by Judy Handley | Aug 14, 2011 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 6 |
Day 294, Year 6 Falmouth Road Race Day
Date: Sunday, August 14, 2011
Weather: Totally Overcast, Temps in the mid-70’s
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
It wasn’t a beautiful day, but it was probably the perfect day for a running road race. There was no sunshine so the temperature stayed in the mid-70’s. There was a brisk breeze and since the race runs along the water, I’m sure the runners stayed as cool as runners can be in the middle of summer. Mark and I got up with Sam at 6:30 am and watched as the first runners arrived in Woods Hole by school bus. Within the next hour Jonah got up and joined us and the number of runners multiplied quickly. Once both boys had breakfast and were dressed, we headed to shore to check out things first hand. We walked from the start line all the way to the end of the six groups of runners. There were just so many people and the hundreds of porta-potties brought in were all full. Amazing!
Heather and Jed called for a pick up around 9:15 am and then we watched the start of the wheel chair race and finally the start of the road race. The runners were grouped into six start groups and there must have been a thousand to fifteen hundred runners in each group. I think the numbers of people looked even larger than they were since Woods Hole is such a tiny town. As the runners streamed down Water Street headed to Falmouth, we were just amazed at the mass of humanity. By the time the last group of runners left and we walked back down to the bridge, we watched the first runners cross the finish line seven miles away in Falmouth. At this point, Woods Hole was empty except for the clean-up crews. We walked to the aquarium for the 11 am seal show, walked through the small aquarium, and had a lovely lunch waterside compliments of Heather and Jed. We had one bit of excitement when Jonah’s shoe fell into the water from the outside seating at the restaurant, Phusion. Mark and Sam ran out of the restaurant to get the dinghy and rescue the shoe. I went out to be a spotter as did Jed, and the rescuers arrived just in time before the shoe floated under the boardwalks along Eel Pond. Heather, Jed, and boys headed home after naps and now Windbird seems very, very quiet and lonely at the end of a great weekend.
by Judy Handley | Aug 1, 2011 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 6 |
Day 281, Year 6 Ashfield to Boston to Cape Cod
Date: Monday, August 1, 2011
Weather: Hot and Sunny
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Breakfast at Elmer’s Store this morning was a great way to start the day. Ziggy with his white, fuzzy ‘almost’ hair and killer light blue eyes charmed everyone in the restaurant. He can be quite the two-year old adamantly saying no and then he can turn around and be Mr. Cooperation with a great big smile. So cute! After Elmer’s, we drove for two and a half hours to get us into Boston. We parked at Mass General Hospital because it is the cheapest parking in town and because Mark had an appointment there today. By the time we all walked to Quincy Market, it was time for Mark to turn around and get back for his appointment. Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and I hung out around Quincy Market, some of us having lemonade and others having yoghurt cones. It was a hot day, but we still enjoyed the walk through town. By 2:30 pm we were all back in the car and headed to Logan Airport. Mark was with us because his appointment took less time than he thought. Basically the doctor just wanted to talk to him to see how he feels about continuing the self-catheterization and to recommend a neurological examination. The doctor has consulted with other physicians about Mark’s case, which he calls unusual, and the general consensus is that he needs to go through a complete neurological exam to rule out any causes from the nervous system. That is the next step. And if nothing new is discovered in that examination, it may then be time to do laser surgery to open the urethra slightly to see if that might help. The doctor knows of one other case similar to Mark’s where that solved the problem even though no one knew why.
We dropped Justin, Jo, and Ziggy off at the American Airlines departure point with their three huge bags, one very large case containing a sitar, one small case containing a violin, two backpacks, and two other personal carry-on items. They aren’t home yet, but we are anxious to find out how much it cost to take that much luggage cross-country. We so much enjoyed our few days together and we are really going to miss them. And we are more than a bit nervous about their return as the house sitters have seen two rattlesnakes in the yard and one in the house while they were gone. It has been super hot and their house is near an old open mine shaft–not a good combination. They are home for a month and then off again in their bus to Burning Man in northern Nevada. Their band, Silvermouse will be playing music there. But Burning Man is much more than a music event. It is a radical communal living experience that is as hard to explain as it is to explain a certain color to a blind person according to the website. I can’t wait to hear more about this in the week before Labor Day.
After dropping off JJ&Z, we headed to the International Terminal E to meet our friends Linda, Michael, and Garrett who were flying in from Amsterdam via London. I had the arrival time wrong by an hour, so we waited for the first flight from Heathrow to exit. It took more than an hour, but then we were pretty sure there were no more passengers from that flight. We saw another flight coming in from London on the board, so Mark went out to the car to check emails from Linda to see what flight they should actually be on. He returned and reported that it was the next flight, so again we waited, and waited, and waited. The terminal was looking empty and there was still no Linda, Michael, and Garrett. We finally gave up and headed home, sad to not get to see them. The first thing I did when we got back on the boat was check email, and sure enough, they had missed their flight. They will be flying in tomorrow but unfortunately we won’t get to see them. Garrett leaves for college in a few weeks so we really hope to find a way to meet in Boston and see him before he leaves.
Another two hour drive got us back to Windbird in Woods Hole on the Cape. Mark doesn’t work tomorrow, so we’ll spend the morning continuing our cleaning and polishing job on Windbird before I head out to pick-up Sam and Jonah from Summer Camp. What a lucky Oma I am to have three beautiful grandchildren. Ziggy, I miss you already. And Sam and Jonah, I’ll see you tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Aug 1, 2011 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 6 |
Day 280, Year 6 Trip to Ashfield
Date: Sunday, July 31, 2011
Weather: Another Gorgeous Day, Temp in Low 90’s
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
This day took us from busy tourist country on Cape Cod to the back country in the mountains of Western Massachusetts. Our son Justin went to Hampshire College in this area. Five colleges–Hampshire, Amherst, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, and U Mass Amherst form a cooperative where students enrolled in any one of the schools can attend classes at any of the other schools. North Hampton is the town that is the central meeting place and the whole area is really beautiful. So after college, Justin stayed in the area and eventually started working at Double Edge Theatre here in Ashfield. Including his college years, he spent twelve years of his life here, so coming to visit is an important part of any trip to New England. He also met his wife Jo at Double Edge, so Ashfield is special to them both. Tonight we attended Double Edge’s summer performance of The Odyssey. Double Edge is the creation of Stacy Klein and it is located at the Farm-a permanent center of performance, training, research, and cultural exchange-in Ashfield. The performances combine original music, expression through movement in the Cirque du Soleil style, with the work of dedicated actors bringing true imagination to the stage. The audience moves around the Farm as the scenes take you from one location to another, both indoors and out. It is like no other theatre and the set design of tonight’s performance was truly magical. Bravo, Double Edge.
It is now after midnight. We are in the sitting room at the Inn at Norton Hill in Ashfield where we are spending the night and it is like no other inn. The welcome brochure explains that it should have been named the “check yourself Inn” as you simply walk through the front door and find the room you have reserved. As it states in their brochure, “Ashfield is one of the remaining places in the country where keys are an afterthought. This house was built in 1795 (a year before George Washington left office) and it’s never had a keyed lock on any door.” So why spoil a good thing? And the Inn is right across the street from Elmer’s, a local restaurant that Yankee Magazine says has the best pancakes in New England. So you know where we will be tomorrow morning. After that, we take off for a busy day in Boston.
by Judy Handley | Jul 23, 2011 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 6 |
Day 272, Year 6 World’s Scariest Weather
Date: Saturday, July 23, 2011
Weather: Partly Sunny, Afternoon Storm, Foggy Evening
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
The disclaimer here is that when we were traveling in other parts of the world, we made sure we were there at the right time of the year to avoid the worst weather. That being said, twice in the past six weeks we have had storms here in the North Atlantic that rival anything we experienced anywhere else in the world. We had a stormy, squally night between Thailand and India that had us both a bit frightened because it lasted so long and was so intense, but then the storm we had coming here from the Carolinas was longer and even more intense. Believe it or not, this afternoon sitting here in a pond on a mooring, I was actually frightened more than anytime I have been at sea. It got so very dark and then the thunder and lightening started. It was the thunder that was so loud that really scared me. The good thing was that it passed quickly, but while it lasted, it was a tense time. The storm ended and it got bright and sunny for a time, then clouds reappeared. Before time for the sun to set, fog set in and then the fog cleared and we had red sails on the sunset. What fickle but interesting weather!
Mark worked today and I stayed home all day and worked on photos, writing emails, and cleaning the dinghy. It has been a bit neglected in the past few months, so I did my best to clean it up a bit. We desperately need to get a cover made for it as the Hypalon is starting to deteriorate. We don’t see dinghy covers here like the ones in the tropics, so we are going to have to search for photos for a model so we can get one made for us here. Some covers are made of Sunbrella, but we are most interested in the ones made of a type of vinyl. Our friends Ed and Lynn on Constance had a cover like this, so we will email them and see if they have a photo. Tomorrow is more of the same. Mark works at West Marine and I work at home. Heather and Jed have company this weekend, so we won’t see them again until Tuesday. I’m so used to seeing them everyday that I already miss them. But this gives me a chance to get ready for the arrival of Justin, Jo, and Ziggy on Wednesday. Then the fun really begins!
by Judy Handley | Jul 4, 2011 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 6 |
Day 253, Year 6 The Fourth of July
Date: Monday, July 4, 2011
Weather: Mostly Overcast, Temp mid-70’s
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
While millions of Americans are celebrating the Fourth of July, Mark and I are feeling like we are foreigners in our own homeland. For almost six years now we have been on the inside, living life to its fullest every day. Now we are on the outside looking in and we’re unsure that we fit into the picture we are watching. I’m sure things will get better, but sitting here in Eel Pond this evening is lonely. People on the other boats here are not cruisers. They are people with homes and busy lives that come here on the weekend to sit on their boats or go out for a day sail. There is no boat to boat visiting, no introducing yourself to others and inviting them over for sundowners. Our friends who are in the Mediterranean say the same thing. Most of the boaters they see are not world cruisers and they find themselves in the same type of isolation as we feel here. But despite this feeling of isolation, we had a good day. We went to Heather and Jed’s and first worked on our website. We needed to get the last two years worth of logs put in categories by place. Now we need to contact our website designer (our son) and get him to put the categories for Years 5 and 6 on the homepage of our site. We have much more work to do on the homepage, but this is a start. I did a little housework and a little work in the garden and then mid-afternoon we went next door for a neighborhood barbecue. Heather and Jed’s neighbors are Brian and Melissa. They have three year-old Molly and one year-old Joey and they had quite the spread this afternoon. Brian had four grills going and was producing more smoked and barbecued meat than the crowd could eat. Now we are back on Windbird catching up on returning emails. We got one email a couple of days ago that I must share with you. Our good sailing friends Colette and Jean-Pierre from Montreal are in Japan waiting for the right time to sail east to the west coast of the US. When we arrived in the Carolinas we heard from them and they were fully into enjoying Japan. But since that time, Jean-Pierre had to go into the hospital to have a stint put in one of the major heart arteries. The artery was ninety-nine per cent blocked and the surgery cost $10,000 cash. Canadians don’t have out-of-country insurance, so this was out-of-pocket. Jean-Pierre was in the hospital for two days and on the day he was released, he had to quickly get their sailboat, Safina, ready for a Category 4 typhoon. Safina survived the typhoon’s direct hit due to the vigilance and mid-typhoon retying of lines in 100 mile an hour winds by Japanese friends. They are finding the Japanese islands to be beautiful and the local people very helpful and friendly. We are so thankful that both Jean-Pierre and Safina have weathered the storm.
by Judy Handley | Jul 3, 2011 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 6 |
Day 252, Year 6 Lots of Little Jobs
Date: Sunday, July 3, 2011
Weather: Overcast, Temp mid-70’s
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
We spent our day getting lots of little jobs done. When we got up we saw that the Woods Hole Marina dock had no boats tied up to it, so we dropped our mooring lines and went to the dock to fill up our water tanks. We had only managed to empty one since our last fill-up in South Carolina but we like to keep them both full when possible. While on the dock with water, I used two-part teak cleaner to clean the cockpit floor. Yesterday Mark put a small bag of garbage out in the cockpit and forgot that it contained a broken jar that had been used to store marinade in the freezer. We tried to thaw the frozen marinade with boiling water, but that broke the jar. Most of the liquid drained down the sink, but the oil was still frozen to the jar and we just threw it in the thrash. While in the trash can, it thawed and when Mark put the bag on the cockpit floor yesterday he didn’t notice the oozing oil. This morning I found the pool of oil under the bag which stained the teak, but thankfully the cleaning this morning mostly fixed the problem. While I had access to water, I also did a quick scrubbing of our cockpit cushions and used the same Clorox-laundry detergent mix to clean under the sink where Mark had taken out the hot water tank and compressor. It was a very successful trip to the dock and we left with full water tanks and a much cleaner boat. By the time all of this was done, however, it was time to eat lunch and take off for downtown Falmouth. Over the Fourth of July weekend, the library here has a fantastic used book sale and we spent an hour or so perusing the treasures. We bought on a couple of books, but we hope to go back on Tuesday morning for the final “Buck a Bag” bonanza. If they are open early, Mark and I can both stop on the way to taking Mark to work at 9 am. But if they are not open that early, I’ll just come right back after taking him to work. We don’t really have space for more books, but it is hard to pass up a bargain like that. After visiting the book sale we went to Heather and Jed’s where Mark spent the afternoon on his computer, first finally filing our taxes (we had to ask for an extension since we were out of the country in April and didn’t have the forms we needed) while I worked in the garden. I have always loved gardening and could spend hour after hour peacefully watering, weeding, and replanting. We didn’t return to Woods Hole until almost dark and by this time the totally overcast day had turned into a foggy evening with sprinkling rain. We have decided that we will head to Heather and Jed’s early tomorrow and spend our day doing computer-based work that didn’t get done today. We need to back up so many important documents and photos and that takes lots of time. So we’ll have a laid back day sitting and watching our computers back-up files and do a little reading and garden work while waiting. It doesn’t sound exciting, but Mark and I are actually looking forward to a quiet day when we can get this kind of work done.
