by Judy Handley | Oct 6, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 333, Year 7: More Boat Work
Date: Saturday, October 6, 2012
Weather: Another Beautiful Day, but Very Windy
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
I took Mark to shore at 10:15 am so he could go to work at West Marine and I
then returned to Windbird and dove into another day of boat work. I sanded
and varnished the Dorade boxes AGAIN. This was the third coat of varnish,
but I need to do at least two more coats. So that job will continue. Then
I decided to tackle a much dreaded task-cleaning out all of the storage
areas under the v-berth. It is dreaded because there is so much STUFF
stored there. I started with a large drawer stuffed with electronic gear.
I’ve never ventured into this storage space before. I have always left this
up to Mark, but it was definitely time for me to get involved. Mark has
just been putting things in for years. I took everything out and started
cleaning, sorting, and packaging items in ZipLock baggies to protect them
from moisture and also for easier identification. The drawer has been the
home of our almost never used SAT phone and all of its accessories, a DVD
writer, a portable CD Rom Player, two different Long Range Wireless systems
that have never really worked for us, old cell phones, our pocket PC’s from
our work lives before we left to sail around the world, connectors of every
size and description, and on and on. It took a couple of hours of cleaning
and cataloging just to figure out which parts went together. When Mark got
home I presented him with the newly organized ‘mess’ and let him decide
which things went into the give-away bag and which things were keepers.
Thankfully the drawer on the other side of the v-berth is where sail bags
are stored and those we need to keep. So that side was easy. Then under
the drawers are spaces where on one-side the electric cords for plugging us
into shore power are located, along with a camp stove, vacuum attachments,
and a pressure cooker. Interesting mix of things, but that space was easy
as everything stays. On the other side under the drawer of electronic parts
there is a spare propeller and about twenty fan belts. Not sure we need
that many, but right now there is space so they will stay. When I moved
further forward to the next compartments, I decided to wait until tomorrow
to continue. This huge space is where the spinnaker and storm sail are
stored, as well as the Coast Guard required huge off-shore life jackets
(four of them), a drogue, a sea anchor, hurricane lines, and countless other
used lines that we need to sort through and probably get rid of. That is
tomorrow’s job. I stored the cushions from the v-berth in the cockpit for
the night and left everything open so it will be easy to continue in the
morning. This is a job long overdue and it will feel really good when it is
finally done.
It was a typical New England fall day in Woods Hole, with the wind blowing
about 15-20 knots and lots of bright sunshine. Tomorrow is supposed to be a
different story. It will cool down overnight and there is an 80 percent
chance of rain tomorrow. It will be a good day to continue that clean-out
job inside the boat.
by Judy Handley | Oct 5, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 332, Year 7: Gorgeous Fall Day
Date: Friday, October 5, 2012
Weather: Beautiful Fall Day; Sunny with Temp 70 degrees F
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Today was absolutely beautiful, but the weather is forecast calls for rain
and lower temps in the next couple of days. It is supposed to stay cool and
rainy throughout next week, but hopefully we will get a bit of ‘Indian
Summer’ weather closer to the end of the month. Days like today are gifts.
My first thought was to head for Nantucket for the weekend, but then Mark
had to work today and tomorrow. So we just continued life as usual. I
enjoyed listening to the news this morning reminding me that it was 50 years
ago today that the Beatles released their first big hit, “Love Me Do.” It
was also the day of the release of the first of the James Bond movies. “Dr.
No” starring Sean Connery made its debut on this day as well. It was a big
day for the Brits with the strange combination of Beatles and Bond.
Mark worked at West Marine today and I played the granny nanny role with
Oliver. Heather teaches a science lesson in Sam’s kindergarten class every
other Friday morning, and today was her day. Oliver is still not feeling
quite up to par and when momma is in the house, he really wants momma. He
very clearly calls Heather ‘ma’ and Oma just won’t do when ‘ma’ is in the
house. But when Heather is gone, he is fine. Oliver is sitting up on his
own these days and his giggles entertain us all.
Mark works tomorrow and I need to get back to my Dorade box varnishing job.
Otherwise, I’m not sure what is happening. What a nice feeling.
by Judy Handley | Oct 4, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 331, Year 7: Boat Work
Date: Thursday, October 4, 2012
Weather: Overcast with Temp in the Upper 60’s
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
I’m holding my own with this cold but was fairly useless today. Mark, on
the other hand, had a very productive day. He installed a new ground plane
for the Ham/single-sideband (SSB) radio and connected a new connecting cable
to the radio’s antenna which is our backstay. In the past the ground for
our radio has been a flat strip of copper foil that ran the length of the
boat under the floor. It was fairly useless as copper disintegrates in a
marine environment, so most of the time we really had no ground and this
means radio doesn’t transmit and receive as well as it should due to
interference. Mark read about this new ground system in a cruising magazine
and ordered a KISS-SSB Ground Plane System (radial counterpoise system).
Instead of having to install something that runs the length of the boat, the
KISS system is only 10 feet long. He did have to take the mattress off our
aft cabin bed to work underneath where we also store our batteries, but it
was much easier than taking up all the floor boards to install something
underneath. We won’t really know how well this works until we sail south in
November, but stay tuned if you are interested. We will report on how well
it works in our logs as we sail from here to South Carolina. I also want to
mention here how nice it is to once again have a dinghy that we don’t have
to inflate morning and evening. While we were in Boston last week, we sent
the dinghy in for repairs. And so far, so good. The dinghy was returned to
us when we got back to Woods Hole on Saturday and it has held air ever
since. So we’ll call that repair a success.
Tomorrow and Saturday, Mark works at West Marine. Tomorrow I head to
Heather’s to babysit Oliver while she teaches a science lesson in Sam’s
kindergarten class and then does her ‘real’ public radio work. I hate to
think it, but in the afternoon, I believe we need to process more apples for
canning. A few weeks ago we never wanted to see another tomato and now
we’re starting to feel that way about apples. But in the middle of the
winter, these things will taste so good.
We had high hopes of sailing to Nantucket this weekend, but the weather and
work schedules are not going to allow that. Mark works on Saturday and
Heather works on Monday morning and in between, the weather forecast is for
precipitation and dropping temperatures. Tomorrow the temp will be around
70 degrees F with a nighttime temp of 60 degrees. But by the end of the
long weekend, the daytime highs will be in the 50’s with the nighttime temps
in the 40’s for the next week. This will be our first taste of cold weather
and we’re really not looking forward to it. Jed will be in Italy at a
conference next week so if it gets really cold, we might spend a few nights
with Heather and kids. We can always use our oven to warm the cabin, but in
case the cooler weather stays with us, we are looking for possibilities for
moving to a dock onshore so we can plug in while Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco
are here beginning in two weeks. It has been a fantastic summer and a warm
fall so far, but the forecast indicates that the ‘good times’ are going to
be replaced by seasonably cool temps. Burr . . .
by Judy Handley | Oct 3, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 330, Year 7: Disappointing Debate
Date: Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Weather: Overcast with Misty Sprinkles All Day and Evening
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
The Presidential debate tonight was really disappointing. We stayed at
Heather and Jed’s to watch and all I could think is that Romney is very
effective at not telling the truth and Obama tells the truth, but not so
effectively tonight. It is enough to make you want to just sail away . . .
but then there are those grandchildren. So I guess we’ll stay and hope for
the best. And while watching the debate, the cold that I have been fighting
for a day or so took over. So I now have the same cold as Oliver, Sam, and
Jonah. Hopefully we can all fight this off quickly. The good thing about
today is that we canned 52 four-ounce jars of apple sauce. These will be
used for baby food for Oliver and will be sent in lunches for Jonah. Jonah
doesn’t eat much of anything these days, but he does love applesauce. And
he loves that the four-ounce jars are like the little plastic cups of
applesauce that you buy at the store. Somehow little ones are sure it must
be better if you buy it at the store, so the tiny glass jar packaging is
very important. Heather and I need to can this much again to even begin to
have enough for the winter, but we will have to see how the energy level
holds out. Not sure what is on tap for tomorrow except yucky weather.
There is an 80 per cent chance of precipitation and the upcoming weekend
doesn’t look much better. So I guess we are just going to have to settle in
and dream of sunshine.
by Judy Handley | Oct 2, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 329, Year 7: AT&T
Date: Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Weather: Partly Sunny with Sprinkles Late Afternoon; Seasonably Warm
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
My day at Heather’s was an AT&T day–all about apples, teething, and
toes–the cutest little pudgy toes you have ever seen. Mark’s day was not
as much fun. He stayed home today to do some work on the boat and to make
phone calls recruiting more candidates for the public radio general manager
position he is trying to fill in the mid-west. Well, he was on the phone
ALL day and only got one little boat job done and that was before I left.
He installed the used radar screen he had been given by a West Marine
customer the other day. It is not perfect, but it is better than what we
had, so we do have radar of sorts. After a slow start to the morning, I
headed to Heather’s to help her with the Oliver and Jonah while she was
trying to make a huge batch of apple sauce to can. She and Jonah had peeled
all of the apples I bought in Boston by the time I got there with a few more
that I bought on the way this morning. I bought McIntosh apples in Boston
and bought Granny Smith apples this morning. The ribbons of apple peel left
behind by the peeler-corer are almost a work of art. I just love watching
the peeling process.
Jonah and Oliver both have colds and Oliver is really congested. He goes to
sleep but then startles when he feels like he can’t breathe, so someone
needs to hold him constantly when he is sleeping. When he is awake, he
plays on his own just fine. He is spending more and more time sitting up
with the help of a pillow but still loves rolling around on the floor.
Heather was holding him while we were eating lunch today and he grabbed a
piece of pizza crust that she was putting down on her plate. He looked so
perfectly pleased with himself and really enjoyed chewing on it. He is
teething and loves to chew on about anything. Heather took the pizza crust
away from him as it still had tomato sauce and cheese on it and he threw a
fit. He really wanted it back. She gave him a wash cloth to chew on and
that satisfied him for a bit, but then he was looking for the crust again.
She cut off the tomato sauce and gave it back to him. I got some photos of
him and have attached those to this log. While watching him sitting there
teething on the crust, I couldn’t help but notice his fat little legs
culminating in the cutest little toes in the world. I have attached a photo
of the toes as well.
Tomorrow begins early. I take Mark in to work at 7 am. There will be a
truck to be unloaded so he needs to be in early. I will go on to Heather
and Jed’s. They both have to leave super early, so Ollie and I will walk
Sam to school and then I will spend the morning with Oliver until Heather
returns around noon. We will then continue the apple sauce process. Either
because of the type of apples or because too much apple juice was added, the
sauce needs to cook down some more. So we put it in the refrigerator for
the night and will continue tomorrow afternoon.
by Judy Handley | Oct 1, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 328, Year 7: First of October
Date: Monday, October 1, 2012
Weather: Winds 25-35 Knots SW, Bright and Sunny
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
The first of October 2012 was a windy day here on the Cape. It has settled
down now, but I had trouble getting the dinghy to the dock early this
afternoon due to the winds. That has never happened to me before here, so I
believe the reports when they say the winds were blowing 25-35 knots. What
I can’t believe is that it is already October. It was such a beautiful
summer and somehow I think I thought it might last forever. But alas,
summer is over, fall is here, and we have only thirty days until we leave
here and sail south. I worry that we might not be ready to go. But then
when I really think about it, we are always ready to sail, so what is there
to do? We will make sure our water tanks are full and we will have to go to
Falmouth and fill the fuel tanks. I’ll have to do a last minute supermarket
run to get fresh veggies and meat, but we have most everything else we will
need. Mark does need to work on putting in a new antenna and a new ground
plane for our Ham radio and he is going to start work on that tomorrow. He
is also going to hook up a new-to-us radar display. Our old one is now
unreadable and last week a cruiser came into West Marine to buy a new radar
system. He offered Mark his old one as it is the same model as ours and his
display still works. Hopefully Mark can change our old display out for the
‘new’ one and we’ll be in business again. I need to finish varnishing the
Dorade boxes and who knows what else needs to be done. But we figure the
rest can be done in Little River. It is a three day run to the Delaware
Bay, another day into the Chesapeake, and then three or five days south to
Norfolk. Or it is a three-an-a-half to four day run directly to Norfolk.
Either way, we’ll top up on fresh food in Norfolk and then spend seven days
or so in the inland waterway before pulling into Little River, South
Carolina. This is a little community north of Myrtle Beach and it will be
our home for a few weeks before we head on to the Bahamas in January. My
sister lives about six miles from the marina where we will be staying and
good friends, Lee and Lynda Kaufman also live close-by. We’ve decided not
to try and take our car down, so we’ll have to figure out transportation
once we get there. My sister tells me that biking is just too dangerous
with the traffic that comes with the winter snowbirds and there is no public
transportation. But then I think, where do we need to go? I’m sure I can
go food shopping with my sister and we can just figure the rest out when we
get there. The month of October will be another busy one for us. Jed goes
to Italy next Monday for a week, so we will be helping Heather in the
evenings. When Jed returns, his parents come for a few days, and then on
October 20th Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco arrive. We can’t wait for that and
we want to have everything else done before they come so we can just enjoy.
Heather had to take Oliver to the doctor this afternoon and then to the
hospital for some testing. It appears that Oliver has RSV, human
respiratory syncytial virus. In the US, statistics tell us that 60 per cent
of infants will be infected with this virus during their first season, and
almost all children will have been infected by the time they are two or
three. Oliver appears to have a very bad cold with a runny nose and some
wheezing. And unfortunately for Heather, it means he needs to held in an
upright position through the night. Sam and Jonah also have their first
colds of the season, so there might not be a lot of sleeping happening at
the Goldstone’s tonight.
Mark worked at West Marine today and I stayed home this morning to put
another coat of varnish on the Dorade boxes and to do a little cleaning
inside the boat. Dust has accumulated on all of the louvered doors, so it
was time to clean them. I then went to Heather’s to do some laundry and can
green beans. Tomorrow we will make apple sauce and maybe some more apple
butter, so I will head over there early in the morning.
