Day 194, Year 8: Transitioning Back to Living Aboard

by Judy Handley | May 16, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 | 0 comments

Day 194, Year 8: Transitioning Back to Living Aboard
Date: Thursday, May 16, 2013
Weather: Sunny, High Temp Reaching 70 degrees F
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts

I was only away from Windbird for 16 days, but anytime you are away from home for a bit, it takes time to transition back normal. And today was not normal, so the transition will continue tomorrow. We did get up at 3 am and we dropped Lee and Lynda at Logan Airport’s Terminal B in Boston at 5 am. We were back on the Cape by 6:30 am. We had told Heather and Jed that we would come with their van at 8:30 so Jed could transport kids to school and day care, so instead of driving all the way down to Woods Hole for an hour or so and then coming back, we drove straight to the Laundromat at the end of Heather and Jed’s street. We had sheets and towels from the passage and Mark’s dirty clothes and that laundry was done before 8 am. We then went to Heather and Jed’s and found out that the new washing machine that got hooked up last night was not draining. Laundry there had piled up for a few days, so after getting everyone off to work and school, we went back to the Laundromat to wash those clothes. We made a run to take some things to the Swap Shop at the town dump and Mark went in to West Marine to talk with Sylvia, the manager. She wasn’t in yesterday, but he caught her today and will be starting to work soon. This is the busy season here, so I think he’ll be working full time for a while. It was nearly noon before we returned to Heather’s with three big laundry baskets full of washed, dried, and folded clothes. Heather slept all morning trying to recover from the stomach flu that hit her so suddenly and violently yesterday afternoon. But after the morning’s rest, she got up and felt much better—not good enough to eat anything, but better. Sam and Jonah had made plans for a welcome home dinner for Granddad, so we decided to stay, take afternoon naps there to make up for the early wake-up time, and then have dinner. By dinner time, Heather was much better and was able to both cook and eat. So whatever she had was a 24-hour bug of some sort. I’m hoping the rest of us don’t get it, but that would be just too lucky. The repairman from the appliance dealer where they bought the new washing machine came in the afternoon and got the washer working, so by the time Jed came home from work, things were pretty much back to ‘normal’ in the Goldstone household. We had a great dinner that Heather was able to prepare and then we headed back to Windbird.

Tomorrow we have to deal with a car issue, get the salt washed off Windbird, and then get ready to have Heather, Jed, and boys over for dinner. That will signal that things are back to ‘normal’ on Windbird.

Final Guest Log from Windbird’s Trek to Cape Cod
Written by Lynda Kaufman, Guest Crew on Windbird

Well, the adventure is over and this guest log is to summarize the out-to-sea overnight sailing portion of the trip. The Delaware Bay to Woods Hole section of the trip was sailing 24/7 for 3 days and 2 nights. The seas were rough and winds not in the best direction, especially early on, but even with those conditions, getting awake and alert wasn’t as hard as I expected. The whole thing wasn’t as exhausting as I expected either. I took naps off duty and slept well between watches. It was pretty busy with ship traffic the first night and getting and staying on course was hard the second night—but there was less boat traffic. Between 12 and 2 am, I heard another woman alert the coast guard that she and 2 others were on a 37 foot sail boat that had dismasted. Definitely not what you would want, especially in the dark. The Coast Guard was coming to the rescue. I anticipated I would be nervous about night watch but wasn’t. My only concern was how much I dared alter course to stay on our projected route.

All in all I found the entire trip less intimidating than I had expected and I definitely have more confidence in myself. I would declare the trip both a success and a learning experience.

Day 193, Year 8: Windbird’s Trek to Cape Cod, Day 16

by Judy Handley | May 15, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 | 0 comments

Day 193, Year 8: Windbird’s Trek to Cape Cod, Day 16
Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Weather: Sunny Turning Overcast, Cool and Windy
Location: Back Home in Eel Pond, Woods Hole, MD

Windbird is home. Mark, Lee, and Lynda came through the Eel Pond bridge at the 3 pm opening. I am so glad that they made it and they were equally pleased to be here. It was Lynda’s first time on an ocean passage and she made it just fine. I picked them up in Woods Hole, but our evening didn’t go as planned. Heather woke up this morning not feeling well, but by this afternoon it was evident that she has some sort of stomach flu. Yikes! She is really not feeling good and we all decided that it was best not to further expose ourselves. We had dinner a the Captain Kidd in Woods Hole and in the morning at 3 am we head to Boston to the airport where Lee and Lynda will catch a very early morning flight home. On we go!

130515 Day 193 Passage to Cape Cod–Day 16, Woods Hole, MA

Day 181, Year 8: Windbird’s Trek to Cape Cod, Day 4

by Judy Handley | May 3, 2013 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 8 | 0 comments

Day 181, Year 8: Windbird’s Trek to Cape Cod, Day 4
Date: Friday, May 3, 2013
Weather: Winds NE 25-30; Overcast Early, then Clearing; High Temp 70’s F
Latitude: 35 32.433 N
Longitude: 076 37.980 W
Location: Intracoastal Waterway, Mile 135, Belhaven

Captain’s Log for Friday, May 3:
“Today was a continuation of yesterday afternoon – high winds on the nose, short period seas and slow going. We had hoped to make it to the Alligator River by this evening, but could only manage 3 to 5 knots against the 25 to 30 knot winds. So even with a 5:57 AM start we only made it as far as Belhaven – about 42 nautical miles (48.3 statute miles). But the crew is doing magnificently and the boat is performing like Windbird has always performed for us – keeping us safe and giving us the feeling that all is well even when the conditions are far less than ideal. The only casualty was the loss of the Sunbrella cover for the grill – carried away by the high winds.

Tonight we are going to dine on chicken masala. How’s that for boat cuisine? And tomorrow is uncertain at this point. The Coast Guard has closed the swing bridge on the Alligator River due to high winds. We can’t go much further until they open it. But we can go as far as the headwaters of the Alligator River, anchor there, and wait for the opening to then cross the Albemarle Sound. If it looks like the winds will die down by Sunday, then we will head on to the Alligator River anchorage tomorrow and be ready to continue on Sunday. Otherwise we will hang out here for one more day waiting for the winds to subside. Waiting is not my favorite sport!”

Now back to Cape Cod . . . things are going well here but I have unfortunately been added to the list of people in this household that have a runny nose. It seems that either one or two or all three kids at the same time have been sick all winter, but I was hoping to avoid this so I could be a bundle of energy to help in taking care of them. If I get no worse, I certainly still have the energy to help, but it’s hard to stay one step ahead when you’re not feeling up to par. Ollie and I spent a great deal of today sleeping in a rocking chair together and that was good for both of us. I continue to be amazed at how alert and grown up Ollie is these days. He doesn’t miss a trick and he wants to do absolutely everything that his big brothers do. Tonight he was on Heather’s lap nursing while I was reading to the big boys. Jonah did something good and Heather told him she wanted to give him a high 5. Ollie immediately popped up and put his hand in the air for the high 5. It was very cute.

I’m hoping Windbird can make it to the Alligator River tomorrow to be poised for crossing the Albemarle Sound on Sunday. But if they do have to stay in Belhaven tomorrow, maybe they can launch the dinghy and go in explore the town of Belhaven. Evidently the name means ‘beautiful harbor’ and everything I read says it is a lovely little town.

130503 Day 181 Passage to Cape Cod–Day 4, Bellhaven