{"id":10015,"date":"2019-07-31T06:05:09","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T11:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=10015"},"modified":"2019-07-31T06:05:09","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T11:05:09","slug":"not-in-maine-but-not-so-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=10015","title":{"rendered":"Not in Maine but not so bad."},"content":{"rendered":"

We left Newport yesterday and are now in Wickford.\u00a0 Yesterday morning we were greeted with our first fog of the season, perhaps more than anything, a reminder that we are NOT IN MAINE, as planned.\u00a0 Yes, the headliner, the cause of our delay, is mostly done but not perfect yet.\u00a0 Stay tuned for more on that ongoing saga.<\/p>\n

So, back to the fog.\u00a0 \u00a0This was the view that greeted me yesterday morning just after sunrise.\u00a0 The shore was a lot closer than this photo suggests.\u00a0 The fog was short lived and burned off as the sun rose.\u00a0\"\"We\u2019ve been on the move for about a week now, with a short visit to Maine (by car) where I gave a talk at the Camden Yacht Club about cruising the southern Caribbean.\u00a0 Our visit was brief, only two days, and we stayed with our cruising friends Tom and Jane of Bravo, who we first met in Bequia, the winter before last.\u00a0 They were very gracious hosts and we loved staying in their charming home, snug in Camden village.<\/p>\n

On our first morning, Tom and I braved the light rain, making the short walk to the waterfront to take in the sights.\u00a0 With the Camden Classics being held that week, there were many beautiful boats in the harbor, with more on the way as the week progressed, promising some 80 beautiful \u201ctemples to sail\u201d in attendance by the weekend.<\/p>\n

This boat, Belle Adventure from London, built in 1929 and designed by the legendary Fife, is a lot older than she looks.\u00a0 Note the canvas covering her bright work that will stay in place until the owner shows up.\u00a0 It’s a lot more economical, relatively speaking, to build canvas covers than to renew the varnish.\u00a0 Out of the UV of the sun, the varnish will keep fresh longer. \"\"She has lovely lines and is probably in better shape than when she was launched so many years ago.\u00a0 \u00a0I’m pretty sure I have seen her before, perhaps in Antigua. \"\"It was painful to know that I would miss all the action of the regatta as we had to head back home the next day.<\/p>\n

This much varnish clearly makes the point “I can afford it!”.\u00a0 You will never see a yacht with this much perfect varnish that isn’t maintained by an owner, ast least one that actually sails their boat.\u00a0 \u00a0Interestingly, this boat was built only a few years ago and is modern in every way.\u00a0 This sort of boat, looking like a classic and yet sporting a modern under body and rig, is called “spirit of tradition”.\u00a0 \"\"Camden harbor is perhaps my favorite harbor anywhere.\u00a0 It’s terribly quaint.\u00a0 Being here reminds me of so many fun cruises to Maine in years past.
\n\"\"There is a babbling brook at the head of the harbor, and it was babbling away as expected.\u00a0 I can recall time years ago when we were in this harbor when we had a huge summer downpour and the babbling become a roar. \"\"All of the traffic that heads for points east has to wind itself through the impossibly quaint center of town.\u00a0 The buildings evoke an earlier, simpler time.\u00a0 Well, it probably wasn’t simpler but that’s what we all say.
\n\"\"This is the Camden Yacht Club.\u00a0 They host a “summer speaker series” with guest speakers, sometimes twice a week, on all sorts of topics.\u00a0 I was thrilled to be invited to speak here as we’ve been coming to this friendly club for many years.\u00a0 Our host Tom, was my sponsor and invited me to speak.\u00a0 \u00a0I really enjoyed the evening.
\n\"\"This view from the club, of the aptly named “Camden Hills” is beautiful in the afternoon light.\u00a0\"\"Over the winter I had also organized an event with another group that I am a member of, the Corinthians, their summer cruise wrap-up dinner at the ApprenticeShop in Rockland.\u00a0 \"\"However, as I didn’t make it to Maine with Pandora, we weren’t able to stay and participate in the dinner.\u00a0 Just to be sure that all was in proper order for the event, we visited the shop and met with my contact Liz and the caterer Jenn.\u00a0 I was sad that I wouldn\u2019t be a part of the event that weekend but wanted to be sure that all was set.\u00a0\u00a0 Reports were that it came off well.\u00a0 No surprise there as Liz and Jenn seemed to be quite buttoned down.<\/p>\n

Liz gave us a tour of the shop, where some lovely boats were being built.\u00a0 The lines on this lapstrake rowing boat are sweet.\u00a0\"\"We were told that this boat, once completed, will be shipped to Europe.\u00a0 There are a number like this being built at different shops, some in the US and some in Europe, to the same design, and they will all race together when they are completed, I think in Scotland. \"\"The ApprenticeShop is a place where students can enroll to learn a trade in wooden boat building and they have been successful over the years, with many graduates moving on to full time work in the business.\u00a0 I understand that it is possible for \u201cmature\u201d folks, like me, to take a two month intensive course as well and that sounds like a great idea for down the road.\u00a0 It\u2019s not an inexpensive endeavor but you do get to take home a small completed rowing or sailing boat, which would be fun. \u00a0\u00a0Something to think about.<\/p>\n

After our whirlwind Maine adventure, we headed back to CT and Pandora to get ready for the arrival of our friends Karyn and George who were joining us for a few days of of sailing.\u00a0 Originally, the plan was to rendezvous in Rockland but after bagging that destination, we agreed to have them come to Essex and spend a few days exploring before winding up our adventure yesterday in Wickford.<\/p>\n

Our first stop from Essex was a short distance to Fisher\u2019s Island, west harbor.\u00a0\u00a0 Fisher\u2019s is an exclusive and mostly private island but you can go ashore and do some exploring.\u00a0 The Fisher\u2019s Island Yacht Club is always welcoming and we tied up at their dock.\u00a0 \"\"Interestingly, I had been introduced to the commodore of the club at the Essex Yacht Club the night before.\u00a0 He and commodores of a number of other clubs were visiting with our own Commodore Klin for dinner.<\/p>\n

As you’d expect, being late July and all, it was plenty hot in the afternoon and the girls went in for a dip.\u00a0 They reported that it was bracing at first, and then quite pleasant.\u00a0 I guess it was as they stayed in for a long time. \"\"The prevailing winds in the NE are generally from the SW in the summer but, as luck would have it, not, the wind was blowing directly from the SE and Block Island, our destination.\u00a0\u00a0 After a frustrating few hours tacking toward Block and waiting for the expected southerly shift, I gave up and turned on the motor.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0We picked up the Essex Yacht Club mooring which was open.<\/p>\n

Along the way, as we went through The Race, the narrow cut that marks the eastern end of Long Island Sound, we were passed by a ferry.\u00a0 Knowing if approaching ships were on a collision course has always been a source of anxiety for us but as Pandora now sports an AIS transponder, we were able to see the name of the ferry, contact the captain who said he’d pass us to our stern.\u00a0 AIS is one example of how technology can indeed make life better, and in this case, way less anxiety producing.\u00a0 \"\"Snug in Great Salt Pond, we were treated to a perfect sunset.\u00a0 \"\"The Essex Yacht Club maintains a few guest moorings in popular harbors and it is a real treat to go into the harbor and pick up a mooring for \u201cfree\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 I say that as the rental moorings in Block are always full and there is a mad scramble to get one when a boat leaves, with those waiting in the wings zooming up with their dinks to claim their prize.<\/p>\n

This old Navy tug has been someone’s home for many years.\u00a0 \u00a0Legend has it that the owner, when he purchased the tug years ago, sold the thousands of gallons of fuel in the tanks, yielding almost as much as he paid for the boat.\u00a0 True story?\u00a0 Who knows, but it’s fun to tell. \"\"We were joined by our friends George and Bonnie and the six of us rented a van for the day and toured the island.\u00a0 One of our stops was the North Light, a beautiful spot at the end of the most northern spot on the island.\u00a0 In the distance, on a clear day,\u00a0 you can see Point Judith. \"\"On the south east side, the now famous, and to some infamous, wind mills, the first of their kind in US waters.\u00a0 I, for one, hope that they put out many more in the coming years.<\/p>\n

These are huge, some 600′ tall from the seabed to the tip of their rotors.\u00a0 Check out the sailboat on the right for scale.\u00a0 We were told that the 5 generators in the “farm” put out enough power to serve some 17,000 homes.\u00a0 \"\"Along the way we visited, as you’d expect given the fact that Brenda and Karyn are knitters, a fiber store near a farm with all sorts of exotic animals including camels, emus and, well, other animals, a few in bronze.\u00a0 Brenda and Karyn have been friends for many years.\u00a0 This coming week Brenda will travel to Cape Cod to spend a week with Karyn who’s hosting a workshop. \"\"Beginning with a visit to rural Fisher’s and then on to the summer hot-spot of Block what better next stop could there be than Newport, home to so many beautiful yachts.\u00a0 We enjoyed a stroll downtown followed by dinner ashore and then a harbor tour on our way out of the harbor yesterday.\u00a0 I am always blown away by the scale of some of these yachts.\u00a0 Even more amazing is how much of their time they spend tied up at in a marina.\u00a0 It’s a small world and I have seen this one before. \"\"A somewhat more diminutive but still big yacht.\u00a0 \"\"We passed Harbor Court, the Newport home of the NY Yacht Club, once the summer home of the Brown family that founded Brown University.\u00a0 The family made their money running opium to China in the clipper ship days.\u00a0 I expect that the family doesn’t like to be reminded about that sordid little detail in polite company these days.\u00a0 Somehow that little bit of history doesn’t seem to attract the same justly deserved animosity as the current problems facing the Sackler family, the makers of Oxycontin that has fueled the tragic opioid epidemic.\u00a0 Forgive the starboard list as I was snapping shots while dodging moorings in a crowded harbor.\u00a0 \u00a0\"\"As a side note, Pandora will serve as “tender” to another boat on next week’s NYYC\u00a0 Cruise next week and I’ll be attending the opening event of the week at Harbor Court next weekend.\u00a0 Stay tuned for more on all that.<\/p>\n

As we made our way through the harbor I was struck by this family swimming off of their classic motoryacht.\u00a0 What fun and said “summer” to me. \"\"So here I sit, the sun is just peaking up over the horizon in scenic Wickford.\u00a0 Not a bad view to begin the day.\u00a0 Yes, I know, that starboard list again.\u00a0 It was 05:00 and I hadn’t had my first cup of coffee yet.\u00a0\"\"It’s nice to be aboard again and on the move.\u00a0 Yes, it’s not Maine but it’s not so bad.<\/p>\n

It’s going to be hot today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We left Newport yesterday and are now in Wickford.\u00a0 Yesterday morning we were greeted with our first fog of the season, perhaps more than anything, a reminder that we are NOT IN MAINE, as planned.\u00a0 Yes, the headliner, the cause of our delay, is mostly done but not perfect yet.\u00a0 Stay tuned for more on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10015"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10043,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10015\/revisions\/10043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}