by Judy Handley | Oct 18, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 345, Year 7: Moving Windbird to Her New Home
Date: Thursday, October 18, 2012
Weather: Sunny and Warm-Really Beautiful Day
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Today was a beautiful fall day and we took full advantage of it. When we
got up, we decided to ask for a 9 am bridge opening so we could head to
Falmouth Harbor to fill up with diesel fuel and water and to pump out the
holding tank. When we got there, we found that Falmouth Marine where we
normally do business is basically closed for the season. The owner’s boat
was on the dock and we were told to find fuel elsewhere. We went to East
Marine at the head of the harbor and on the way there we saw Steve and Irene
on their boat Star. They left their summer home here in Eel Pond yesterday
to do to Falmouth to get fuel and then they were heading to Newport today
before sailing south to Nevis in the Caribbean. Their boat’s home port is
Nevis, WI, and many people think they are from Wisconsin. Not so. The WI
stands for West Indies. We were glad to get to say an official farewell as
we missed doing that in Eel Pond. We got the fuel and water and headed back
to Woods Hole. Just as we were motoring out of the harbor we got a call
from Heather inviting us to join them for lunch in Woods Hole with Jed’s
parents who are visiting. So we motored as fast as we could against the
current and got back to Woods Hole for the 12 noon bridge opening. The
whole gang was on the dock to help us come into our temporary home in a slip
on the Woods Hole Marine dock and then we went to lunch at the Captain Kidd.
It was great catching up with Jed’s parents and having a relaxed lunch with
everyone. After lunch we walked the few steps back to Windbird and launched
into a work frenzy. We took the bimini (cover over the cockpit) down and
Mark spent two hours resewing all of the seams. The bimini was made in
Thailand so it is about three and a half years old and the seams are
starting to come loose. While he did that, I did what any self-respecting
sailor does when she comes to a dock with water. I washed down the decks
and topsides-something you can’t do when you are out on a mooring. It was
warm enough to do this barefooted and not freeze to death, so for that I was
thankful. I also washed the cover for the cockpit monitor, the cover for
the cooler on the back deck that holds all our fishing gear, the cover to
the baby swing we have in the cockpit for Oliver, and on and on. By 5 pm,
just when the sun was no longer keeping things warm, Mark finished the
sewing and I then took the Sunbrella bimini cover out on the dock and
scrubbed it with a Tide and Clorox mix to get rid of the mildew stains. It
was after 6 pm by the time we got the bimini back on and hung all of the
side curtains so that the cockpit is nicely enclosed once again. We are
expecting rain tomorrow, tomorrow night, and Saturday, so it is a good
feeling to be secured to a dock and to have the cockpit totally clean and
enclosed. And now that we are on a dock, we can plug in heaters so Ziggy
and Coco will be warm and cozy once they arrive on Saturday night. All is
well.
by Judy Handley | Oct 17, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 344, Year 7: Windbird’s Clean Bottom
Date: Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Weather: Sunny, High Temp in Upper 50’s
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Steve Murphy, a Falmouth firefighter, dove on Windbird this afternoon to
clean the bottom and the prop. Although Mark usually does this job himself,
the water temp was 59 degrees F and that’s too cold for Mark. We hired a
diver in South Africa to do the job for the same reason. I think my
Christmas present for Mark this year might be a 7 mil wetsuit. He has a
dive skin, but it doesn’t even keep him warm in tropical waters. So it is
time for something more serious. Steve reported that the bottom looks great
and that whatever paint the folks at Fiddler’s Cove put on our prop did the
job. Things had grown on it, but he could easily knock off the barnacles
without scraping. He had not experienced this before and wanted to know
what it was. We don’t know what was used but we will find out and report
that to those of you who might be interested. It looked like gray primer
paint and it wasn’t expensive like Prop Speed AND it did the job. That is
definitely a product worth noting.
Oliver spent his morning on Windbird with me while Heather worked and Mark
went to see Dr. Crook, his oncologist here on the Cape. He had blood tests
on Monday and got those results today. Everything looks great. This was
his last visit with Dr. Crook as he will do all of his follow-up at Mass
General with Dr. Kwak. His next scan will be on the 29th and he will meet
with Dr. Kwak the next day. We are hopeful that he will get another good
report and that we will head south knowing all is well for now. You can
never be sure with cancer, but all indications at this point are that he is
free and clear. Fingers crossed.
Tomorrow morning we will sail or motor to Falmouth to fill up with diesel
fuel and pump out the holding tank. When we return, we will pull into our
slip on the dock. At that point, we will be ‘almost’ ready to sail away.
Mark does want to go up to the mast to check the rigging and put up the
gizmo that helps to deflect lightening in case of a strike. Otherwise, the
captain feels like we are ready for the trip south. We will spend time
tomorrow and Friday getting ready for Justin and Jo’s visit and then on
Saturday we will head to Boston to pick them up. We are supposed to have a
cool and very rainy Friday and Saturday, but then the weather looks good all
the way through next week. That would be such a gift while Justin, Jo,
Ziggy, and Coco are here staying on Windbird.
by Judy Handley | Oct 16, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 343, Year 7: Gearing Up
Date: Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Weather: Partly Cloudy, High Temp in the 60’s
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
We are gearing up for our last two weeks here and the Presidential
candidates in their debate tonight were definitely gearing up for their last
three weeks of battle before the election. I had a chiropractor appointment
early this this morning to have work done on my right arm-the injury I
sustained when I fell off the companionway ladder while sailing from South
Africa to Grenada. I still have very little range of motion with that arm
but discovered last week while visiting the chiropractor for a back issue
that whatever he did to my arm actually made a tremendous difference. I
will return tomorrow and Thursday, and then follow the instructions for
exercise while we are away for the winter. But I am so very impressed with
the improvement from last week to now. After the chiropractor visit, I went
to Heather’s to help out with Jonah and Oliver while she got some work done.
Mark returned to Woods Hole and secured a slip for us at the Woods Hole
Marine dock for the next two weeks. We had looked into a three different
possibilities, but it was time to make a decision. Buzz, the owner of Woods
Hole Marine, is disconnecting electricity to his docks sometime soon in
order to rewire. So we have been hesitant to agree to stay there. But
today he told Mark that he really doesn’t think he is going to get that work
done in the next two weeks. Since that is where we wanted to be, that was
good news. And besides, he agreed to take our hurricane lines in return for
slip rent. So that made it a no brainer for us. A faithful blog reader
from Louisiana really wanted those lines, but we were having a very
difficult time figuring out how to ship such a heavy load. The trade with
Buzz was perfect for us.
We are not the only ones gearing up for heading south. Steve and Irene of
Star from Nevis in the Caribbean are leaving tomorrow. They will go to
Falmouth to fill up on fuel tomorrow and on Thursday they will sail to
Newport. They will visit with friends there until the weather is right for
departure. In the summer they keep their boat on a dock adjacent to the
WHOI dock where we keep our dinghy. We haven’t spent any time socializing
with them, but we do see them almost every day as we head out to Windbird
and we will look forward to seeing them when we both return from ‘down
south’ next spring.
In the afternoon, Mark returned from Woods Hole and we had a fun evening
with the boys. While holding Oliver, we played baseball, and then football
(more like rugby) with Sam and Jonah. We had a fun time running and being
crazy together. Heather joined us and that made it all the more fun.
Tomorrow Jed’s parents arrive for a couple of days so we will probably not
see the boys again until Friday or Saturday. And then Justin, Jo, Ziggy,
and Coco arrive. And by the way, we got the details on the car accident
today and found that it was really only Justin that was in the car wreck
yesterday. He was driving Mirabelle, their 1973 bright yellow Volkswagen
Beetle. Thankfully no one was hurt, but an elderly woman side-swiped
Mirabelle even thought Justin got as far off the road as possible. She
really didn’t see him, and Mirabelle’s whole left side is trashed.
Mirabelle is a 1973 Volkswagen Beetle and her worth could be anywhere
between $5,000 to $10,000. Justin doesn’t yet know what the assessors are
thinking in terms or reimbursement, so we will just have to wait to find out
about that. This has put a lot of extra stress into leaving for a vacation
in New England, but they are still on track and will arrive on Saturday
evening. Can’t wait to see them.
by Judy Handley | Oct 15, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 342, Year 7: Trip to Boston with Heather
Date: Monday, October 15, 2012
Weather: Partly Cloudy, High Temp Around 70
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
I made another trip to Boston today, but this time it was with Heather, not
Mark. There was an annual meeting of the staff at WGBH and Heather wanted
to go to meet some of the people that she works with via email and phone. I
went to be with Oliver while she went to the meeting. I think I’ve
explained before that Heather works at WCAI (public radio) in Woods Hole,
but WCAI is owned and operated by WGBH in Boston, so she works for WGBH.
WGBH is physically huge. The buildings house a public radio station, a
classical music station, a public television station, and a production house
for public television nationally. WGBH produces more than two-thirds of
PBS’s national prime time television programs–NOVA, Masterpiece, This Old
House, and Frontline are among those. So the annual staff meeting was
attended by a couple of hundred people. Oliver and I hung out in the lobby
of one of the buildings where there was a cafeteria. Heather met with
colleagues in another building from 1 o’clock until almost 2 o’clock. Then
she ran back across the street to feed Oliver and then back to the meeting
until 3:30 pm. Oliver was wonderful. We sat and played on the floor on a
blanket and then we sat in the comfy chairs and Oliver did a bit of people
watching. And they watched him as well. He smiled and cooed and made lots
of friends. And then he took a little nap. What a good baby. But I love
his take on language. He listens to people talk and then he loudly babbles,
“Blah–blah-blah–blah, blah.” I guess that is what we sound like! And
what self-respecting trip to Boston would be complete without stopping at
IKEA on the way home. Heather bought another chest of drawers for the boys.
They have one IKEA chest, but as the boys get older, it is just not big
enough to hold all of their clothes. She also stocked up on IKEA meatballs
for the freezer. Jonah really won’t eat most meat, but he will eat these
meatballs with pasta.
On the way home from Boston while I was driving, I asked Heather to call her
brother to find out if he is planning to bring a car seat for Coco or if he
wants us to borrow one. In doing so, she found out that Justin, Jo, Ziggy,
and Coco were in a car accident today. Everyone is okay, but a driver in
the opposite lane hit them head on as she was driving on the wrong side of
the road. Justin thinks the car might be totaled, but when we called he was
just walking into the vet’s examination room with one of their dogs, Alfie,
and really couldn’t talk. So that’s all we know. I’m hoping to talk to him
after I send this log and find out the details. The bottom line is that no
one was hurt. So for that we are very grateful.
by Judy Handley | Oct 14, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 341, Year 7: Warmer Today
Date: Sunday, October 14, 2012
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Warmer–Temps in the 60’s
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
My ‘cold feet’ are a little warmer today as both the outside temperature and
my acceptance of sailing away in a couple of weeks seem warmer. The
temperature today was in the upper 60’s and I have taken a deep breath and
know that all will be well once we sail away. There will still be tears at
departure, but all will be okay. We went over to help out at Heather’s late
morning and spent the afternoon there. We held Oliver when it was time for
him to nap and played games with Sam and Jonah. We also baked granola and
canned applesauce. So it was a good day. We left when Heather and boys
went to pick Jed up at the bus station. Sam and Jonah were both so excited
to welcome daddy home. Tomorrow after Heather’s Monday morning on-air
program, Heather, Oliver, and I will head to Boston. Heather works at the
local NPR (National Public Radio) station here on the Cape (WCAI), but her
employer is WGBH in Boston. She is going to meet staff there and then
attend a once-a-year meeting of all staff. WGBH is both public television
and public radio and the physical facility is huge. So Oliver and I will
find a place to hang out while ‘momma’ attends the meetings. Somehow we
have got to find a way to help Oliver drink momma’s milk from some kind of
sippy cup in the next two weeks before we leave. That would make Heather’s
life so much simpler. But for now, we just have to take Oliver to wherever
Heather is going to be so he can nurse when he gets hungry.
by Judy Handley | Oct 13, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 340, Year 7: Cold Feet
Date: Saturday, October 13, 2012
Weather: Partly Sunny and Cool; Temps in the 50’s
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
It is getting cooler here in New England, but that is not the cause of my
cold feet. Tonight we had dinner at a friend’s house and when we were
saying our good nights I think it finally dawned on me that we are actually
leaving here in two weeks . . . actually in less than two weeks, and
suddenly, I got cold feet. As we sailed around the world, I always got a
bit ‘musu’ when we stayed in a place long enough to get attached and it was
time to leave. But I’ve never had to sail away leaving grandchildren
behind. I know I’ll be able to do it, and I know that after a week or so
out there, I’ll stop crying, but right now my heart just breaks and the
tears fall when I think about not seeing Sam, Jonah, and Oliver on a regular
basis. Yes, we’ll be back next spring, and yes, they might even come to the
Bahamas to visit in February, but that’s just not the same as watching them
grow day by day. We were home for over four months when Jonah was born
which was certainly long enough to get attached, but we knew we had to leave
to get back to Windbird and complete our circumnavigation. That made things
much easier. This time we don’t have to leave. We are making the choice to
do so and that makes it harder. The cruising life style suits us perfectly.
We love it. But it is not very family friendly unless you have lots of
money to fly home often and fly your children and grandchildren to visit you
often. We don’t have that luxury. As we sailed around the world, I asked
every woman sailor I met if they had children and grandchildren. It was
hard for me from the beginning to be so far away from my adult children.
What I found is that most of the sailing couples we met either had their
young children with them, or were second marriages or couples without
children. Some were like us. They had adult children but no grandchildren
yet. In the case of the second marriages, the men had children by a first
wife, but were sailing around the world with a second wife who had never had
children of her own. And I’ll never forget our friends from Germany who
flew home from New Zealand to see their two year-old twin granddaughters.
The girls had no idea who their grandparents were, and then and there,
Monika insisted that they sail back to the Mediterranean the next season so
they would be closer to the grandchildren. There were other similar
stories, so the power of grandchildren on their grandparents is strong. So
what do we do? We’ve committed to turning Windbird into Snowbird for this
year and we’ll just have to see how it works out. Our plan for the next few
years after the circumnavigation was to continue cruising in the winter
months and return to New England in the summers. But we didn’t have
grandchildren when we made that plan. Things look different here and now.
And since Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco live so far away and in a place where
we can never sail, that presents another problem altogether. How do we find
a way to spend quality time with them? When we return here in the warm
months, Mark works at West Marine and we really can’t travel to visit them.
I think we’ll have a lot of time to think this winter and we’ll just have to
re-examine how we want to spend the next few years.
