by Judy Handley | Aug 29, 2014 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 312, Year 9: In Rhode Island Under a Sailboat Moon
Date: Friday, August 29, 2014
Weather: Partly Sunny and Cooler
Latitude: 41 29.398 N
Longitude: 071 14.526 W
Miles Traveled: 30
Location: Third Beach Anchorage, Sakonnet River, Rhode Island
When the sun went down tonight, Ollie looked up in the sky and yelled out, “It’s a sailboat moon.” It is a crescent moon, but to him it looks like sails. I guess I’ll always call a crescent moon a sailboat moon from now on. And I am still sitting out in the cockpit under that sailboat moon writing this log. We had enough wind to sail half way here, but then the wind went down to almost nothing and we had to motor. Unfortunately, when we got into the anchorage the wind piped up again and stayed that way the rest of the day. There was a bigger than normal swell as a result of the hurricane that passed offshore a couple of days ago and the anchorage here had enough chop this afternoon to cause our dinghy ride to and from shore to be a bit wet. But that was a minor inconvenience. We otherwise had a great afternoon on the beach here and are now sitting in a much quieter anchorage than it was earlier today. Tomorrow morning we will motor up the river to Battleship Cove and spend our afternoon exploring the World War II battleships. Should be fun. And even though the weather is cooler, it is still glorious and sunny. So all is well.
by Judy Handley | Aug 28, 2014 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 311, Year 9: Super’boy’ Visits Windbird
Date: Thursday, August 28, 2014
Weather: Another Beautiful Day, High in the Upper 70’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, Massachusetts
We have had wonderful weather this summer, but somehow today seemed to be extra special with the clear blue skies, bright sunshine, and no humidity. When we got to Heather and Jed’s this morning, Ollie was dressed in a brand new Superman shirt, complete with a red cape, and new railroad worker striped overalls. When I called him Superman, he corrected me by saying that he is Super’boy’. Whatever, he was super cute. Sam had a play date with his good friend Sebastian this morning and Mark went to work at West Marine at noon. I, along with Jonah and Ollie, took Mark to work and picked Sam up. Once home, the boys played while Ollie had his nap. Once Ollie got up, we worked as a team to get ready to go to Windbird. We had a van full of bags of clothes and food for our long weekend adventure and off we went. They boys helped me carry the gear to the dinghy and Sam helped me get the bags onboard and into the cockpit. Ollie had been showing off his Superman cape to people in the parking area near the dinghy dock and when we got to Windbird, he reminded me that Super’boy’ had arrived. He was really into this role playing fun. I told him it was wonderful to have Super’boy’ visiting Windbird for the weekend and he was most pleased. By the time the boys and I finished getting all the gear on board, it was time to go back into town to pick Mark up from work, pick up a couple of pizzas for dinner, and meet Heather and Jed on the dinghy dock. Actually Jed had taken Heather out to the boat and came back just in time to pick us up. We had a lovely evening together on the boat and in the morning we will leave headed for an anchorage in Rhode Island. The wind is from the north tonight and is going to cool things down considerably. And it also caused a problem for us in that a power boat on an adjacent mooring kept trying to come give us a little bump. Just as the big boys were headed to bed, we decided that we were going to have to move to a different mooring. And, of course, they needed to come up into the cockpit to watch the fun. It ended up to be a late bedtime for them, so we might get a late start in the morning. We have to go 30 miles, so even with a late start, we should still arrive by mid-afternoon.
by Judy Handley | Aug 27, 2014 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 310, Year 9: US Coast Guard Survival Training
Date: Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Weather: Another Beautiful Day, High in the Lower 80’s F; Windy
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, Massachusetts
Mark stayed on Windbird this morning and I took Sam, Jonah, and Ollie to Bristol Beach to watch the Coast Guard Survival Training. They were doing serious training and it was quite a show. We were there for most of the morning and got to watch the helicopter come and hover right over the water near shore for almost an hour. A rescue basket was lowered from the helicopter over and over bringing people from the water up to the helicopter and back down again. But after an hour is listening to the noisy hovering helicopter, both Jonah and Ollie declared that they were ready to go. Only Sam had gone in the water as it was super windy and the water was fairly rough. All those Coasties out there in kayaks, in life rafts, and in the water were getting quite a workout. Our timing was perfect as just when we got to the van to leave, Granddad called and said his parking ticket hearing was over and that he could use a ride. He rode the trolley into town from Quissett but now needed us to pick him up. The parking ticket hearing didn’t end with a definitive answer about whether or not we can park overnight in the boatyard lot, but the examiner too the ticket and said she would investigate. So we shall have to wait to find out about this. After we picked up Mark we decided to drive home by way of the beach just to if there were more search and rescue operations in progress. And there were. A Coast Guard plane was doing very low and close to shore fly-bys and Sam and Jonah loved watching this. Mark and Ollie partook of the free hot dogs and hamburgers that were being cooked for the masses by the Coast Guard, so we were all glad we had made the stop.
Mid-afternoon, Heather and Jed came home and took the boys to Hyannis for a ‘back-to-school’ shopping trip. Mark and I headed straight away to the grocery store to stock up for the weekend. There has been very little time to prepare for this long weekend trip, but ready or not, here we go. The boys and I will spend the afternoon on Windbird while Mark works at West Marine. I’ll get the boys help me get the boat ready—should be interesting. We will all spend tomorrow night aboard the boat here on the mooring and leave early on Friday for the Sakonnet River in Rhode Island. We plan to anchor behind the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge and are hoping there are some nice walks on land. If not, there is definitely a beach there, so the boys will be happy. On Saturday morning we will head up the river to Battleship Cove where we will anchor next to the World War II ships and visit the museum. Sam and Jonah are very excited about anchoring close to these ships and Ollie will be excited by whatever excites his older brothers.
by Judy Handley | Aug 26, 2014 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 309, Year 9: An Insect, Crustaceans, and Lots of Water Fun
Date: Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Weather: Beautiful Day . . . again, High in the Upper 70’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, Massachusetts
The days of summer are flying by. Mark and I spent the morning at home with the boys. We had an early morning visit from a praying mantis, played in the pool, and then had some quiet time. Somehow the praying mantis made its way inside and was crawling up the dining room window. All of us were surprised by the colors of this mantis as it was brown with a pinkish-red underside, instead of bright green. Mark had his computer on the table, so I looked it up and found that mantises can be a variety of colors—even white and pink! After the praying mantis episode, Mark headed out to Windbird to run the generator to charge the engine. He did this early in the day as we hate to disturb the peace and calm of Quissett Harbor in the evenings. He then returned home and stayed with Ollie during his afternoon nap and Sam, Jonah, and I headed to Woodneck Marsh for an afternoon of fun with Jonah’s friend Luke. Luke’s grandparents are here helping with child care for a few weeks and Luke’s grandfather and I watched as the boys as they frolicked in the water. They first caught crabs and grass shrimp (Palaemonetes spp.). Today we caught a big blue crab and a spider crab and then lots of Atlantic sand fiddler crabs (Uca pugilator). Luke taught Jonah how to net the grass shrimp and Jonah became the expert at this. Then all three boys decided that jumping off a mud bank with their boogie boards was just way too much fun and they spent the next hour doing this—over and over and over. I was a bit sad that Ollie didn’t get to come with us, but this rowdy activity would have been way out of his comfort zone. Heather dropped by after work and the boys delighted in showing momma their antics and their wildlife catch for the day.
Tomorrow morning the Coast Guard is doing search and rescue practice at the beach close to Heather and Jed’s, so the boys and I will head there in the early morning to watch. It will be quite exciting when the helicopter lands. Unfortunately Granddad has to go to the Town Hall tomorrow morning for a hearing about a parking ticket. There is a little parking lot down by the dinghy dock here at Quissett Marine. We were told that we could park there all summer. But evidently the lot is owned by the city and not the marina and for the first time in ten years, this Sunday the city decided to fine all the cars parked in the lot . . . a $50 fine. We asked for a hearing as we need to park here every night. There is no other place for people to park and lots of people have boats in the harbor and like to go out for the weekends. What a hassle. We are very anxious to find out what the city officials have to say to Mark.
by Judy Handley | Aug 25, 2014 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 308, Year 9: At Home for the Day with SJ&O
Date: Monday, August 25, 2014
Weather: Mostly Sunny, High in the Upper 70’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, Massachusetts
We arrived at Heather and Jed’s by 9 am and I was dressed and ready to head to the beach. Last night we had talked about visiting all of Falmouth’s beaches this week. But this morning, both of the older boys put a quick stop to my plans. They really wanted to stay home, ride bikes in the neighborhood, and just play. And since that’s what summer is all about, that is what we did. Late-morning they decided they would like me to inflate the pool so they could cool down. So I did and all three boys really enjoyed splashing about. So that was our day—messing about and splashing about and just relaxing in the summer sun. School starts next Tuesday, so we are trying to savor each summer day between now and then.
Tonight we are planning a Labor Day sailing trip. Heather, Jed, and boys are going to join us. Our only problem is that we don’t know where we are going. There are just too many choices. But we’ll figure that out and hopefully have good weather for our end of summer sailing adventure.
by Judy Handley | Aug 24, 2014 | Cape Cod USA, Sailing Logs Year 9 |
Day 307, Year 9: Hanging Out with the Grandkids
Date: Sunday, August 24, 2014
Weather: Mostly Sunny, High in the 70’s F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, Massachusetts
Mark went to West Marine to work today and I decided to spend the day hanging out with the grandkids. I drove Mark to work and then went to Heather and Jed’s. They are working on multiple renovation projects and I figured they could use a bit of time without kids to focus on their work. Actually I ended up staying at Heather and Jed’s for the morning while the boys played in the backyard. After lunch I headed to Windbird with them. I had warned Sam and Jonah that as soon as we got to the boat, I would need time to get Ollie down for a nap and that they would need to engage in quiet activities for a bit. I caved and let them play on Granddad’s tablet while I put Ollie down. But as soon as he was asleep the fun began for Sam and Jonah. Their first choice in activities was to fish from the deck of the boat. We got the squid out of the freezer for bait and graced their fishing lines with squid eyes and tentacles. When we first got to the boat, Sam and Jonah helped me launch the kayak. It only weights 60 some pounds, but lifting that over the life lines by myself is too difficult due to the length. But with Sam manhandling the front of the kayak and Jonah and I on the back end, we got it up and over the life line and safely in the water. After spending quiet time on the tablet, they fished for a bit and then off they went in the kayak. It is so wonderful to watch them explore the bay. I took my camera and the binoculars on deck and watched and recorded their activities. Ollie slept all afternoon and then it was time to return to the van and go pick Mark up from work. We had dinner with Heather, Jed, and boys and then returned home. This week will be our last week with the boys as school start the next week. But we are planning a long weekend of sailing adventures to finish off our summer fun.
