Day 274, Year 10: Not Quite According to Plan

by Judy Handley | Jul 11, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 | 0 comments

Day 274, Year 10: Not Quite According to Plan
Date: Saturday, July 11, 2015
Weather: Gorgeous Day; Temp in the 80’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA

Some days just don’t work out as planned, and today was one of those days. But thankfully, it ended up to be a lovely day doing things ‘not quite according to plan’. Shortly after we received a text message from Geoff and Chris telling us that they were off for Nova Scotia, Heather and Jed arrived in Quissett with the boys. The plan was to sail through the Woods Hole cut and down to Tarpaulin Cove in Vineyard Sound for a fishing day. Jed had checked the tides earlier in the week and thought things were perfect for going through the cut and into Sound around 10 am with a favorable current for returning after 1:30 pm. This morning Mark and I checked our Eldridge’s ‘bible’ for currents and tides to see what the best time for heading through the cut would be and we didn’t get the same results as Jed. When Heather and Jed arrived, we had Heather check Eldridge’s again to make sure we were reading it correctly, and she agreed that there was no way we were going through the Woods Hole cut today. So we adjusted our plans to just sail down the west side of the Nashon Islands and avoid the problem with the adverse currents. Unfortunately, Sam had his heart set on going to Tarpaulin, so we had to deal with his disappointment before we finally decided to raise the sail and get going. Uh-oh. The sail would not go up. It was almost impossible to pull the halyard to raise the sail. We then went into problem solving mode and decided to stay put on the mooring and figure out the problem. Heather volunteered to go up the mast in place of her dad to see if she could figure out the problem, so up she went. The boys played down below and were incredibly good while we tried to sort out the problem, but it soon became evident that the solution to the problem was not going to be quick one. The halyard was on the sheave but it became obvious that it was jammed somewhere down inside the mast. Heather came down and Jed took off with Sam and Jonah and a packed lunch to fish off the rocky sandbar that is exposed in the middle of the harbor at low tide. We could only see them from a distance, but Sam looked like a very serious fisherman. He’s working on a Boy Scout badge and it requires that he fishes for at least one hour. I think he probably did that this afternoon.

While Jed and the boys fished, Mark and Heather kept working at the halyard problem and when they thought they had a solution, Heather went up the mast again. Heather was probably up the mast about an hour this time while Mark worked on various solutions to the problem. Finally, they got it working by rethreading the halyard down the mast—easier said than done—but they did it successfully. Jed returned with the boys about the time Heather was descending. We could have taken off at this point, but the boys decided that they just wanted to go to the beach. Heather and Jed took them to the beach while Mark took a nap and I basically just sat on the boat and did nothing. And actually, that was quite nice. We didn’t get to sail and we didn’t catch any fish, but I think everyone had a great day. The boys did more swimming today than they have ever done and even came back to Windbird and jumped off the dinghy to swim in the water around the boat. For whatever reason, the boys have always been afraid to jump in water over their heads, even when wearing life jackets. So they made a giant leap forward today by doing this. Hopefully by the end of the summer, we’ll have three swimmers.

It is fascinating to watch grandchildren grow up. Sam, Jonah, and Ollie, who have lived near the water and been to the beach almost daily in the summer months since they were born, are not swimmers and divers, at least not quite yet. Ziggy, who spent the first four years of his life in the mountains of New Mexico, is a natural swimmer and diver. Who knows how these things happen, but I saw a couple of photos on Justin’s Facebook page this week that I just have to share. Justin has never liked sailing, but he always loved surfing, and Ziggy has evidently inherited his dad’s love of riding the waves.
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150711 Day 274 Cape Cod, USA–Mast Work and Fishing in Quissett Harbor

Day 272, Year 10: Another Busy Summer Day

by Judy Handley | Jul 9, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 | 0 comments

Day 272, Year 10: Another Busy Summer Day
Date: Thursday, July 9, 2015
Weather: Partly Cloudy Day, Much Cooler Than Yesterday
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA

Some days I feel like a dog chasing his tail and today was one of those days. Mark had to be at the hospital at 8:40 am to get a heart monitor attached to his body for a 24-hour trial. I had a 10:45 am physical therapy appointment. And then Mark had to be at the infusion center before noon to get the infusion he was supposed to get yesterday. In between all of this we were taking care of Sam, Jonah, and Ollie. Mark had a really nice, quiet time with the boys while I went to PT. When I returned, Mark left for his infusion, and the boys and I had an early lunch and headed for Woods Hole. Ollie really wanted to go to “his aquarium”—actually the Woods Hole Science Aquarium run by NOAA. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no place in Woods Hole to park today within any reasonable walking distance of the aquarium (with three kids and limited time), so we put the aquarium on hold until tomorrow and just went to the park to play until time for Sam’s School of Science class. We were having a good time on the playground when, all of a sudden, Jonah disappeared. I assumed he was hiding in the tube slide, but Sam checked every nook and cranny on the playground, and Jonah was nowhere to be found. Sam then had the presence of mind to climb to the tallest point on the playground structure and look in all directions for Jonah. “Oma, he’s over there watching guys play softball.” And indeed he was. He loves ball games of all types and somehow drifted over to watch. He got a little lecture about leaving an area without telling an adult, but before I could finish the lecture, one of the guys brought a softball over to him and said it was for us to play with. We found a telephone pole with a small concrete slab a good distance away to use as the pitcher’s mound and the three boys took turns trying to knock down the telephone pole with the softball! We took Sam to class, Ollie fell asleep for his nap, and when we got home Jonah decided we should make chocolate chip cookies. We ended up making Toll House Squares and he was a happy camper. I had Jonah read the recipe from the bag of chips and he complained saying that recipes should be in a book. He measured out the ingredients and then decided to count the chocolate chips before putting them into the batter. He decided that a handful was 10 chips and ended up declaring that there are 275 chocolate chips in a bag. That is after he ate a good many! When Ollie got up, he decided to help me in the garden by hauling weeds to the compost pile in his little wheelbarrow. Jonah joined in as well. Then Mark returned from getting his infusion and we made it back to Quissett just in time to go to Shambala for dinner. It was a busy summer day, but it was a good one. Maybe chasing your tail is not all bad.

Day 271, Year 10: Beach Morning for S, J, & O; CONfusion Day for Mark

by Judy Handley | Jul 8, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 | 0 comments

Day 271, Year 10: Beach Morning for S, J, & O; CONfusion Day for Mark
Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Weather: Mostly Cloudy Day, VERY Warm and Humid
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA

Today was a beach morning for Sam, Jonah, Ollie, and Oma and a very CONfusing day for Mark. This was supposed to be his infusion day but the after waiting two hours he found that the center did not have the drugs needed for today infusion and he will have to return tomorrow. What a bummer! But it was very lucky that the boys and I had decided to spend our morning at a beach near to Mark’s infusion center and then have lunch just a hop, skip, and a jump away from him. Because just as were finishing lunch and getting ready to head to Woods Hole to drop Sam off for class, Mark called and said he was ready to go home. We were able to pick him up on the way with no delay in Sam’s arrival in Woods Hole. So that part of the day worked perfectly.

Our beach experience this morning was at Megansett Beach in Megansett Harbor. Ollie calls this his beach as Mark and I took him there a couple of times before Sam and Jonah got out of school. The older boys have never been there before, and Ollie was thrilled to be able to introduce them to something new. The beach is perfect for kids who want to jump waves on a beach facing Buzzards Bay or who want to net minnows and crabs on the quiet harbor side. The boys enjoyed both experiences and will want to return here again. We had pizza for lunch at the Route 151 Drive Inn, a favorite stop for pizza, and then we fortuitously got the call from Mark, picked him up, and then headed to Woods Hole. Unfortunately, Mark will have to return tomorrow to get his Infusion, and any change in schedule causes CONfusion, but we’ll figure it out.

Tonight we had Chris and Geoff of Shambala aboard Windbird for dinner. We caught up on life happenings and will continue the conversation tomorrow night aboard Shambala. Chris and Geoff spent time in New York with our mutual friends Ed and Lynne this past weekend, and it was great to catch up on the happenings in their lives as well. We have not really made any connections with cruising friends here, so it is wonderful to reconnect with our world cruising friends.

Day 270, Year 10: Busy Day for the Birthday ‘Boy’

by Judy Handley | Jul 7, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 | 0 comments

Day 270, Year 10: Busy Day for the Birthday ‘Boy’
Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Hot with Temp in the mid-80’s F, SW Wind 10-15
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA

It was a busy day for the birthday ‘boy’—Happy Birthday, Mark. What started out to be a quiet morning at home with Sam, Jonah, and Ollie quickly changed when I mentioned to them that it was low tide at one of their favorite beaches. They immediately wanted to go, and so we did. This beach is part of the Cape Cod Natural History Museum and they run a program called Mudflat Mania on low-tide days. Today we didn’t join the Museum program as Jonah and Sam created their own ‘mania’. Instead of looking for critters, they ran in the shallow water and found deeper holes to jump into and swim about. I kept reminding them that they hadn’t found one moon snail trail, but they didn’t care. They were just having too much fun messing about in the water. Ollie and I joined them and then Ollie decided that he preferred trying to catch tiny, tiny little fish in the puddles on the mudflat. The hour+ drive back to Woods Hole gave the big boys a chance to eat lunch and rest and it gave Ollie a chance to take an early nap. We dropped Sam off for his 1:45 pm class at the Children’s School of Science and then we headed into town to pick up our admission bracelets for a 3 pm magic show at the public library. Ollie and Jonah loved the show, but Mark and I were very disappointed in way the magician plugged his business. He told the kids that there were magic cards on the table that they could have for free. He explained that that they were magic because if they took the card home and placed in the hand of one of their parents, he (the magician) would magically appear at their birthday party. The ‘magic’ card was simply his business card. In my mind, this was nothing but bad business. I’ve taken the boys to many Falmouth Library events and have never witnessed this kind of unscrupulous behavior. Too bad because I think the little ones enjoyed the show.

150707 Day 270 Cape Cod, USA–From Mudflats to Magic Show

After the show, Mark left for a physical therapy appointment and Jonah, Ollie, and I went into the Children’s Room at the library to check out some magic books. We then walked to a candy store that sells ice cream and indulged in an ice cream cone on a hot afternoon before going to the playground across from the Library. We played they while waiting to meet up with Heather, Jed, Sam, and Mark. Heather and Sam biked into Falmouth from Woods Hole after Sam’s class. This was the first time Sam has ever ridden all the way into town. Way to go, Sam!

We all converged on the Indian restaurant on Main Street and had a fabulous birthday dinner in Mark’s honor. Going out to dinner with three little boys has not always been the most wonderful of experiences, but tonight they were delightful and we all really enjoyed the food. So thank you, Heather and Jed. And when we got home, we had another delightful surprise. Our Australian sailing friends, Geoff and Chris of Shambala, had just arrived in Quissett Harbor. They did an overnight from Staten Island. We visited briefly and will visit again in the morning and then tomorrow night over dinner on Windbird.

Thank you to everyone who sent email, snail mail, and Facebook birthday greetings to Mark. In addition to hearing from so many friends, he received wonderful gifts from both of his children, spent his day having fun with grandchildren, and spent his evening having a wonderful dinner with family and then visiting with friends. It is hard to hope all of that, but when he got back to Windbird he had a piece of the absolutely fabulous pirate cheese cake that Heather made for him. Life is good.

Note: Last night I made a reference to our dinghy motor indicating that it is a diesel motor. Not so, and not sure what I was thinking when I wrote that. More than likely, I was not thinking!

Day 269, Year 10: A Day Off

by Judy Handley | Jul 6, 2015 | Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 10 | 0 comments

Day 269, Year 10: A Day Off
Date: Monday, July 6, 2015
Weather: Partly Sunny, Still Windy
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA

Heather gave Oma and Granddad the day off today. She stayed home with the boys and we stayed on Windbird and relaxed in the morning. In the afternoon we went to pick up our dinghy motor. If you follow this blog, you know that our dinghy (with the fuel tank in it) and motor were flipped upside down during the ‘the big blow’ two weeks ago. Salt water and diesel engines don’t get along. So $400 later, we have our Yamaha 15 hp motor back from The Boat Guy and hopefully it still a one-pull Yamaha. We bought a 5-gallon fuel can this afternoon and will have to pour the fuel mixed with water out of our dinghy fuel tank into the new can until we can figure out what to do with it. We will then fill the old fuel tank with water-free fuel, switch motors, and give our old Yamaha a test run. But it will probably be a few days before we’ll have the time to get this done. Thankfully we have Heather and Jed’s Mercury motor to tide us over. We also talked to the folks at Blue Water Insurance this afternoon and they are saying that we need to get Windbird hauled and get an estimate on repairs to the keel and rudder. If we didn’t live aboard, that wouldn’t be so difficult, but we are going to have to find a yard that will allow us to live aboard while the work is being done. Hopefully it can be hauled, get the estimate, and have the work done all within a week. But that is just my ‘hopeful’ thinking. It would be a lot easier to wait until fall to do this, but it sounds like the insurance company wants us to act on it quickly. So we shall see.