by Judy Handley | Aug 7, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 273, Year 7: Grandkids, Laundry, Holding Tanks, and Batteries
Date: Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Weather: Mostly Sunny
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Now there’s an interesting combination–grandkids, laundry, holding
tanks, and batteries. But those were the things our day revolved around. Sam, Jonah, and
Oliver went with their mommy and daddy to a local pond this morning and
truly enjoyed the time. The pond is much calmer than the ocean and there is
shade along the shore. Oliver enjoyed the shade while Sam and Jonah both
tried snorkeling. Jonah enjoyed it but Sam loved it. He snorkeled for a
long time using his backpack floating device and then took that off and just
swam and snorkeled. He has wanted to do this for such a long time, but
somehow the waves in the ocean make it a much scarier proposition. Now that
he has done it in a pond, we might be able to encourage him to do it along
the shore of a calm anchorage. Jonah is younger and just needs more time.
But both came to Woods Hole after their pond excursion and were exuberant
about their experience. When Mark I went to shore to pick them up they were
wearing their sarongs and looked absolutely adorable. And speaking of
adorable, Margaret (Jo’s mom) send us photos of Ziggy and Coco today and
they were also absolutely adorable. Love those grandkids!
I spent my morning going to the town dock to fill up water jugs and do sheet
and towel laundry. After our overnight to Tarpaulin Cove, I had an
abundance of towels and sheets that needed to be washed. And while I did
this, Mark delved into the holding tank. It seems that no matter what we
do, when we are using the holding tank we have a nasty odor. We now have
all new heads and new hoses, so that is not the problem. Mark actually
opened the top of the holding tank today and it looked better than we had
expected and is also not so stinky. So now we need to check to vent and the
vent filter. But in the process, we have read a lot of suggestions on
keeping a sweet smelling holding tank and we will try some of those. One is
always flushing the holding tank with fresh water after a pump out and then
putting in a super dose of Calgon water softener and some liquid Tide. We
have been using KO and that was another recommendation, but it hasn’t done
the job for us. So now we’ll try the Tide and Calgon regimen and see what
happens.
Mark ended his day by checking the charge on our AGM batteries. We have had
to charge the batteries twice a day recently as they just aren’t holding a
charge. We went to West Marine at closing time to borrow their device to
check the batteries and came right home to do the job. We’ll return the
device before opening in the morning, but in the meantime we found that the
batteries are in better shape than we thought-not great, just better. More
has to be done on this front, but we are making progress.
by Judy Handley | Aug 6, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 272, Year 7: Back to Life in Eel Pond
Date: Monday, August 6, 2012
Weather: Partly Sunny and Warm
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
After only one night out at anchor, it was hard to get back to life as usual
today. But we have lots of sailing plans for the next couple of weeks so
we’ll be back out there soon. Monday morning is the time when Heather is on
air and Jed and I take care of Oliver. Jed kept him at home until almost
noon, but then he brought him to Woods Hole and I got a chance to take him
for a nice long walk around the pond. In no time we were back in the van
and on the way to pick up Sam and Jonah from summer camp and get home for
naps. I was able to hold Oliver while he slept so Heather could continue
working, and then when all the boys woke up from nap, we went outside to do
a little gardening.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day, so Mark and I plan to begin the
day by going to shore to fill up the water jugs and while there, I’ll do a
little laundry. If it is going to be as sunny as projected, I can dry
towels and sheets on the life lines in no time. And then I’ll head to
Heather and Jed’s to do a little gardening. These summer days pass so
quickly.
by Judy Handley | Aug 5, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 271, Year 7: Glorious Day
Date: Sunday, August 5, 2012
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Temp in the 80’s, Windy
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
What a glorious day. We woke up to a mostly clear morning in a beautiful
cove with three of our five grandchildren. And we ended the day back in Eel
Pond on a Skype video call with our other two grandchildren. Life couldn’t
be better, that is, unless we could be together with all five at once. But
too many miles separate us and reunions with all of us are too seldom. So
in the meantime, we’ll have to settle for Skype. And for that piece of
technology, we are very grateful. And Mark is so funny. Just now I was
saying how much our newest, little Coco Annabelle, looks like Jo. Mark
commented that she is such a pretty little baby. And then he added, “She
looks like a girl.” I’m afraid I just think she looks like a baby and they
are all beautiful to me. But we do love the little opportunities we have to
see her. Heather, Jed, and boys were still here when Justin called, so
everyone got to see Coco and get into the action. Jonah sang the entire
Star-bangled Banner for Justin, Jo, Ziggy, Coco, and Jo’s parents and Oliver
amazed everyone with his size. Then Ziggy turned on his CD player and did a
special dance for us going around, around, and around with flare. And
somehow Coco slept like a little angel through all of us.
Our morning was so much fun. After a breakfast of bagels, cream cheese, and
smoked salmon, we headed to shore. Mark and Sam paddled in the kayak while
the rest of us followed in the dinghy. We brought a chair for the
grandpoobah, Sam’s sometime name for Granddad, and a beach blanket for the
rest of us. Jed, Sam, and Jonah built a very intricate fort, Oliver cooed
and entertained us, we all went in the water and enjoyed it’s coolness on a
hot day, and then we walked to the lighthouse. We thought we were not
allowed to do that, but there was a sign announcing the path to the
lighthouse and no signs saying not to trespass, so we headed up the hill.
Blackberry bushes lined both sides of the path, so it took us a very long
time to make the short climb as the blackberries were ripe! The lighthouse
was built in 1759 and it was the perfect setting for eating those
blackberries. Jed, Sam, and Jonah took a different route back down the hill
and Heather ended up having to go get them in the kayak as they ended up on
the other side of a wall of rocks. Mark and I encouraged Heather and Jed to
take the kayak back to Windbird so they could enjoy a little time sans kids
and we brought the three boys back. The wind was picking up and Windbird
was doing a bit of a hobbyhorse dance, but we were able to get back onboard
safely and enjoy a beautiful sail back to Woods Hole. It is only six miles
to Tarpaulin Cove, but with 15-20 knots of wind behind us and the current
with us, we easily made the trip in an hour. Mark did not even raise the
main. It was enough to just have the headsail out. We are realizing that
summer will be over before we know it, so we made plans for doing the same
thing next weekend.
by Judy Handley | Aug 4, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 270, Year 7: Enjoying a Night at Anchor
Date: Saturday, August 4, 2012
Weather: Partly Sunny, Hot and Humid; Foggy in the Islands
Latitude: 41 28.451 N
Longitude: 070 45.398 W
Location: Tarpaulin Cove, Naushon Island, Massachusetts
It has been many months since we have spent the night at anchor. But it was
sooooo hot and humid on land that we decided heading out to an anchorage was
the perfect way to enjoy these hot summer days. We invited Heather, Jed,
and boys to come along and we had a great late afternoon. Heather, Jed, and
boys jumped into the water to cool off and then we put the kayak in the
water and Jed, Sam, and Jonah paddled around and then headed to shore for a
walk on the beach. Tarpaulin Cove is on the east side of Naushon Island.
Normally we could look across and see Martha’s Vineyard, but not today as we
motored right into fog as soon as we left Eel Pond. When we reached the
anchorage, we could see the shore, but the fog drifted in and out. Tonight
we are totally socked in, but the fog had the desired effect of cooling us
down. The anchorage is pretty with the quintessential lighthouse
punctuating the shoreline. There is also one house but nothing else in
sight. Naushon Island is one of few islands in a chain known as the
Elizabeth Islands. Most of the islands are owned by the Forbes family and
they have intentionally kept development to an absolute minimum. There are
a few homes on the islands, but most are not even visible from the water.
Visitors are asked to keep their explorations below the high water mark, so
walking is only possible along the shore. There are more people out
here spending the night than I would like to share an anchorage with, but we
mustn’t be so selfish. It is a lovely spot that can be enjoyed by many.
by Judy Handley | Aug 3, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 269, Year 7:? Big Garden Harvest Day
Date:? Friday, August 3, 2012
Weather:? Mostly Sunny, Hot and Humid
Location:? Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
This log didn?t get sent on Friday because we ended up spending the night at
Heather and Jed?s and didn?t have a computer with us.? I spent the morning
on shore with Oliver while Heather did a two-hour pledge drive shift and
then I drove home with Heather when she left Woods Hole to pick up the Sam
and Jonah.? Mark stayed on Windbird to do some boat chores, make some phone
calls, and write emails.? Heather and I harvested green beans and kale from
the garden by the tons.? We canned the beans and blanched and froze the
kale, but the job took way longer than anticipated.? Mark brought Jed home
after work and we had dinner and then ending up spending the night because
it was almost midnight when the canning process finished.? Tomorrow we will
head back to Windbird and get ready for an overnight with Heather and gang.?
We are going to an anchorage not far from Woods Hole known as Tarpaulin
Cove.? We?re hoping to get a little relief from this heat out on the water.
by Judy Handley | Aug 2, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 268, Year 7: Full Moon Over Eel Pond
Date: Thursday, August 2, 2012
Weather: Sunny, Hot, and Humid
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
The difference between living in a house versus living on a boat becomes
most striking when you think about how connected you are to the moon. When
you live in a house, you might catch the full moon if your happen to be out
and about, but otherwise, you really don’t think much about the moon. But
when you live on a boat, you really are connected. If you are sailing at
all, you have to be aware of the phases of the moon because of the impact on
tides and currents-especially in this part of the world. We have a
beautiful full moon tonight and we are going to have another one on August
31st to kick off Labor Day Weekend. Once in a ‘blue moon’, we have two
full moons in one month. The last one I remember was on December 31, 2009,
when we were in Thailand. It was a great New Year’s eve with that blue
moon, the term referring to a second full moon in one month. And tonight, I
am enjoying that golden orb shining down on Eel Pond. It is beautiful.
I walked the mile or so this morning to pick up the car. I was so impressed
with the shop where we had the work done. The owner/manager, Eddie, is the
kind of guy you want to do business with. The cost was exactly as he quoted
and he spent time going over the condition of the car and made a
recommendation that we take it back to the person who most recently did work
on it and have them fix a few things they missed. When I told him the story
of the work done in the past couple of weeks and the cost associated with
it, he was able to explain to me why the work took so long and cost so much.
And the explanation was that it should have taken no more than eight hours
and cost no more than $1100. We were told that a used pump for the power
steering system was not available. Eddie explained that this is just not
possible. When cars are junked these days, they are torn apart, piece by
piece, and each piece that is reusable is put into a national data base. He
says there is no way on earth that a used pump for a 1999 Ford Taurus was
not available through that data base. And then he explained that the reason
the rack that was ordered did not fit was because the one ordered was for
the wrong engine. If the VIN number had been used when ordering, the wrong
size would never have been an issue. So long story short, if you have an
old car, make sure that whoever is doing the repairs notes the VIN number
when ordering parts. I just wish Streetwise was on the Cape, not in Boston,
but I will take the car there for future issues even if it is a bit of a
distance.
Heather had to do some commentary live from her home phone at 1 pm this
afternoon, so Mark and I drove straight there and did our best to keep the
boys quiet during the time she was on air. Immediately following it was nap
time, and I got a chance to catch up on my time away from Oliver by holding
him during the first part of his nap. Love those chances to hold a
grandbaby.
Windbird was fine when re got here late in the afternoon, but the charge on
the engine was down to a complete zero. But somehow the temp in the refrig
was still normal, so we didn’t lose a lot of food. It is almost 11 pm and
we are still running the generator. But it is time to shut it off and head
to bed. We’ll continue tomorrow.
