And the beat goes on...

By Sailor Keddy -
It's been just over two months since I dropped the hook in Newport. As I may have mentioned before, my only regret is that I didn't do this sooner.

Things are going very well; work is excellent, the dinghy continues to operate, I've almost solved all issues with the engine and I've made some great friends. Green and Isaac have both let me do entire sails without them touching the wheel, from off the dock all the way to back on. My confidence in my seamanship and boat handling has increased ten-fold since I arrived.

I marvel at the simplicity of the single cylinder two stroke engine that gets me to work every day. It stopped working suddenly one night and I traced it back to using a oil/gas mix ratio that was too high, which I found was gumming up my spark plug. That and cleaning the bottom every couple of weeks have been my only maintenance.

The new carburator on my inboard is excellent. It now starts with one or two tries, instead of a dozen with a dozen sprays of ether. It also doesn't leak gas after I turn the engine off, so that's another plus. I need to rebuild the water pump though, it's leaking and Green said that was due to a worn out mechanical seal. Thank God the company who made it is still in business and sells rebuild kits.

What I like most about this new life though is the people I've met in Newport so far. All the others who work with me, and the others on the wharf are excellent company; we all seem to be on the same page and I think it shows. Not that I want to compare them to people I met in Boston, but for the majority, it's like night and day, especially the coworkers. I've also met some locals and they're all friendly and open, again, quite different from Boston. This one guy Matt is a musician, and would have filmed a music video on Winchelsea had the engine worked. He's introduced me to a lot of other great, great people. It's really nice when people are open and just want to be friendly, no other motives or hidden agendas.

I took Winchelsea out a few weeks ago with Jeff, a guy who works on a competing schooner. Green was passing by in Sightsailer and took some great pictures, doesn't she look great?!












Comments

Betsy said…
Jealous!
July 10, 2010 at 5:42 PM
Christina Toby said…
She's beautiful.
July 18, 2010 at 10:46 PM
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