I HATE SHOES

Today, I feel, will mark the beginning of the summer in my eyes. I awoke this morning to the harbormaster knocking on my boat and yelling down my open companionway. She was friendly enough, and apparently has no problem with my staying at anchor for the entire summer. The only issue I have a qualm about is the pump out requirement. Apparenty, if questioned, I have to provide proof that I have had my head tank pumped out weekly, but I don't think I could produce an entire tank full of waste in a week if I tried. I gave her my contact info and she went on her way. It is also blissfully warm. Shorts and flip flops are in full use, and sleeping rarely requires any blanket at all. The breeze on the water at night is perfect and with the hatches open the air sweeps through Winchelsea. The anchorage is filling quickly now, with half a dozen new boats that have arrived in the past two days. One of these is Green, the captain on Aquidneck, and his family of a wife and two daughters on their...

Some locals have told me that this spring is the best run of striped bass (striper to those in the know) in decades. I went on deck three nights ago after sunset to check the anchor and all I could hear were huge stripers coming up to the surface to grab squid that make their way there at night. They made a huge splash and a gurgle sound as they swallowed them with a big helping of air. The next day is when I found out they were squid, and another local told me how to catch some. All I needed was a bright light and a squid jig. I took a quick trip to a tackle store and found what I needed. No squid that night though, but the light did attract a bunch of wormy things. My coworker Josh came over and we each had a line in with our backup frozen squid I got for $1 per pound at the fish market. We didn't catch a thing. Josh had to go back home, so I untied the dinghy. He was having trouble with his hook, so I thought I tied the dinghy off and turned around to help him. I thought wrong. ...

Newport is fan. tastic. I was off to a rocky start with no power and the dinghy mishaps I wrote of previously, but ever since those have been remedied, it's been blissful. My new job is probably the best part. The people I work with are great and I get paid to sail and talk to people. This really is a dream job, and to be flat honest, with tips I make more than I did driving a desk "using" my masters degree in engineering. Biting the bullet, taking the plunge and buying a boat is hands down the best decision I have ever made. Of course, I could have done all of this without buying the boat , but it is what started me in this direction. Allow me to illustrate, below are photos of 1) the new office 2) the view from driving a boat as opposed to a desk and 3) the new commute. Newport itself is a great and welcome change from Boston. The people are friendlier and more laid back. The summer really hasn't picked up yet, but I'm excited to be in the middl...

Maria woke me up at 7 am the next morning. She had to be on the 8:30 bus back to Boston. I went outside and the fog was so dense I couldn't see land. The wind was howling. I was grateful we had made it in a few hours before this stuff set in. We climbed down the rickety ladder to Folicle, compass in hand. I knew the yacht club was somehere to the south of where we dropped anchor. Within 30 seconds of leaving Winchelsea I realized a) the ladder was about to break itself free from the transom and sink in the harbor b) the yacht club was on a huge rock and I had no clue where to land the boat if I even found it and c) one of the oar locks was bent and rowing with one oar in this wind was an exercise in futility. Trying to get back to Winchelsea was not easy. We started calling marinas to find a launch service. Eventually, we got ahold of someone who would pick us up at 9. On the bright side, on out way in the HMS Bounty appeared out of the fog, gliding along and making it's way o...

4:30 came early the next morning, but we had to be on the canal by 6 to get the current. The day did not start well; Folicle, my dingy, had her bow line caught in my rudder. After that was freed, we made our way towards the canal. Though once in it, the engine was dead within a quarter mile. This begs the question: of what use is an engine if it is completely unreliable? I told Maria to make a note in the log book to the affect of "captain has decided to remove engine." Since boats are not allowed to sail down the canal, we had no other choice but to radio for assistance. None other than the United States Coast Guard showed up 10 minutes later. They towed us to their base, about a half mile back from where we had drifted to. At this point, I called my tow company and we were back in the canal within an hour. About an hour after that and we were through the canal and once again under sail, this time in Buzzards Bay. The wind was out of the north for the first few hours whi...

I should preface this post with the fact that I have no electricity on my boat. There will be no pictures for some time, at least until I can get the wind turbine and solar panels installed. I charge my iPhone at work and use candlelight and flashlights at night. This is actually pretty adequate, since I'm so busy with work and don't use a lot of electric appliances anyway. We left Boston under calm, clear skies. The genoa was up and we were under full sail though the Narrows and out into Massachusetts Bay. We delt with shifty, light winds for most of the morning. I fixed the chartplotter and autopilot systems, Maria made some lunch and Christian and I reminisced about Gainesville and Gator football. It was leisurely. About 2 pm is when the first line of heavy winds hit us. We took down the genoa and put up the jib. The boat was heeled over about 20 degrees on a beam reach, at one point the GPS said we were doing 7.3 knots, impressive! At about 3, we noticed a large squall fo...

Leaving Boston in just about 7 hours now. We took Winchelsea  out on Saturday, with great, calm weather. The engine started without much fuss, the sails were raised and despite the lack of wind, it all went very well with only a few minor things that needed attention. There were six of us: Maria, Christian, Hilary, Seth, Elena and myself. We anchored on the eastern side of Spectacle Island for lunch of chicken kabobs and veggie burgers. The anchor was probably the closest thing we had to a mishap; I let her drop and didn't count on the fact that the  momentum and weight of the chain would carry much more out than the simple depth alone. I grabbed the last 6 inches of the 100 feet of chain I had before it slipped over the bow. Below is a picture of the new mahogany pulpit, with the anchor, anchor roller and chain, as well as the mooring I'm currently on. Its a little dirty from all the mud, but you understand, right? The picture on the right is of a few brews in a bag I threw o...