there is a great dockside restaurant where you can get a wonderful lobster dinner overlooking the harbor.  You can  even top off your meal with a great piece of wild Maine blueberry pie made there.  The town has a nice website that’s worth checking out.

Getting to Frenchboro is easy by boat but if you don’t have a boat you can still get there by ferry which runs a few times a week.  During the summer there is also a tour boat that goes out of Bass Harbor and includes a hike on the island.  To that point, while the island is small, there are a number of very nice walking paths that you can take to get a good feel for the island.

A considerable amount of work goes into keeping year round island life vital in Maine and Frenchboro is at the forefront of that effort.  The town has had an active homesteading effort to bring young families to the island over the years.  I expect that it’s not an easy place to live at any time, most specifically in the winter when access to the mainland is so limited.  According to Wickipedia, there are only 11 families living on the island.  I guess that’s the year round population as there are more than that many homes.  Living near New York, it’s hard for me to imagine what it would be like in the winter out there with only two ferry runs per week and about 10 families to hang out with . I’ll bet that the dynamics can get pretty interesting at times.  Need milk?  Actually, need beer?  The ferry from the mainland only runs twice a week year round and has an extra trip in the “warm” season. There’s a convenient link on their home page to the Maine State Ferry schedule. 

There is a great library on the island (given the sized of the population) and it’s worth making a stop to take a look around.  There are some local crafts for sale and it’s a nice place to hang out for a rest.  The also have a computer where you can check for your e-mail too.   If you want to learn more about this fascinating island and it’s rich history you should get a copy of the book Hauling by Hand, a history of the island and families that have lived there for ever.  This book was written by a member of the Lunt family from whom many of the inhabitants are a member or descend.   It’s well written and exhaustively researched.   If you love Maine, you will want to read this boo.  It is available from Amazon or you can visit the Frenchboro library and purchase a copy there. 

To say that this is a scenic place doesn’t begin to describe how beautiful the island and it’s homes are.  Unlike so much of the Maine coastal areas, most of the homes on the island are modest and many are occupied year round by fisherman.

Even the clutter on the island is scenic.  This is a particularly colorful pile of lobster buoys and such a contrast to the white painted homes.

The harbor is very well protected and has a real feel of old rural Maine in the architecture. 

You can rent a mooring for $25 in the outer harbor which is quite calm and very close to the town dock.   On top of that you will be treated to a fabulously peaceful view first thing in the morning.  It doesn’t get any better than this.

Yet another wonderful view.  What a contrast of red and green.   I am fairly certain that this photo was taken at Frenchboro.  So many wonderful photos.  The rest?  Yes, I am certain where they were taken.  Scout’s honor.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Frenchboro lobster festival which is held each August.  Brenda and I have not attended as there always seems to be a conflict with some other event that we want to attend.  However, I am told that it’s a great time and the one weekend of the year that the island really hops.  We hope to make it this year.   As I write this I wasn’t able to find any reference to a date for 2011. 

I can’t wait until spring and Pandora goes back in the water although that seems a very long way off right now as it’s only 34 degrees out right now.   At least I can write about the great places that we will visit.   Here’s to an early spring.

>Of all the harbors that I have visited in Maine, one of my favorite is Damarascove Island.  Just 5 miles south from Booth Bay Harbor.  The island is largely uninhabited and owned by the Boothbay Region Land Trust.   The only private residence on the island is the old coastguard life station located just inside of the mouth of the harbor.   There’s also a small cottage manned by a caretaker in the inner harbor that keeps watch on the island and visitors.  There’s also several floats moored in the inner harbor where local fishermen keep their extra lobster traps.

The coastguard station, located on the western point of the harbor mouth is really a wonderful structure and has been restored by it’s private owners.

The harbor is extremely narrow and opens to the south.  This would suggest that the harbor would be rough but that’s not the case as the very narrow entrance, which looks more narrow when you approach compared to this photo, is protected by rock ledges on both sides.   This shot of the island from the air shows the harbor on the lower left with the Coast Guard station to port as you enter from the south. 

As the harbor narrows toward the center of the island, there are a few moorings that you can pick up.  It’s really narrow and Pandora at 46′ overall nearly touches the shore when she swings.  For this reason, I pick up a second mooring to keep her in the center of the channel.  The moorings are located at the very narrowest part just before it opens up toward the most inner portion of the harbor.  This shot is of my last boat Elektra was taken a few years ago on a mooring in the inner harbor.  You can really see just how small the harbor is.

To the right of the photo is a public landing that’s used by visitors as a place to put your dinghy while going ashore.   There’s also a wonderful little one room museum overlooking the harbor that has interesting artifacts from the island’s history.

 There are well groomed trails that run all the way from the harbor to the most northern point of the island but some areas are closed off during nesting season so as to provide for more privacy for visiting common Eider ducks.

This is yet another shot of Elektra that I took a while back in the inner harbor and it gives you a great feel for just how isolated the harbor and island really are.  The light this day was particularly dramatic due to a passing thunder storm. 

Notice that there are only a few other boats anchored in the outer harbor, still protected from the waves in normal settled summer weather.   If you go there on a weekend expect to see a good number of day trippers.  However, on the weekends you can have the place to yourself.  Besides, if you arrive and it’s too crowded, it’s only a short distance to Booth Bay Harbor.

While Damarascove Island looks a bit intimidating on the chart, if you are looking for a bit of a challenge and are comfortable maneuvering your boat in tight quarters, I encourage you to visit this little gem, located just 5 miles off of the coast from Booth Bay Harbor Maine.  For more information about this and other great places to visit in Maine, the best book around for such information is the Taft Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast, available at many locations including Landfall Navigation.

Have you visited a harbor in Maine that you particularly like?  I’d be interested in knowing what you think.  Some have told me that they have had difficulty in posting a comment on my blog.  Please try it and let me know if you have difficulty.  I can also be reached at robertosbornjr@gmail.com

>With some of my friends headed south for the winter and the prospect of the coming months off of Pandora, I have been struggling with what to write about here.  I could certainly report on every move I make on planned upgrades to Pandora but that doesn’t make for very compelling reading.  The question of what to write about each week (yes, I know that I should post more often than that) is one that has been bugging me ever since I put Pandora up for the winter.  Actually, yesterday I did put the finishing touches on her with the cover in place and all systems winterized, which will allow me to focus on home and getting the yard cleaned up, etc, etc.

So the question now is what to write about.  Between scintillating posts about new freezer systems and other projects on Pandora what will be compelling to others.  Perhaps nothing but I have to do something.

Here’s an idea.   How about writing about some of my favorite harbors and what you might do while you are there if an when you visit?   Yea, that’s the ticket!.  Ticket or not, that’s what I am going to write about and  today will be the first post with that in mind.  As we go along over the next few months, I encourage you to provide your own suggestions and comments on places to visit or on what you think of the places that I highlight.

Perhaps a good place to start is to focus on where Pandora will be after she goes in the water in early May.  As she is now in Norwalk CT,  when she goes back in the water I will run her immediately back up to Mystic where she will spend a few weeks on my friend Kieth’s mooring.   There are a number of really fun harbors within a reasonable distance of Mystic.

One in particular worth noting, on the North Fork of Long Island and about 30 miles from Mystic, is Mattituck.  This harbor is the only one between Port Jefferson and Greenport on the north shore of Long Island.  On the chart the entrance and narrow channel looks daunting.  In fact, as you approach it from the north, it’s very hard to see and without a GPS coordinate to direct you, to the entrance, it’s very hard to even see the low gettys that mark the entrance.

This shot is taken near the mouth of the channel as you come in.  It’s very rural here.

Pandora draws just under 6′ and I have never had any trouble getting in, even at low water.  Once you enter the nearly two mile long channel, you feel like you have entered a time warp as the area is much more unspoiled than most harbors on Long Island.  The banks of the channel are largely undeveloped with only a few homes and marinas scattered along the banks that run several miles to the anchorage.

At the end of the channel there is an area to anchor (it looks a lot smaller on the chart than it is) with good holding an mercifully free of moorings, something that can’t be said for many other areas on Long Island Sound these days.

There is a public landing nearby where you can leave your dink and make the short walk into town.  One particular treat is that the landing boasts a small park, bathroom and even free showers. In all of my years of cruising I haven’t run into free showers elsewhere.

Brenda and I began visiting Mattituck back in the early 80s and hadn’t been back for many years.   It wasn’t until we purchased Pandora that we began visiting again.   Our most recent visit was on Memorial Day weekend in 2009 and we treated ourselves to a visit to a local winery.  

The North Fork of Long Island is loaded with vineyards and a few are within walking distance of the harbor.   On this visit we went to Shinn Vineyards, one of two vineyards located within the town of Mattituck.   Shinn is a wonderful place run by an enthusiastic couple Barbara Shinn and David Page.  Interestingly, Shinn is the only vineyard on Long Island that is biodynamic.  This means that they are even beyond organic but I will leave the explanation up to Wickipedia that features a good explanation of what it’s all about.  Needless to say, the prorpiators of Shinn are enthusiastic about this form of viniculture.   David also produces a really interesting weekly e-newsletter that you can sign up for.  I signed up when we visited and you can to at this link or at the “contact us” area on their home page.  However, David keeps a blog so you can read about what’s happening on the farm. Also, as a nice added feature, their wines are really good.

Shinn Vineyard is located in a really beautiful area of the North Fork of Long Island.  These shots don’t do the place justice.

And, across the street, the view is just as wonderful.  This is certainly a classic red barn shot.  Imagine waking up each morning to this view.

This is an interesting video that will give you a good feel for what Shinn is all about.  Barbara speaks at meetings around the country about her passion, biodynamic viniculture.   For more Shinn videos and lots of reviews of their wines check this out.

If you want to avoid a nearly two mile walk from the harbor to Shinn, you can also rent a car from Enterprise Car rental in Riverhead.  Enterprise will generally pick you up and drop you off when you return the car.  Just make sure that you plan your rental time around normal business hours.  When we were there Enterprise was not open on Sunday.  They can be reached at (631) 369-6300.

While Mattituck is a small rural community, there’s lots to do and it is really a great place to visit and one that Brenda and I will be putting
on our cruise itinerary early in the coming season.

We hope to see you there.  

>My good friend Roger headed out today from Hampton VA aboard his SAGA 43, Ilene.  Roger, along with some 75 boats and upwards of 350 sailors (on different boats of course), as there are five aboard Ilene, is participating in this year’s Caribbean 1500 cruising rally from Hampton VA to Tortola in the BVI.

After what will likely be a 10 day trip, Roger’s wife Ilene will join him in Tortola to begin a 5 month sailing trip through the warm tropical islands between the  BVI and Trinidad, just off the coast of Venezuela.

For those of you that want to watch the boats as they make their way South, you can follow them on this link as each boat (this link is to class 6) has a GPS transponder that “pings” a satellite about every 15 minutes to give a location speed and direction on this nifty chart.  To learn more about the rally, which they have been running for about 20 years, check this out.

I am so jealous of Roger and Ilene as they will be spending the winter in a great place aboard their boat and will have an opportunity to see places that most visit for a week or two.  To be able to spend 5 months.  DID I SAY 5 MONTHS SAILING IN PARADISE!, is just too much.

While most of us are putting antifreeze into our water tanks, they are headed to warmer climes.

After a week long delay due to a late season hurricane, it seems that the forecast was a go and they are on their way.  The forecast for the next few days is to provide strong NW winds which will speed them on their way south.

God’s speed to Ilene and the rest of the 2010 Caribbean 1500 participants.

You can follow Roger and Ilene’s travels aboard Ilene the Boat at www.ilenetheboat.blogspot.com.

I guess it’s time to go to work. Drat, no make that double drat.

>My good friends Roger and Ilene are headed aboard their SAGA 43, a boat just like Pandora, to Tortola beginning this week to begin a winter of sailing in the islands.  Actually, Ilene will fly to meet Roger there who will make the trip to Tortola with crew.  However, the plan is for them to spend from November to May island hopping their way south and if they like island living, to leave the boat in Trinidad for the summer while they head north and home for a few months prior to heading back for another winter season in the islands.  I have a number of friends that do this and it sounds like great fun.  

Roger has spent months getting his boat ready to participate in a cruising rally from Hampton VA to Tortola.  This rally is a big one with some 75 boats that will head south together.  Participating in a rally is a great way to get started with ocean sailing as it allows access to a weather router and other safety services and know how that most wouldn’t have access to as easily. 

I wish Pandora was on the participant list but that will have to wait a bit longer. Each winter I am doing projects to get the boat ready for long distance cruising.  What a great trip it would be to head to Tortola.  For now I will have to be content with armchair sailing along with Roger and Ilene aboard Ilene the Boat and their site http://www.ilenetheboat.blogspot.com/

You can follow their progress on the rally site.  This link shows all the classes and this one class 6 which is what Roger and Ilene’s boat Ilene is in.  The tracker shows that everyone is still in Hampton but they will likely leave soon so keep checking the site regularly.  At this point the key issue is to get a good weather window to begin the trip. The group, The Cruising Rally Association, that organizes this rally also has other events including Bahamas and an Atlantic crossing rally.  Their site is quite interesting as you can follow the boats as they make their way south.  Each boat is fitted with a GPS tracker that “pings” a satellite with their speed, direction and location about ever 15 minutes. .  I want to go sailing and all I can do is write about it now that Pandora is on the hard.  Bummer about that.  I can’t wait till May when she goes in the water again. 

There’s not much to report about Pandora right now except to say that she is in a boat yard in Norwalk CT and I am getting started on getting upgrades underway and her ready for the freezing weather that’s on the way.   It’s hard to find interesting ideas for posts when Pandora isn’t in the water but I will do what I can to keep to a weekly schedule.   Yesterday I began getting the frame fitted to hold her canvas cover that will keep water and ice off of the decks.

I don’t get many comments on my posts and yet see that I am getting visitors.  Who’s out there?  Leave a comment, please and tell me what you think.