by Judy Handley | Aug 28, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 298, Year 8: Shopping and Dinner with Friends
Date: Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Weather: Partly Cloudy Day, Foggy Night
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
The pace of life today was a little slower than usual. Mark and I spent the early morning doing boat chores and then we went to Heather’s around noon. Heather had to take Ollie to the doctor to check out his ears and lungs. Thankfully they are clear but he has a killer cold. All the doctor said was “five days in, five days out” meaning that the cold builds for five days and then starts getting better. Today is day five for Ollie, so hopefully things will start getting better tomorrow. We all had lunch at Heather’s and then Heather and I took off with all three boys on a Back to School shopping trip. The focus of the trip was to buy shoes for the boys with a little shopping for Heather thrown in on the side. We had to drive more than hour north to the Wrentham Village Outlet Mall to get to a Stride Rite Outlet. But Heather thinks the drive was worth it as the base cost of the shoes was at least $10 less than retail, and then you got 50 per cent off a second pair of shoes. So both Sam and Jonah got two pair of shoes so they should be set for a bit. Heather didn’t get much time to shop for herself, but she did find a couple of things, so we’ll call that a successful shopping outing.
By the time we got back to the Cape, it was time for Mark and I to be at dinner at Bruce and Jane Woodin’s. Olivia and Terry White were also there and we had a fun evening catching up on summer activities. Unfortunately Olivia has been very sick from the tick-borne disease Babesiosis. This is a disease where microscopic parasites infect red blood cells. Mark and I had never heard of this, but now we have and we promise to be on more careful lookout for ticks. Olivia was at a conference in Los Angeles when this happened and she was in the hospital for eight days, and in ICU part of that time. She had to have a total blood transfusion which in itself is quite scary. But she is doing much better now and it was great to get together with friends.
Tomorrow Mark and I will have all three boys again as Ollie still has a fever and can’t go to daycare. It is officially the last day of Camp Oma so we are going to have to be creative to figure a way to include all three boys. At some point in the day Granddad is going to have to take Sam and Jonah with him to Woods Hole to drive our dinghy out into Great Harbor and then around to the fishing pier where there is concrete ramp going down into the water. There they will meet EJ, the dinghy repair man. EJ also works at West Marine and he is going to bring a dinghy and motor to loan us while he takes ours away for repairs. We don’t have a clue what happened, but we did something in Tarpaulin Cove this weekend that is causing the front tube to deflate fairly quickly. Later in the day Mark will also have to leave us to be on Windbird when a diver comes to clean the prop. So tomorrow is going to be a busy day.
by Judy Handley | Aug 27, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 297, Year 8: Teamwork
Date: Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Weather: Heavy Rain Early, Then Overcast with Intermittent Rain
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Today was all about teamwork. It was supposed to be a Camp Oma day, but Ollie still has a temperature and couldn’t go to daycare. So Mark and I went to Heather and Jed’s and kept the three boys there today. Mark had to work on the computer most of the day doing his public radio consulting work, but he was there to help me when I needed it. I explained to Sam and Jonah that we needed to include Ollie in our activities for the day and that there would be times when I needed to be with Ollie and they would have to play on their own. Using the teamwork approach, we had a great rainy day inside. Ollie took a nap in the morning and that gave me time to work do some science experiments with Sam and Jonah. I have a notebook full of experiments from my teaching days and I let them go through and decide which experiments we would try. We did this for an hour and half while Ollie slept. Sam and Jonah really enjoyed each experiment. They then launched into a shoe store game and gathered all the shoes they could find to sell in their pretend store. When Ollie woke up he was hot, so I decided to put him in the bathtub to cool him down. Sam and Jonah wanted to get in as well and all three boys had a good time with a mid-day bubble bath. We then had lunch and watched a video. Momma had told them that they could watch a video since it was raining and they chose Madagascar I. Ollie watched right along with Sam and Jonah until he got restless and then we went to Granddad and pointed to his stroller. He made it quite clear that he wanted Granddad to take him for a walk, so Mark took time off work and did that. Mark was able to continue to pitch in during the afternoon to either play with Ollie or watch Sam and Jonah play in the backyard. Mark got way more work done today than he had planned and still had time to spend with the boys. And Sam and Jonah were always cooperative when I needed to spend time with Ollie. The big boys didn’t go out in the yard until late in the afternoon because it was so wet and I was amazed that they were so good all day inside with no naps. I didn’t really get to tell Heather and Jed just how good they were today, so I hope they read this log and find out!
Mark has to run some errands tomorrow but will spend most of his day here on the boat doing more consulting work. I might be going clothes shopping with Heather and the boys tomorrow afternoon (back to school shopping) and then tomorrow evening Mark and I go to dinner at Bruce and Jane Woodin’s. Thursday will be my last Camp Oma day with Sam and Jonah as school starts next week. The summer is coming to an end but Friday is supposed to be a beautiful Cape Cod day, and if so, I hope to take all three boys to the beach just one more time.
by Judy Handley | Aug 26, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 296, Year 8: Rockin’ and Rollin’ from Menemsha to Eel Pond
Date: Monday, August 26, 2013
Weather: Overcast with Spitting Rain, Winds SW 15-20
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
We’re home. It was a great weekend, but not without its issues. I must declare this just so you know that paradise is not quite all it seems sometimes. Both Sam and Jonah were hell bent on killing themselves this weekend—running on deck and climbing up and down the companion way ladder without holding on. Jonah had a big fall off the ladder yesterday and this morning Sam fell flat on the deck, smashing his knee which saved his face. In both cases the falls could have been much worse than they were, so we are thankful. But we have to get those boys to slow down. I know you’re saying, “Good luck on that one.” But we will keep trying. And add to that the fact that Ollie either got a cold just as he came onboard on Friday evening or he had an allergic reaction to something on the boat. Whichever, he was sick all weekend and needed mommy to hold him 24-7. And then there was the issue of the anchorage last night. It was rolly . . . and the trip home this morning really sent us rockin’ and rollin’. So, not a perfect weekend, but one with fantastic times—Jonah and Sam catching their first fish, burying each other in the warm pebbles on the beach in Menemsha, driving the dinghy into huge standing waves in the Menemsha pass (a favorite for Sam and Jonah), and exploring a new sailing destination. The trip home this morning was wicked due to the SW winds meeting the southbound current. When you try to buck the current around here, it always spells trouble. But we needed to get home so Heather could get to work, so we motored and sailed and way home. We all had to sit in cockpit as it was too rough for anyone to be down below and we passed part of the time by sitting in cockpit singing sea shanties. We sang one we all learned this summer at a public library presentation, adding some of our own verses this morning.
Cape Cod girls ain’t got no combs
Heave away, haul away
They brush their hair with codfish bones
And we’re bound away for Australia
Chorus:
So heave away, me bully, bully boys
Heave away, haul away
Heave her up and don’t you make a noise
And we’re bound away for Australia
Other Verses:
Cod kids ain’t got no sleds
They slide down the hills on codfish heads
Cape Cod girls ain’t got no frills
They tie their hair with codfish gills
Cape Cod cats ain’t got no tails
They lost them all in the northeast gales
Our verses:
Cape Cod ladies don’t bake no pies
They make dessert out of cod fish eyes
Cape Cod gardeners don’t need no soil
They grow their crops in cod fish oil
So as in life, our weekend had its ups and downs, but overall it was fantastic. We spent the afternoon at Heather’s watching the boys while Heather worked in the den. Late in the afternoon, the boys and I drove into Falmouth to pick Jed up from the bus station. He had a good weekend with his parents who are now back home in Washington, DC. And tonight I talked with friend Lynda Kaufman in Little River, South Carolina. Lynda and Lee started out on a travel trailer trip across the US a few days ago with the destination of Portland, Oregon, where their son Seth will be married on September 8. Unfortunately, on Day 2 of the trip, Lynda fell and messed up her knee and they had to turn around and head back to South Carolina. Lynda had an appointment with the orthopedic specialist today and he put her leg into a new-age cast to restrict movement and said she should have an operation sometime after the leg is healed. She’s determined to avoid the operation until it is absolutely necessary, so good luck, Lynda.
by Judy Handley | Aug 25, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 295, Year 8: Tarpaulin Cove to Menemsha
Date: Sunday, August 25, 2013
Weather: Another Gorgeous Day, Winds SW 10-15
Location: Moored Off Menemsha, SW Side of Martha’s Vineyard
This will be a short log—not because there isn’t much to say, but because I’m too tired to say it! We had a wonderful day with Heather and the three boys. We left Tarpaulin Cove and motored to Menemsha against the wind. Thankfully the wind wasn’t too strong, but still the trip took almost two hours to go only seven miles. There are public moorings off the beach at Menemsha so we picked up one of those and proceeded to beach by dinghy for a few hours of fun in the sun. The beach here is a pebble beach with a bit of sand above the high tide line. Surprisingly, the boys chose to play in the pebbles and not on the sand. The stones were so smooth and warm that you could just lie down on them and feel like you were being massaged. We sent Mark back to Windbird to pick up food and enjoyed lunch on the beach. We then took Heather and Ollie back to the boat for a nap and Mark and I took Sam and Jonah into Menemsha to explore possibilities for dinner and to just generally let the boys run off some steam. I wish we could capture just half the energy these boys expend and use it to recharge our old bodies! We took Sam and Jonah to road that is sparsely traveled and just let them run. Mark convinced them that they could catch their shadows and they tried. When we left Menemsha Harbor and headed back out to Windbird, we had wind against raging current which produced three to five foot standing waves. So we had an exciting ride. We picked up Heather and Ollie and came back in for dinner. We had the most unremarkable food I think I have ever had for quite a remarkable price, but it is Martha’s Vineyard and I didn’t have to cook dinner.
Tomorrow morning we will leave early to head back to Woods Hole. Heather has to go to work and Mark and I will enjoy the day with all three boys. Ollie seems to be getting another cold. Either that or being on the boat sets off his asthma. But whichever, because he isn’t feeling great combined with the fact that the weather is supposed to be yucky, we might just take the boys home for a quiet afternoon.
by Judy Handley | Aug 24, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 294, Year 8: Woods Hole to Tarpaulin Cove
Date: Saturday, August 24, 2013
Weather: Gorgeous, Gorgeous Day, Winds NE 10-20
Location: Anchored in Tarpaulin Cove, Elizabeth Islands, Massachusetts
What a gorgeous day! We didn’t make our destination of Menemsha on the west side of Martha’s Vineyard, but we’ll get there tomorrow. Today we had heavy current against us and were trying to sail dead downwind—not the easiest point of sail. It was too rocky and rolly to do any fishing with Sam and Jonah so we decided to stop early at Tarpaulin and go fishing–and what a good decision. The fishing expedition was a huge success. We followed the directions of Sue McIntosh at West Marine and within seconds of lowering the first line, Jonah had a bite. We were fishing for scup as not much else is biting right now, and we caught scup, scup, and more scup. After Jonah caught the first one, Sam landed two at once, and then Jonah caught another. And so it went. It was so much fun and made the early stop a definite winner. After the fishing frenzy, we went to shore to walk and play. We took the cleaned fish in and scraped the scales off on shore to keep from making a fishy mess on Windbird’s deck. It was low tide and Jonah scoured the beach looking for sea glass while Sam went in circles with his boogey board. By going in circles he says he makes his own wake, but he looks like a puppy chasing his tail. Ollie followed along, doing everything just like his big brothers. Then it was back to Windbird to fix dinner. Jonah doesn’t eat fish and we couldn’t convince Sam to try the scup, so this might be the end of our fishing career. But we had no trouble getting the boys to eat S’mores after dinner. We toasted the marshmallows on the grill which worked great.
This morning before we left Woods Hole we had a good time on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s (WHOI’s) dock. Sam and Jonah really enjoyed seeing and hearing about Challenger, as did I. I couldn’t believe the small size of the capsule that holds the human occupant. Talk about claustrophobia. But it was definitely worth the time to see the vehicle. Me? I’ll stick to snorkeling.
by Judy Handley | Aug 23, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 293, Year 8: Flying Kites and Having Fun on Windbird
Date: Friday, August 23, 2013
Weather: Unexpected Sunshine with Lots of Wind
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Sunshine that is unexpected is always welcome. When I checked the weather just before going to bed last night, the forecast called for a totally overcast day. But after a partly sunny morning, we had a beautiful afternoon. I was keeping Sam, Jonah, and Ollie for Heather and we had planned to stay at home. But with the sunshine, I tried to talk them into going to the beach. No one was interested, so we stayed home and did water play on the deck and then walked to the neighborhood elementary school to see the playground construction and to use their huge playing field for flying kites. The construction crew bringing tons of sand to fill in around the new playground equipment, but that didn’t interfere with our kite flying. It was quite windy, almost too windy for flying kites with little guys, but we did it and had a great time. The field is wide open with nothing for the kites to get tangled in, so I just let them go. Sam got the big kite up all by himself but was worn out after a few runs up and down the field. He was able to reel the kite in and felt very proud of himself. Jonah’s kite is a small one and not as easy to get aloft, but it is easy to manage and that made it fun. Even Ollie gave it a try. After Sam was finished with the big kite, Jonah wanted to give it a try. It was going up and down, so one of the playground workmen came over and got the kite up for Jonah. It went up and up and up. I have never flown a kite that high in such strong winds and Jonah didn’t feel like he could control it, so we reeled it in which took almost 15 minutes—but in the meantime, we enjoyed watching the kite flying and the boys chased the kite shadow on the ground. As we were winding up (literally), Heather called and we met her at the corner store for lunch.
I then turned my attention to food shopping and getting ready for our weekend sail. Heather, Sam, Jonah, and Ollie arrived at sundown and we had a fun evening together. Jed is helping his parents drive back to Washington, DC from Maine this weekend, so he won’t be joining us. We are going to sail to the southwest side of Martha’s Vineyard to the 300 year old fishing village of Menemsha. We have been there by bus from Vineyard Haven, but we have never sailed there. So it will be a fun exploration for all. But before we leave in the morning, we will visit the WHOI dock to see the deep sea vehicle Challenger. This one-man underwater vehicle was built by explorer and film maker James Cameron who this year gave Challenger to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). In 2012 Cameron made the solo dive in Challenger to the deepest place under the sea. Tomorrow morning we’ll get to the see the vehicle up-close on the WHOI dock before setting sail for Menemsha.
