I won’t have time to put \u00a0the new panel aboard for a week or more but it will be good to have it nearby so I can get started installing it soon. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Anyway, enough of the “gotta do list” for now.<\/p>\n Last weekend was great fun as \u00a0good friend of mine Craig, came up to spend some time aboard Pandora. \u00a0He arrived late on Thursday night so we could leave early on Friday morning to head over to Sag Harbor. \u00a0Sag has some of the most expensive moorings of any place you’d want to visit so it’s good that our club has two moorings there and we picked up one. \u00a0Last time I visited there the moorings were $2\/ft of boat length and frankly I won’t pay that just to tie a rope to my boat for the night. \u00a0However, club mooring available. \u00a0Off to Sag Harbor.<\/p>\n There wasn’t any wind at all so we motored the whole way there. \u00a0That’s OK as it was a very pretty day. \u00a0Sag Harbor is the only reasonable harbor in The Hamptons so it’s pretty pricey and not that friendly to small boats. \u00a0They are used to the likes of folks like the singer Billy Joel. \u00a0He keeps his boat Alexa there. \u00a0I am sure that he has many boats but this is a particularly nice one. \u00a0 I had read somewhere that the average time someone owns a mega-yacht is something like three years. \u00a0They either get bored with the boat and want to build another, likely bigger one, or are horrified with the cost of managing a yacht and sell it.<\/span><\/p>\n Well, Sag Harbor is a beautiful place and it’s clear that folks there have the income to support some pretty aggressive “cycling” through expensive possessions. \u00a0 Everything there is meticulously maintained. \u00a0How about this hedge? Look at the dental work on this home. \u00a0What a paint job. \u00a0 Overnight the wind filled in from the SW and we had a fabulous sail from Sag to Block Island, a run of about 35 miles Sunday.<\/p>\n Pandora really excels in not a lot of wind as this shot shows, if you can see beyond the glare of the light.\u00a0 As we approached Block the wind had freshened to nearly 20kts and the fog dropped in on us like a cotton wool blanket. \u00a0We could only see perhaps 150 yards. I thought that I was going to have to pick my way into the harbor, buoy to buoy but as we got to within a 1\/4 mile of the entrance we passed out of the fog as if emerging from behind a curtain. \u00a0Within a hundred yards we went from visibility you could measure in feet to being able to see for miles. \u00a0It was pretty eerie.<\/p>\n Once in the harbor it took quite a while but eventually we found the club mooring and picked it up. \u00a0There were hundreds of empty moorings but we had to pick up one in particular as the harbor master would have shooed us off of any one what we didn’t have permission to use. \u00a0I know this as it’s happened to me in the past.<\/p>\n We headed ashore for a walk and took in the sights. \u00a0I really like Block Island although it’s very different than Sag. \u00a0The property here is very pricey as well but the environment is a lot more casual. \u00a0There is an old hotel in town that is quite a spot.\u00a0![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/6-2-15a-010.jpg\" "\\"6-2-15a")
<\/a>I have seen her before and it’s nice to see that someone with money keeps boats for a while instead of cycling through them like just one more disposable possession. \u00a0 This is a link to an article<\/a> about the boat that ran some time back. She’s a very unique vessel. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>To keep a garden up like this would certainly require someone who keeps a “hedge fund”. \u00a0Get it, a hedge fund? \u00a0“Yes, Bob, cute but pretty lame.”<\/p>\n<\/a>The streets were lined with every manner of restored old homes and all in perfect condition.\u00a0<\/a>The plantings in this yard were stunning if a bit overwhelming. \u00a0Love the trimmed trees. \u00a0I guess you’d need a cherry picker to keep trees this big in perfect pruned shape.\u00a0<\/a>The iconic American Hotel<\/a> on main street is a great spot to have lunch. \u00a0I say lunch as dinner would be way beyond my pay grade. \u00a0 Check out the site, they don’t even publish their rates on the site. \u00a0I guess if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. \u00a0And don’t forget to book an outing on the hotel’s yacht.\u00a0<\/a>We visited a local cheese shop and got a bottle of wine for dinner and ate aboard. \u00a0 What a beautiful place to spend time.<\/p>\n<\/a>It’s remarkable to be making these sorts of speeds with so little wind. \u00a0To sail at half the apparent wind speed is very good performance. \u00a0I had the code “0” and main up and, she was hardly heeling.<\/p>\n<\/a>We also stopped at the “Oar” a well known bar overlooking the harbor. \u00a0The view from the bar commands the entire harbor. Pandora’s in the middle of the shot, just to the left of what looks like an island in the distance. \u00a0The dark hull. \u00a0<\/a>This early in the season there wasn’t anyone there. \u00a0 Just wait a month and every mooring will be occupied. \u00a0I expect that weekends are already booked for much of the summer at the dock.<\/p>\n