Day 310, Year 6: Reverse It
Date: Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Weather: Beautiful, Warm Day
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Today was all about reversing what we had done to get ready for Hurricane Irene. The headsail and staysail were put up, the wind generator blades were put back on, and lots of things like the fishing tackle box, the dive bag, and lines and fenders were all put back in their places. Putting things back in their places seemed much easier than taking them down, but we did have difficulty raising the headsail. It was just very hard to raise and then the cam cleat that the line goes through on the mast broke. We simply tied the line to a cleat on the mast, but the cam cleat block will have to be replaced. Our next chore was to drop the mooring lines and pull up the anchor, and as long as we were doing that, we decided to head out of Eel Pond and go to Falmouth Harbor to pump out our holding tank. It is truly a chore to drive the boat ten miles (five to and five back) to do this, but since the boat that does pump out for Woods Hole and other harbors in the area is out of commission for the season, we have no other choice. The good thing about doing this was that we got out of the pond and had a beautiful trip to and from Falmouth. We got back in time for the 3 pm bridge opening. When we returned Mark had business calls from 3:30 to 5:00 and I continued cleaning and getting things returned to the deck. About 5 pm, Bob Morris of Apogee came by in his dinghy asking if we would like to do a little sunset cruise in his small power boat. Bob has his sailboat and his small motorboat on separate moorings here in Eel Pond. We jumped at the chance to go and Bob gave us the ultimate tour of Great Harbor, Hadley Harbor across the Woods Hole Channel, and then on to Quissett Harbor. My best calculations tell me Bob is in his mid-sixties and came to Woods Hole some forty years ago. His wife’s family name is Gifford, and they have been in Woods Hole since the mid-1600’s. So we got the inside story on all of the huge homes on the point in Woods Hole. The biggest home is owned by the Melon’s of Carnegie-Melon fame, and then there are the Lily’s of Lily Pharmaceuticals, homes of the family that owns Avon, and on and on. There is certainly a great deal of money on that little point. Then we drove across the Woods Hole cut to the head of the Elizabeth Islands. Most of these islands have been incorporated as a family compound, hopefully preventing development. Bob showed us the home where Senator once Presidential hopeful John Kerry’s mother lived. She was a Forbes and John Kerry’s middle name if Forbes. The family stories went on and on. We went on around to Quisett Harbor and had a similar narrated tour there. As we returned from Buzzard’s Bay, the sun was going down and we enjoyed a glorious sunset. It was a great day and a great evening to be out and about.
 |
| 110830 Day 310a Cape Cod, USA–Cleaning the Dinghy Bottom |
 |
| 110830 Day 310b Cape Cod, USA–Sunset Cruise with Bob Morris |
