On Friday, as I headed from Wickford RI toward the CT River, where Pandora will be hauled for the next few weeks prior to beginning my run south to the Caribbean for the winter, I was passing New London and heard something on the radio about a sub passing a tug in The Race.  Before I knew it, I saw this approaching me from port.   Or, was I approaching him?  Hmm…  In case you are wondering, he did show up on AIS, cruising at 9kts.   However, no info about size etc.   I guess the Navy doesn’t want their “silent service” guys to show up on everyone’s chart plotter.   It just wouldn’t do for a multi billion dollar sub to be spotted on a $400 AIS receiver, would it?Anyway, I turned to port and luffed to let him pass.   I surely didn’t want to head in front of him, pint size sailing boat right-of-way or not, and besides, the guys on the support boats looked plenty serious as they approached.  They weren’t smiling or waving HI as they passed, flack jackets, machine guns and all. I couldn’t believe how close they came to me, or was it me to them?   I would guess about 100 yards.  I am used to 1,000′ exclusion zone for military ships.   To get a shot of the whole boat I had to zoom my lens all the way out.  She was REALLY close. Just how close?  This close…I was wondering why a sub would sport a yellow “Q” or quarantine flag and when I posted some photos on Face Book I learned about that and more.  I got an amazing number of responses and someone noted that it was the state flag of New Mexico and that the sub, only the second warship in the history of the US Navy to be named so, was the USS New Mexico.  Someone else sent a link to the New London Day, with an announcement of the boat’s arrival.  Here’s a story and pictures of her arrival to an enthusiastic crowd.  She was just back from a tour of the North Atlantic covering 36,000 miles.  One of her “port” stops, about a year ago, on a previous tour, was at the North Pole.  They surfaced through the ice near where the Nautilus, the first atomic sub did so years ago.

This is a short video of her surfacing in March of 2014 at the North Pole.   The weather that day was a lot different than it was when she steamed by me on Friday off of her home port, New London.   With the North West Passage more open to shipping each year, compliments of global warming, I guess that the USA wanted to make it clear that we plan to be active in the Arctic.   While they were on the ice, they flew a New Mexico state flag that was later presented to the Medal of Honor Award recipient Hiroshi Miyamura, who received the recognition in 1951 for his valor in a battle during the Korean war. This moving description, which I have repeated below, of the actions that earned him the award is from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society website.

“Cpl. Miyamura, a member of Company H, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. On the night of 24 April, Company H was occupying a defensive position when the enemy fanatically attacked threatening to overrun the position. Cpl. Miyamura, a machine gun squad leader, aware of the imminent danger to his men unhesitatingly jumped from his shelter wielding his bayonet in close hand-to-hand combat killing approximately 10 of the enemy. Returning to his position, he administered first aid to the wounded and directed their evacuation. As another savage assault hit the line, he manned his machine gun and delivered withering fire until his ammunition was expended. He ordered the squad to withdraw while he stayed behind to render the gun inoperative. He then bayoneted his way through infiltrated enemy soldiers to a second gun emplacement and assisted in its operation. When the intensity of the attack necessitated the withdrawal of the company Cpl. Miyamura ordered his men to fall back while he remained to cover their movement. He killed more than 50 of the enemy before his ammunition was depleted and he was severely wounded. He maintained his magnificent stand despite his painful wounds, continuing to repel the attack until his position was overrun. When last seen he was fighting ferociously against an overwhelming number of enemy soldiers. Cpl. Miyamura’s indomitable heroism and consummate devotion to duty reflect the utmost glory on himself and uphold the illustrious traditions on the military service.”

Amazingly, Miyamura survived that day and was presented the award by President Eisenhower.   It was fitting that the flag, flown in the frigid North Pole winter be presented to Miyamura as he had endured a harsh winter as a POW, following his capture.  He survives to this day and is in his 90s.  I am sure that there are other MOH recipients who’s story is as compelling as this one but to see the New Mexico steam across Pandora’s bow, and to learn of this story, only improved what was a moving moment.

The USS New Mexico was commissioned in Newport News and is said to be the most advanced member of the Virginia Class of subs.  This is an interesting time lapse video of her being brought out of the shed and launched in Newport News.
One of the best parts of spending time on the water is seeing things that are totally unexpected and my “encounter” with the USS New Mexico certainly tops the list.  It was a treat for me and Pandora, thanks to some serious looking but tolerant guys with machine guns and flak jackets in fast black boats,  to spend some “quality time” with such a remarkable vessel.  For inquiring minds, like yours. Here’s  link to the “official” USS New Mexico site. 

It won’t be long until Pandora heads into Hampton Roads, near where the sub was built as I join up with other Dawgs preparing to run in the Salty Dawg Rally to Virgin Gorda in early November.

As I write this I realize just how short the time until Pandora begins her 2015-2016 “tour” so I’d better sign off and get to work.

It’s Friday morning and Pandora is heading from Wickford to Deep River to be hauled for a few weeks while I work on her to get ready to make the trip south. While most folks are just about ready to haul their boats for the winter, now that the iron doors of summer are about to close (this weekend is Labor Day), I am trying to get everything ready for our run south and a winter of sailing.

My list, and it’s a long one, includes painting her bottom and finishing up a lot of little details like adding more LED lights as well as trying to settle on the proper propeller.  The one that is on the boat is very nice if a bit over pitched for the engine.  That means that I can’t get a lot of RPM out of it when I am in a pinch.  Yes, it makes for good speed and fuel economy but I can’t get extra HP out of her when I need to.  Anyway, the boat once had an Autoprop but the previous owner took it off because he says that it damaged not one but two transmissions.  I put one on my last boat and was really happy with it so I’ll have to see what I can do.   Fortunately, the owner still has the Autoprop and agreed to send it to me.  Of course, I don’t want to risk a wrecked transmission but it’s something that needs to look into.   I should have the other prop soon and will consider what to do next.  The good news is that I can always take the Autoprop off and put the old one back on, if I decide that I don’t want it, even when the boat is in the water.  It’s not simple but can be done.  More to come on that.

I am also having the backstay split with isolators so that the stay can serve as an antenna for the SSB radio.  I am really looking forward to having the SSB back in service.  I miss hearing the weather router Chris Parker and also participating in the morning nets.

As I write this I am approaching PT Judith and will soon turn west toward the CT River and home.  The wind is from the NNE and blowing between 15-20kts so it will be behind me for the whole run and I should make good time.   The current at Watch Hill won’t be with me when I arrive there but at least I’ll be going fast and should still make decent time and get home today in time for dinner.

We are really making time and moving along at better than 8kts with just about 10kts apparent wind on a dead run, wing and wing with the main and jib, a good speed by any measure.   And that’s with a slimy bottom as things foul up pretty fast in August in Wickford with warm still water.

Yesterday I visited Rodger Martin, the designer of Pandora, at his office at Newport Shipyard and enjoyed hearing about some of his current projects.   He’s a very nice guy and clearly loves talking about boats.   I particularly loved hearing his South African accent. I was interested to learn that he designed the newest Outward Bound open boats that we have seen up in Maine.  They are open boats and clearly not comfortable like Pandora.  However, they serve the program well give the “find yourself” and “getting back to nature” focus of the Outward Bound programs.    It was fun to see a computer rendering of one of the boats on the wall in Rodger’s office.We talked a bit about the process of designing the Aerodne 47 and I was surprised to learn that it has the smallest sail to displacement ratio of any boat that he has designed.  In spite of having a modest sail plan, the boat is very fast and stable.  That’s good and particularly appealing to Brenda.

This launch has a gas turbine which weighs about 1/3 of a diesel of similar power.   That, combined with carbon fiber construction, makes for a very fast launch.  The bad news is that it sucks gas at a horrifying rate.  Well, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.  And, as the launch is a tender to a big yacht, he’s probably not asking. Rodger has a passion for fast sailboats and has a long history of designing ocean crossing racing yachts.  This prototype, designed to show proof of concept for a larger version to challenge the clipper ship record from New York to San Francisco, sure looks like it can make tracks.  Look at the keel canted out to weather.  I wonder what happens if the wind suddenly shifts or dies?   With all that weight out on the end of that long keel, the result would surely get your attention.After my time with Rodger I couldn’t resist walking the docks at the shipyard to enjoy the view.    Bolero, the iconic ocean racer, is always a head turner.  What nice lines.  Pandora has at least one thing in common with her.  They both have inflatable dinks.
I asked Rodger why he felt that folks were moving away from sailing and into power boats.  His answer was interesting as he thinks that the designs today have moved away from boats that can sail well in light air so most find themselves motoring everywhere.  That’s an interesting perspective and I expect that there is some truth to that.  It’s clear that Pandora doesn’t suffer from that problem.   NIce design Rodger!

Speaking of fast, this sleek cold molded ocean racer, quite a contrast to Bolero, looks like it’s screaming along, even while she’s tied to the dock.  The carbon mast and boom are a deep burgundy.  Take a gander at the port holes cut out in patterns.  It’s like a floating piece of art.   However, Brenda would notice right away that there isn’t a dodger, a non-starter for her, self described “sailing cream puff” that she is. Love the open transom. I saw Crossbow sailing off of Newport the other day. This isn’t a boat for a casual afternoon sail.   I wonder where she will be headed when they finish fitting her out. Don’t loose your balance or you’ll slip right out of the open transom.The carbon bow sprit seems to be adjustable.  What a piece of engineering.A lot of hardware for the 1% folks moored here.To cap off a great day in Newport a friend treated me to lunch at the NYYC Harbor Court.  This was the long time home of the Brown family, of Brown University fame.

There are amazing gardens out back.  Love the lotus growing in the pond.   The flowers are as large as a basket ball. These water lilies have leaves that are about 2’-3’ across. Love the view from the reflecting pond to the club house.  Can you imagine living here when it was a private home?As I finish up this post, I have rounded Pt Judith, with 15-20kts on my beam and am moving along really well, at almost 10kts.  It’s pretty amazing and I don’t even have a reef in and the heel is only about 10 degrees.    At this rate, I should be to Watch Hill Passage in less than two hours.   Amazing.

Anyway, things are going to get very busy with Pandora on the hard for the next few weeks.  With the summer sailing season drawing to a close and winter just around the corner, there’s lots to do.

End of  the season or the beginning?  Sunny Caribbean, here I come.  Well, that’s if I can get everything done.

I think I can, I think I can…

It’s Tuesday morning and Pandora is all alone up in Wickford.  I’ll be rejoining her later this week for a run back to Deep River where she will be hauled for a few weeks.  I’ll be getting her ready for the run to Annapolis then to Hampton VA and ultimately on to Virgin Gorda and our winter of sailing in the Caribbean.  I am getting excited about the coming months but have to say that all the details of getting ready to go and prepare a “new” boat for such a run is a bit daunting.

Crew is lined up already so there will be four of us running Pandora south from Hampton in early November.  So, how would you like to be near Cape Hatteras in early winter?  Hmm…

Anyway, it’s too early to be talking much about warmer climes when it’s still plenty warm here in New England.

Since Brenda and I returned from our week long run up to Nantucket we have been aboard again for a weekend with my old college friend Tom and his wife Lisa. We just spent only a short time together but it was a lot of fun and nice to catch up again.

I also hosted some folks aboard Pandora for an afternoon sail around Newport recently as part of a fund raiser for the CT River Museum.  I have been volunteering there for the last year and am enjoying it a great deal.  Here is a shot of my friend Rodney, able crew, at the wheel as well as our guests for the day.  We had a great time.  I have mentioned that Pandora has AIS, both a receiver and transponder, and I am still getting used to knowing that she shows up on other folks plotters as other AIS equipped boats do on mine.  It’s a nice feature and a great way to increase safety.

It’s nice to be seen.  As an added feature, you can see me on any service that tracks AIS, even on your smart phone.  I chose to install “Marine Traffic” on my iphone and.  So, as I write this post, this is a screen shot of Pandora in Wickford Harbor. Pretty neat.
If that’s not cool enough, how about the track from my day of sailing with Rodney and the gang.  It’s the first time that I have ever “day-sailed” out of Newport.  We had perfect wind and covered a lot of ground, over 40 miles in an afternoon.The program has some nice features including “my fleet” where you can choose to track specific vessels anywhere they are, world wide.  Pandora is in my “fleet” and I signed up to get an email message when she leaves or arrives in a harbor.  As we sailed around Newport my phone was buzzing “Pandora has arrived” and “Pandora has departed” all day long.  Anyway, I thought it was pretty neat.

Speaking of Newport, Brenda and I visited Newport Shipyard,  THE home for megayachts in Newport, on our last visit and walked around the yard enjoying the sights.  I particularly enjoyed seeing Vendetta, Billy Joel’s 57′ commuter yacht.   She’s a beauty with her barrel back stern.  She’s been for sale for a number of years and is listed at a cool $1,295,000.  Pocket change…  Speaking of singers. I’d like to listen to the VHF radio and hear “Elvis has left the room” no make that the harbor.  I wonder what the owner was thinking when he or she decided to name their cat “Elvis”.  She’s a regular fixture in the marina as we have seen her here before. There’s no end to the beautiful yachts in Newport.  Most are huge but some, like this small Carriacou sloop, are just beautiful, if not big.  These sloops, most not nearly as yachty as this one, are natives to the island in the Caribbean near Grenada.  Perhaps we’ll see some of these boats over the winter. Brenda and I also visited this wonderful little print shop in a residential area of Newport, “The Third & Elm Press.  The owner, who’s been there a really long time, makes prints and cards the old fashioned way using equipment that’s well over 100 years old.  There is nothing “modern” about this place.   I don’t think that she takes “Apple Pay”.You don’t see printing presses like this every day.  Not a great picture but you, well, you get the picture…I have walked past this spot hundreds of times over the years but never entered.  The Seamen’s Church Institute.  This place has a long history of helping seafarers in Newport.  These days “help” is in the form of showers and a spot to sit and reflect or at least relax away from the bustle of downtown Newport.   I understand that they also have rooms for rent.  Neat spot. They have a wonderful area to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee. And a really nice library. There’s even a modest collection of ship models.  All of vessels associated with Newport.  How about this torpedo boat?  I always like cut-away models. Even though I have been to Newport many times over the years, I never tire of seeing the sights.  I won’t be back to Newport by boat again till next summer but I will surely enjoy yet another visit soon as it’s surely Pandora’s kind of town.

Speaking of soon, soon will come soon enough as I am visiting with Rodger Martin at his office in Newport later this week.  Rodger designed Pandora so it will be fun to to learn more about his work and hopefully get some good info for a post.  Stay tuned.

Well, time’s up and the day is not getting any younger.  Time to wrap this up.

More to come…

Having a locked jaw, or what experts call temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), can be a real pain, quite literally. It’s when the joint right in front of your ears, on either side of your head, decides it doesn’t want to open or close smoothly. It can happen for various reasons, like stress, grinding your teeth, or even an injury. But don’t worry, there are ways to ease the discomfort and unlock that stubborn jaw.

I started by giving my jaw some well-deserved rest. No more excessive chewing, gum, or tackling foods that demanded too much jaw action. Instead, I stuck to softer foods like soups and mashed potatoes to avoid straining my jaw. One of the things that brought me relief was a warm compress. It works like a charm in relaxing those tight jaw muscles and reducing the pain. Just soak a clean cloth in warm water, then press it against your jaw for about 15-20 minutes a few times a day.

To help loosen things up, I tried some gentle jaw exercises. I started with slow and controlled jaw movements, like gradually opening and closing my mouth or gently moving my jaw from side to side. No forcing, though! When things got painful, I turned to non-prescription pain relievers like ibuprofen or acetaminophen. They were a temporary but welcome solution to deal with the pain and inflammation.

I also made it a point to figure out what triggered my jaw pain. Stress, teeth clenching, or even habits like nail-biting were big culprits. So, I explored stress-reduction techniques like meditation and yoga to keep those triggers at bay. Then, I paid a visit to my dentist to rule out any dental issues linked to my locked jaw. They suggested a dental splint or mouthguard to curb teeth grinding and clenching, common causes of TMJ.

In more severe cases, I consulted a physical therapist. They gave me exercises and techniques to boost jaw mobility. Sometimes, they’d use TMJ and TMD treatments like ultrasound therapy or manual manipulation to ease the tension in my jaw muscles. When things got really tough, my doctor or dentist prescribed muscle relaxants or corticosteroid injections. These helped reduce inflammation and gave me some relief.

In addition, braces are one of the most common and effective treatments for TMJ. If TMJ is caused by issues with your bite, straightening your teeth and aligning your jaws with braces can be the solution. Orthodontic treatment with the help of an orthodontist can adjust how your teeth are aligned relative to each other on both of your jaws, eliminating TMJ pain.

If nothing else worked, there was surgery, although it’s usually a last resort. Procedures like arthrocentesis or arthroscopy could be considered for more severe cases of locked jaw.

I learned that keeping up with good oral hygiene can prevent conditions that lead to TMJ disorders. Regular dental check-ups, addressing dental issues promptly, and maintaining good oral habits go a long way in reducing the risk. If you’re facing persistent or worsening symptoms of a locked jaw like I did, it’s crucial to reach out to a healthcare professional. They can help pinpoint the cause and recommend the best treatment plan tailored to your needs. With a little patience and consistent care, you’ll likely be on your way to unlocking your jaw’s full potential and finding relief from the discomfort.

It’s Thursday morning and Pandora is anchored, for my second visit this summer, here in Nantucket.  Brenda and I arrived on Monday after a two day run from Stonington CT with a stop in Cuttyhunk.   As I mentioned in a recent post, Brenda and I have not been to Nantucket together by boat for many years so it’s good to be back. On our first visit, back when we were, shall I say “less mature” and boat was oh-so-much-smaller, our only way to get ashore was in a pathetic inflatable canoe we not-so-affectionately called “the green bean”.    Now, with our Caribe dink and powerful outboard, we can make it all the way to town without getting wet.  That’s a big improvement over our first visit here so many years ago.

Speaking of wind, there wasn’t quite enough wind for our run from Stonington to Cuttyhunk and the bottom was pretty nasty after two months of inattention, so under power Pandora was pretty sluggish and acted more like a heavy SLOW cruising boat than what I am getting used to.

We anchored in the bight outside of the harbor in Cuttyhunk and spent time with friends with them on their boat nearby.  It was a lot of fun.  I was particularly amused by this sight of “two men in a tub”, a very small and LOW TO THE WATER dink that went by.  They were getting soaked and the guy in the bow was pulling furiously on the painter with the hope of keeping some of the water out. Brenda wouldn’t have liked that at all.    It reminded us both of our “green bean”, only ours was even worse. Anyway, Pandora’s slimy bottom was calling, so I bit the bullet on Monday at Cuttyhunk and went for a swim to clean the bottom.  WOW!  What a mess.  It’s hard to say exactly how much slime there was but I’d say that there she was sporting an 1/8” to ¼” of “nasty” over her entire bottom.  The first layer was fresh water slime from her short visit in the CT River and after a few weeks in Wickford, salt water slime grew on the now dead FW slime.  Yuck…

I normally use a coarse Scotch Brite Pad to clean but that didn’t work as it just loaded up and pushed around the slime without actually taking if off.  I ended up using a scraper and then the pad, for two hours.  I was bushed.  Thanks to the hooka compressor, I was able to do the entire job without stopping.

Anyway, after that cleaning, even though it wasn’t a perfect job, we caught the tide past Martha’s Vineyard and on to Nantucket.  We carried the flood most of the way to Nantucket but were bucking about a knot of tide by the end.  However, with nice 15 kt breeze on a close reach, against the tide, we were still doing better than 8kts, over the bottom, for much of the trip.  It as a great ride.  And, as this was the first long run that Brenda’s done with me, she was very happy that Pandora’s heel was a comfortable 12-15 degrees.

As we approached Nantucket in the afternoon, some lovely old wooden boats and a few old 12 meter America’s Cup boats passed us heading west after participating in the Opera House Cup, a race for wooden and classic boats, that previous weekend.  I particularly liked seeing this Herreshoff NY30, a classic designed as a one-design class for the NYYC back in the 30s, I think.There is a lovely Friendship Sloop that gives rides in the harbor, several times a day. We enjoyed watching her sail by in the evenings.I particularly enjoyed this beautiful expedition yacht anchored nearby.  What lovely lines. We walked around town PLENTY on this visit.  At the end of the day my “dogs were aching”.  It was fun to see the sights.  I enjoyed watching this gentleman painting on Main Street.  We also visited the “oldest house”.  How old? Well, it was really old and to live in it would have been as rough as heading across the harbor in our old green bean dink.  Pretty though.  On a mooring nearby was Linx, a lovely schooner from Portsmouth NH.  She fired off an impressive cannon at sunset.  Quite a sound and lots of white smoke.  Fun. Speaking of sunsets.  We were treated to several wonderful ones while we were here.  After so many years of sailing New England waters, it is fun to be back in Nantucket.  And, with their hugely expensive mooring fees, we can now anchor and make it ashore dry and comfortable with our good dink and 15hp engine.  It’s nice to have “arrived” with at least a dink that can get us there without getting soaked along the way.

Today we will head to Edgartown for a day and then begin in earnest our run to Wickford by the weekend.  Happily, the winds remain favorable for the run back with SE forecasted for the next few days.

I guess that I’d better wrap this up or we won’t make it to Edgartown in time to enjoy the sights today.