by Judy Handley | Nov 19, 2013 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 30, Year 9: Rub-a-Dub-Dub
Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Windy, and Much Cooler, High Temp in the 40’s
Location: Home of Bruce and Jane Woodin, West Falmouth, MA
Tonight I’ll start at the end of the day and work backwards. ‘Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Three Men in a Tub’—Sam, Jonah, and Ollie. Jed flew to DC to spend a few days with his family, so we stayed at Heather’s this evening to help with dinner and bath time. Jed called just before dinner and wanted to arrange a Skype call so his parents, brother, and uncle could see the boys. About half way through the call, Ollie got a bit antsy, so I took him and put him in the tub. Not long after, Sam and Jonah followed. Heather brought the computer into the bathroom so the boys could say good night to their daddy and Papa and Grammy. Those ‘three men in a tub’ couldn’t be cuter—photos attached.
This morning we went to check on Windbird and re-inflate the dinghy. We thought we had it ready to store for the winter, but then we remembered that the guys that will cover the boat need the dinghy to stand in to some of the shrink-wrap work. Since we were in the neighborhood, we took Ollie to Bruce and Jane’s to see their dog Siggy. Siggy loves the playtime with Ollie, so it is good for all.
We got a call from our Australian friends, Chris and Geoff of Shambala, today. They sailed down the East River on Saturday, sailed by Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, and then headed up the Hudson to the Lincoln Harbor Yacht Club on the New Jersey side of the Hudson. The Yacht Club has basically shut down for the winter so they have no water or electricity, but they have a million dollar view of NYC. The Empire State Building is directly east of them and Chris said the city light show at night is indescribably beautiful. They take a ferry across to the city every day and just yesterday they walked 16 K’s. Chris has blisters on her feet, but they were headed back into the city today. They are just overwhelmed with the beauty of the city and they said that we just have to sail down the East River. So now they have convinced us that we have to sail to Nova Scotia and then head on down to New York City. We have driven into New York City many times, but we know well that entering a place from the water is a totally different experience from entering it by land or air. There is some sort of magic that happens as you sail into a place. Sailing under the Statue of Liberty on your own boat would feel very different from taking a ferry across. It is just so wonderful that Chris and Geoff and enjoying our country so much. The Yacht Club is charging them $175 for a one week stay, so this coming Saturday, weather permitting, they will sail out of the Hudson and head off-shore to Norfolk. Chris and Geoff are hearty folks but we do hope they get settled for the winter soon and have some heat. Here’s hoping they have fair weather conditions for that sail south.
by Judy Handley | Nov 18, 2013 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 29, Year 9: Monday with SJ&O
Date: Monday, November 18, 2013
Weather: Rain Early, Then Clearing with Temps in the 60’s
Location: Home of Bruce and Jane Woodin, West Falmouth, MA
Monday is our ‘day off.’ Normally Jed stays home with Jonah and Ollie so we have no child care responsibilities. Jonah goes to school on Tuesdays, Thursday, and Fridays, but not on Mondays. But today Jed had to leave by 7 am to drive to Boston and Heather had to be on the air in Woods Hole at 9 am, so Mark and I left early to go to Heather and Jed’s. We put the final touches on getting boys ready to head out the door and then put them in the car to take Sam to school and to then take Mark to the Hematology/Oncology Center for his second chemo treatment. Ollie, Jonah, and I then went to Windbird so I could pick up some things that we forgot to take with us to our new temporary home and then we drove to our new temporary home to drop off these things. By this time the ugly early morning rains had ended so I wanted to make sure Siggy (the dog that lives in our new temporary home) had a chance to go out without the element of rain. Jonah and Ollie loved the stop at Bruce and Jane’s. Ollie followed Siggy around and Jonah found good places to locate the little and the big Legos we brought from the boat. Jonah decided we needed things to play with when at Bruce and Jane’s so I caved and let him bring the Legos from the boat. Then it was time for us to head home so we could have some outside play time before lunch and returning to pick-up Mark. Jonah wanted to go biking, so he convinced Ollie to put on his helmet and both went ‘biking’ on a nearby side street that has very little traffic. Both boys enjoyed their ‘biking’ time and we even got to meet Ariel, the newest addition to the neighborhood. She is a week and a half old and was out for a walk in the wonderfully mild weather with her mother, Dominque. We continued to enjoy the afternoon after returning from picking up Granddad.
Mark is handling the chemo treatments well. On the day of treatment, his energy level is totally drained, but he has read enough to know that succumbing to the desire to retreat is not the right action. Exercising is the right move, so he played baseball with Jonah and Ollie this afternoon and then we all walked to Sam’s school to pick him up. Somehow Mondays have ended up to be a Dunkin Donuts afternoon, so we stopped on the way home (DD is directly in our walking path) and had a donut frenzy—not healthy, but fun. On the healthy side, I had a pasture-raised organic stewing chicken burbling away all day to make Miracle Broth and I continue to search for healthy drinks for Mark. He doesn’t drink alcohol while undergoing treatment, so there is a constant search for interesting drinks that are healthy. He loves berry smoothies and tonight he is trying an almond milk and banana chocolate smoothie. He has become addicted to homemade ginger ale (sparkling water and sugarless ginger syrup which I make by boiling pieces of ginger in water for a couple of hours). But the easiest to make and best liked new drink is Rooibos Tea. I cleaned out our tea cabinet the other day and found a huge stash of Rooibos (roy-boss) from South Africa. This is a tea made from the red leaves of a bush that only grows near Cape Town. Mark hates coffee and black tea and has recently found green tea to give him indigestion. When I brewed him a cup of Rooibos, he loved it. I researched it on the internet and found that its professed healing powers are many and that it should be safe for anyone undergoing chemo if their cancer is not estrogen-based. I had him check with his oncologist today, and she agreed that Rooibos is safe for Mark. But I chuckle when people ask me what Mark’s doctors suggest he eat or drink. They have no idea. They can check the internet just like I do when we ask specific questions, but they make no recommendations. The main drug in Mark’s regimen is FU (stands for a chemical compound too complicated to spell). One of the main side-effects of this drug is mouth sores. The other night as we were perusing the internet, we found on a Mayo Clinic site that sucking on chipped ice during the initial hour of FU chemo treatment can lessen the chance of mouth sores. Today Mark took ice chips with him and as his infusion started, he was sucking away. His oncologist came in to talk with him and when she noticed that he was sucking on the ice chips, she noted that this can help ward off the mouth sores. Now why in the world had she not recommended this to him during his first six months of treatment? The answer is that doctors in this country, even in 2013, do not deal with healthy practices. They really only deal with chemical-based treatment for illnesses. So we are left on our own to figure out what to eat and drink in order to be healthy. And it is not an easy thing to figure out!
by Judy Handley | Nov 17, 2013 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 28, Year 9: Wonderful Visit with Good Friends
Date: Sunday, November 17, 2013
Weather: Sunny Morning, Rainy Afternoon, Mild Temp in the Upper 50’s
Location: Home of Bruce and Jane Woodin, West Falmouth, MA
Today started off on a glorious note with bright sunshine. The official records say the temperature was only in the upper 50’s, but it definitely felt like it was warmer than that. Unfortunately, just before our friends Detta and Tom Porat arrived, the clouds moved in and by the time we were eating lunch, it started raining. We had planned to go for a walk on the bike path after lunch with Heather, Jed, and boys, but the rain changed those plans. Instead, we took Tom and Detta over to the house where we will be staying for the next three weeks and had Heather and Jed meet us there. But I must back-up a bit and rave about lunch. Detta brought an absolutely delicious chicken soup and blueberry muffins. I added a salad and some red wine. Perfecto! But more than the delicious soup, we just enjoyed talking with Tom and Detta. They live near Portsmouth, New Hampshire, so it was a good two and a half hour drive down and another two and half hours home for them. That’s a lot of driving for a short visit, but we so enjoyed seeing them. So thank you, Tom and Detta, for coming down and bringing such a yummy lunch.
Before the rain started, Tom helped Mark deflate the dinghy and get it ready for winter storage. But before they got it in the storage bag, the rain started. So it will have to sit on the dock until it dries out before we bag it and lash it down on the finger pier beside Windbird. We had a nice visit with Heather, Jed, and boys, and then after everyone left, Mark and I went back to Windbird to finish the move. Earlier in the morning we had brought bags and bags of food, clothes, and who knows what that we will need during our stay here. But we still needed to go back and get food out of the refrigerator. We are settled in now, but I’m sure we will be going back to Windbird to get more things that we forgot or didn’t realize that we will need. But we are settled in tonight. It’s a big house but we are huddled at the dining room table just like we do around the table on the boat. You can take the girl/boy out of the boat, but you can’t take the boat out of the girl/boy.
by Judy Handley | Nov 16, 2013 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 27, Year 9: There’s a Moon Out Tonight . . .
Date: Saturday, November 16, 2013
Weather: Partly Sunny, High in the Upper 50’s, Low in the Upper 30’s
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, North Falmouth, Massachusetts
The moon rose tonight just before sunset and it was gorgeous here. Hope you got a glimpse of it as well. It will be full sometime between tonight and tomorrow night. It looked full tonight, but if it is clear, we will get to enjoy its fullness again tomorrow night.
We started the day by meeting Heather, Jed, and boys at Falmouth High School where Sam was supposed to run in an elementary track meet. But he got cold feet at the last minute and just didn’t want to run. So we played outside the school for a bit before parting ways. We headed into town to do some shopping and returned to Windbird in the early afternoon. Mark launched into a couple of boat projects. He took the blades off the wind generator to store them for the winter, pulled the anchor chain out onto the dock to put the depth markers on it, and then washed down the deck. We are battling the birds once again. We love to watch them, but we hate it when they roost on the top of our mast as they leave their ‘markings’ everywhere. Once we have the plastic cover on for the winter it won’t be such a problem, but for now, we just have to spray down every couple of days. While Mark worked outside, I fixed lunch, did a little cleaning, insulated the anchor locker doors and a couple of hatches, and started gathering things that we will need to move to the Woodin’s for the next three weeks. Tomorrow our good friends Tom and Detta Porat come to visit. Mark will start his day by going over to feed Mr. Sigmund Freud, more affectionately called Siggy, and I will finish packing up the things we need to take with us. We will then enjoy the afternoon with Tom and Detta before making the big move.
by Judy Handley | Nov 15, 2013 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 26, Year 9: Dinner with Friends
Date: Friday, November 15, 2013
Weather: Sunny, High in the Upper 50’s, Low in the Upper 30’s
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, North Falmouth, Massachusetts
Today was a beautiful day and tonight when I checked the 10-day forecast, I realized that we are now at the mercy of the wind. When it blows from any direction other than North, we have 50 degree days and nights above freezing. But when the wind shifts to the North, our days are in the 40’s and the nights in the 30’s or lower. Luckily we haven’t had many days with North winds, but they are on the increase. Mark talked to Chris and Geoff on Shambala this morning and they expect to arrive in New York City this weekend. They survived the snow and icy temps of a couple of days ago and are hoping it doesn’t get that cold again until they head further South.
I spent my day with Ollie while Mark returned to Windbird today to install the wooden platform and step he built yesterday. This makes getting aboard Windbird so much easier. I’ll have to get a photo of that and post it tomorrow. He also had to work on a water leak. As we were eating breakfast this morning, the water pump came on and I heard water running in the forward head. Mark ran back and found a connection had come loose under the sink. He fixed that, but tonight as we were sitting here the water pump came on again. So there is still a slow leak somewhere else. We’ll do more searching tomorrow. Ollie and I spent our entire morning outside. We worked in the garden, worked in the yard, and then I took Ollie for a ride in his wagon. When we got back home, he bolted for the front door. I opened the door for him expecting that he was ready to go in and have lunch. But no. He went in to get his special Sunshine Bear (pull a cord and it plays ‘You Are My Sunshine’) that he had put in a little make-shift backpack earlier in the morning. He brought it outside, plopped it in the wagon, and took off. I took him for a ride and now he was going to take his baby on a ride. Monkey See, Monkey Do.
Tonight we had dinner with Bruce and Jane Woodin. We will be housesitting for them while they are vacationing in Cancun. So tomorrow we will prepare Windbird to spend some time alone. The Woodins live just three or four miles from here, so it will be very easy to come by and check on Windbird most every day. We will be taking care of Sigmund Freud, the Woodin’s beloved Dachshund, so we are going to have to bring Ollie over to visit as he LOVES doggies.
I must say that I think the move from a sailboat to a two-story home will be an interesting experience. Stay tuned on that one.
by Judy Handley | Nov 14, 2013 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 25, Year 9: Weather Back on Track
Date: Thursday, November 14, 2013
Weather: Back to Normal Cape Cod Fall Weather–Sunny and Cool
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, North Falmouth, Massachusetts
The weather is back on track. The snow has melted and the temps are no longer in the freezing zone. It is still cool, but it is mid-November. So cool is expected and in the middle of the day, it actually feels warm. Ollie must have noticed the difference in temperature as he wanted to play outside as much as possible today. We were outside playing before mommy and daddy even left for work. Ollie helped me empty one of the compost bins and deliver the compost to the garden. As I was shoveling out the compost into the Garden Way cart, Ollie climbed into the cart to sit right in the middle of the compost and play with the earthworms that were wriggling all over the place. He then went to find his little wheelbarrow and as I was dumping the compost in the garden, he was mimicking by dumping leaves from his wheelbarrow. While we were doing this, Mark went to the local lumber yard to buy supplies for making a wooden step and platform to get us easily from the dock onto the boat this winter. Then while Ollie and I went to the public library for a toddler reading time, Mark built the structure. He is building it double wide so that our next door neighbor, Patrick, can use it as well.
I actually had the wrong day for the toddler reading time. Today was the reading time for pre-school-aged children; Friday is the day for toddlers. But we decided to stay anyway and Ollie was the best-behaved and best listener there. He loves to have books read to him and since the rest of the group was so restless, the reader adjusted her presentation and it was perfect for Ollie. As we walked back to the car after library time, Ollie walked on the uphill side of the sidewalk where there were lots of leaves. He shuffled through them and would then come back to reach for my hand and say “C’mon.” What grandmother could resist such an invitation? So we both shuffled through the leaves and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather.
Later in the afternoon, on the way to pick Sam up from school, Ollie met a new doggie in the neighborhood. It is a six week-old Golden Lab and it is the cutest little thing. Oliver is absolutely obsessed with doggies and this one is truly irresistible. When we got home, Ollie wanted to play outside, so I stayed out with him. Sam played outside for a bit, but then he wanted to go in. Granddad had gone to the grocery store, and it was not until he returned that I was able to lure Ollie back inside.
Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer than today, so I’m sure I’ll be spending a great deal of time outside with Ollie. Tomorrow night we go to dinner at the home of friends for whom we will be housesitting for the next three weeks. We’ll be on Windbird for the weekend and then we’ll move a couple of miles down the road to housesit. Of course, we will still visit Windbird and probably spend our weekend days aboard, but it will be an interesting change to live in a house for a bit.
