Day 269, Year 9: Back to Beautiful Summer Weather
Date: Thursday, July 17, 2014
Weather: Mostly Cloudy Morning, Sunny Afternoon
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, Massachusetts
There is no doubt that summer weather here is fantastic—not too hot—warm days, cool evenings–blue skies, bright sunshine, just perfect. Now put yourself on one of Cape Cod’s beaches or out on a sailboat and you have the perfect combination for summer enjoyment. This is the fourth summer we have spent here. When we first returned from sailing around the world, the summers here seemed too cool for us. But we have acclimated to life outside the tropics, and now the summer weather here seems perfect. We finally understand why so many people flock to Cape Cod in the summertime.
If you keep up with our logs you might remember how surprised we were the first of May when Windbird was hauled, bottom painted, and put back in the water within 24 hours. Well . . . that was efficient, but not a good thing. We have had a lot of growth on the bottom which should never happen just after being hauled and painted. We looked up the specs for the paint we had applied and it calls for 48 hours to dry in 50-60 degree temps like we had back in May before going back in the water. Mark called the service manager at Fiddler’s Cove yesterday and left a message on his answering machine explaining our problem. The manager looked up the paint specs, recognized that they had made a mistake, and called today to tell us that they will haul and repaint at their expense. The haul out happened during the time we were meeting with the doctors at Mass General to figure out the next steps in Mark’s cancer treatment, so we really didn’t give the bottom painting our full attention. We are grateful that Fiddler’s Cove is so willing to correct their error without us having to force the issue. Now we just have to figure out when this can be done. We’re thinking that if we could get Windbird back to Fiddler’s Cove just before we leave for Williamsburg next week that the work could be done while we are gone.
Mark worked at West Marine this afternoon, but this morning he stayed on Windbird and continued his boat work—cleaned water filters, took out a leaky footpump from under the galley sink, and continued to analyze the refrigeration issue. The frig is working okay right now–not great, but definitely okay. So we might let it go and see what happens or we might order the very expense electronic module. We’ll wait a few more days and see how things go before we place that almost $300 order. A new foot pump is much more reasonable, so we will go ahead and order that. Sam, Jonah, Ollie, and I spent a relaxed day at home playing soccer in the backyard and doing art work with the new supplies that I bought this week. Jonah was so excited to use oil pastels and then mix that with water colors. Sam just draws ships and jets—his current fascination. During Ollie’s naptime the big boys played in the backyard and I hardly heard a peep from them. They played together better than I have ever witnessed and then when Ollie got us, we headed to the beach close to home, Menauhant, to play in the waves. This beach is on the Vineyard Sound and always has waves rolling in. Both Sam and Jonah took their body boards out and tried to ride the waves. This is the first time I have ever seen Jonah be so willing to go out by himself. He hates to get his head underwater and I kept telling him he might fall off his board and go under. But he was willing to take the chance today. Go, Jonah!
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| 140717 Day 269a Cape Cod, USA–Sam, Jonah, and Ollie at Menauhant Beach |
Tomorrow we are going to the Sandwich (name of the town) Glass Museum to watch glass blowing and to see the ship model exhibit. Sandwich is located up near the Cape Cod Canal and the Canal is celebrating its 100th year of operation. I’m not sure how much history the boys can tolerate, but the glass blowing demonstration should grab their attention and I know that their current fascination with ships that also spark some interest in the ship models.
And speaking of ships, I want to once again mention the newly restored Charles W. Morgan whaling ship. This is the last of the wooden whaling ships in this country and as I mentioned in a log last week, Heather was invited to go out on the Morgan in search of whales. And did they ever find whales in the Cape Cod Bay! She was on assignment doing a report for WGBH-TV and that report aired tonight. If you are interested in learning more, go to: http://wgbhnews.org/post/charles-w-morgan-century-old-whaler-returns-sea
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| 140717 Day 269b Cape Cod, USA–Heather on the Charles W. Morgan |
