Conference unifix::sailing

I guess this counts as a cruise.  It certainly qualifies as a lifetime experience.

First a brief history, and a lug for the US Power Squadron.  Fred Darrow invited me to
the change of watch for the USPS.  He was the outgoing commadore of the Charles River
Squadron.  The folks of the USPS are all good people, and welcomed this stranger into
their midst.  Even rag baggers like myself should consider joining.  Plug over.

The skipper of the USS Constitution was a guest to the dinner held at the Charles River
Naval Yard.  At the end of the eveing he invited us to be his guests onboard the Uss
Constitution for its turn around cruise.  I most certainly was not going to pass that
up.  Background over.

The Constitution was open for boarding the next morning at 0900.  Those unruly
civilians ;-) actually boarded earlier.  Literally the entire ship was open for
inspection.  The magazine is not an interesting place.  However, the lowest deck is
normally not open to the public.  In places it is rather low, ~4.  There is remarkably
little ballast in the keel area.  The bilge had maybe 4" of water, which was CLEAR.
As I understand Cmdr Beck (the skipper) once whe swelled up, she has been very tight.

Also of interest in the bilge area was the newly added diagonal strakes (I think that
is what they are called anyway).  These eminate from the keel at the center of the ship
and run up the gunnels in a diagonal direction.  I think they tie in near the sheer.
Three strakes run fore and three aft on each side of the ship.  They are supporting
members which keep the ends from hogging.  About 150 years ago they were removed to
make it easier to transport an exhibit to the Paris World's Fair and never put back. 
The result was that the keel had hogged 14" when they checked in dry dock.  With the
addition of the strakes and careful rebending of the keel, the hog is now 1 5/8" as
compared to the  design specification of 1 1/8".  I would speculate that she is closer
to her design lines now than any time in her past.  The additional strength from these
strakes has allowed Cmdr Beck to declare that he is going to hang rags on the mast and
actually SAIL the Constitution next year.

As with any ship this large there was little sense of motion as the Constitution was
pulled out of her slip.  She was always being handled by at least one of two massive
tugs.  The fire boat escort did their best to drain Boston Harbor.

The Constitution went out to the mouth of the inner harbor and was turned around and
then came back.  The 10 knot wind was almost totally blocked by the 6 foot high
bulkwarks used to protect the main deck's crew in combat.

I wish I could handle my 30' Holiday II with half of the aplum exhibited by these guys.

Incidently, Cmdr Beck announced the starting of the second penny drive for the
Constitution.  The first one was in 1931 and saved her from being broken up.  To this
day my mother remembers sacrificing her pennies for the Constitution.  This is
especailly poignant to me, since her parents both came through Ellis Island and they
were poor through the depression.  This drive is to get sails on all of the yards.
My daughter Jessica is going to be the third generation who have given money in support
of the great ship. Plug # 2. 

Finally, when Constitution sails next year, she will be not only the oldest vessel in
the world, but the oldest sailing vessel in the world.

Doug

    <<< UNIFIX::DISK$AUX_SYSTEM:[NOTES$LIBRARY]SAILING.NOTE;1 >>> -<
    SAILING >-
    ================================================================================
    Note 2259.1              1996 -Cruises and Get-togethers                 
    1 of 1 DECC::CLAFLIN                                        54 lines 
    28-MAR-1996 17:21 -< USS Constitution turn around >-
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    I guess this counts as a cruise.  It certainly qualifies as a lifetime
    experience.

    First a brief history, and a lug for the US Power Squadron.  Fred
    Darrow invited me to the change of watch for the USPS.  He was the
    outgoing commadore of the Charles River Squadron.  The folks of the
    USPS are all good people, and welcomed this stranger into their midst. 
    Even rag baggers like myself should consider joining.  Plug over.

    The skipper of the USS Constitution was a guest to the dinner held at
    the Charles River Naval Yard.  At the end of the eveing he invited us
    to be his guests onboard the Uss Constitution for its turn around
    cruise.  I most certainly was not going to pass that up.  Background
    over.

    The Constitution was open for boarding the next morning at 0900.  Those
    unruly civilians ;-) actually boarded earlier.  Literally the entire
    ship was open for inspection.  The magazine is not an interesting
    place.  However, the lowest deck is normally not open to the public. 
    In places it is rather low, ~4.  There is remarkably little ballast in
    the keel area.  The bilge had maybe 4" of water, which was CLEAR. As I
    understand Cmdr Beck (the skipper) once whe swelled up, she has been
    very tight.

    Also of interest in the bilge area was the newly added diagonal strakes
    (I think that is what they are called anyway).  These eminate from the
    keel at the center of the ship and run up the gunnels in a diagonal
    direction.  I think they tie in near the sheer. Three strakes run fore
    and three aft on each side of the ship.  They are supporting members
    which keep the ends from hogging.  About 150 years ago they were
    removed to make it easier to transport an exhibit to the Paris World's
    Fair and never put back.  The result was that the keel had hogged 14"
    when they checked in dry dock.  With the addition of the strakes and
    careful rebending of the keel, the hog is now 1 5/8" as compared to the 
    design specification of 1 1/8".  I would speculate that she is closer
    to her design lines now than any time in her past.  The additional
    strength from these strakes has allowed Cmdr Beck to declare that he is
    going to hang rags on the mast and actually SAIL the Constitution next
    year.

    As with any ship this large there was little sense of motion as the
    Constitution was pulled out of her slip.  She was always being handled
    by at least one of two massive tugs.  The fire boat escort did their
    best to drain Boston Harbor.

    The Constitution went out to the mouth of the inner harbor and was
    turned around and then came back.  The 10 knot wind was almost totally
    blocked by the 6 foot high bulkwarks used to protect the main deck's
    crew in combat.

    I wish I could handle my 30' Holiday II with half of the aplum
    exhibited by these guys.

    Incidently, Cmdr Beck announced the starting of the second penny drive
    for the Constitution.  The first one was in 1931 and saved her from
    being broken up.  To this day my mother remembers sacrificing her
    pennies for the Constitution.  This is especailly poignant to me, since
    her parents both came through Ellis Island and they were poor through
    the depression.  This drive is to get sails on all of the yards. My
    daughter Jessica is going to be the third generation who have given
    money in support of the great ship. Plug # 2. 

    Finally, when Constitution sails next year, she will be not only the
    oldest vessel in the world, but the oldest sailing vessel in the world.

    Doug
    

Thanks John. I did not know I was blowing up the width.

Doug
dtn 881-6355

    Re .2
    
    �Finally, when Constitution sails next year, she will be not only the
    �oldest vessel in the world, but the oldest sailing vessel in the world.
    
    Are you sure about that ?  I thought HMS Victory was a good deal older.
    I know that she's not afloat but she's entire and fully rigged.
    
    Del.

Cmdr Becks words taken out of context I am certain.

However, by sailing vessel, I mean one that is sailling.
Constitution has been fully rigged but was not capable of
sailing.

Is the Victory still a registered ship, or is she a 
museum?  

Personally, I don't really care about the particulars.
I view it in the way my daughter summed up
"Daddy if we take down the sails we're not a sail boat
any more."

Perhaps Fred Darrow can get this one straight.

Doug
dtn 881-6355

    HMS Victory is dry-docked in Portsmouth.  She is now a museum, forming
    part of the British Navy's 'antique' collection.  Although she is no
    longer afloat she is still commisioned, flying the white ensign and 
    serving as flagship for the Commander-in-Chief of Portsmouth which itself 
    is still a busy naval base.
    
    The other two ships in the collection are HMS Marie Rose and HMS
    Warrior.
    
    Marie Rose sank off the Isle of Wight under the very eyes of Henry VIII
    during a skirmish with the French navy. She lay on the seabed of the 
    Solent for some 400 years before being raised and preserved.  During
    her time on the seabed, the exposed timbers were eaten away but the
    parts of the ship which remained buried in the silt were preserved. 
    This has left a very interesting cutaway cross section of a major Tudor
    warship.
    
    HMS warrior was, as I recall, the last sail driven warship to serve
    with the Royal Navy.  She had boilers and a driving screw which was
    removed when she was under sail alone.
    
    Victory had a bit of a history before she served as Nelson's flagship
    at Trafalgar, I'll see if I can post the details here next week.
    
    Cheers,
    
    Del.

    Who will sail the rejuvenated Constitution?  It is unlikely that the
    Navy has anyone left who is qualified to command a square rigger.
    
    In addition to sails, rigging will have to be significantly upgraded
    over what was there before.  I haven't seen it since the refit but
    the amount of line on the masts prior to dry docking looked like just
    enough to keep them up for static display purposes.  There wasn't 
    nearly enough to actually manage sails.
    
    A trivia question - how many marines did it take to fire a musket from
    the Constitution's fighting tops?
    
    - gene

Cmbr Beck and his crew are getting sialing instruction from the Eagle (this
summer I think).

A great deal of work was done on the spares.  i think both standing and running
rigging were simply replaced.  There is alot of new wood throughout the ship. 
One of the things they talked about was the effort to keep as much of the old
wood as possible.

The hurricanes down south were a blessing for Constitution.  Live oak is a
protected tree.  The hurricanes blew over alot of it.  Constitution has managed
to gather up some awfully big timber.  Some of it is curing on the warf.  Looks
like an ovegrown brush heap.  In addition, there are some forests throughout the
US which are reserved for Constituion timber in the future.  It looks like they
are in for the long haul.

Doug
going to my boat to take off the covers.

This is just a bare bones version of the proposed float plan etc.  I will be 
happy to send the real thing via snail mail to anyone who wants a copy.

This is a loose flotilla, comprised of one boat, others possible.  I will help
coordinate activities, but I can't even be held responsible for my own actions,
let alone others (ask my wife).  Current age range is 4 1/2 (Jessica the only
sane one in my family) to middle aged old fart parents (I'm 43).

This is a cruise.  That means I reserve the right to chicken out at almost
anything.  Fun detours are valid etc.

			96 Cruise

Dwn east choice

Date 		Depart			Arrive

S 7/28/96	Manchester

M 7/29					Portland LNB

M 7/29					South Freeport

7/30					Sebasco
					Snow Is.
					The Basin

F 8/2					Bath

S 8/3					Boothbay

S 8/4					Damaris Cove

M 8/5					Potts Hbr
					The Goslings

T 8/6					Jewell Island

W 8/7					Wood Is.
					Kennebunkport

T 8/8					Isle of Shoals

F 8/9					Manchester.


Choice number 2  South of Cape Cod

Date		Depart			Arrive

S 7/28		Manchester		Sictuate

M 7/29					Buzzard's bay

T 7/30					Woods Hole/ Hadley's hbr

w 7/31					New Bedofrd

T 8/1					Cuttyhunk

F 8/2					Newport	

S 8/3					Fall River

S 8/4					Newport

M 8/5					Mamensha

T 8/6					Vinyard Haven

W 8/7					Buzzard's Bay

T 8/8					Plymouth

F 8/9					Manchester


Doug 
dtn 881-6355
603 881-9334 hm

Holiday II will be on the North Shore through the end of this month.  I plan on going
to the south shor ofCape Cod in July and off to Maine in August.  Soo I am going to
propose a getogether Saturday June 29 at Great Misery.  Anyone interested?

re .9:

We (my cats and I) will be sailing in Penobscot Bay and east in mid/late 
August and early September.

One comment on your tentative plan: The anchorage at Damariscove Island 
is VERY small, crowded, and open to the prevailing SW winds. We anchored 
overnight using both bow and stern anchors, and needed them. The island 
is worth visiting, but be sure you leave time to go elsewhere for the night 
if necessary. 

Alan

Good name for a moving but also where my Cruise 96 will be.

Holiday II is going to Woods Hole on July 5,6.  If others want
to go, let me know.  I plan to leave Manchester-by-the-Sea
around noon on Friday, bound for Scituate.  The next day will be
through the canal with the earliest favorable tide, and then
down to Woods Hole, where I will lie to my cousins mooring.

Current crew, is myself, my nephew Leif and perhaps Mark Eklof.
I have space for 1.5 more (depending on whether Mark goes).
If you are interested, let me know.

The summer cruise will start at Woods Hole for Holiday II on
July 29.  The desintations in order are:

	New Bedford	historic district 
			whaling museum

	Cutty Hunk	ice cream
			sunset beach combing.

	Newport		everything except quiet.

	Fall River	(maybe)
			Battleship cove

	???		State anchorage somewhere in 
			Narragansett Bay, perhaps Newport 
			again.

	Memensha	walk to gay head?

	Woods Hole	pack up to visit my family in 
			Colorado Springs.

Holiday II will come back to the North Shore either immediately
or after I return from Colorado.

Maine will have to wait for next year.

Let me know if you are interested in going, E-mail, dtn, or home
phone.  Current;y this is a solo vessel trip, so it is easy to
make adjustments.


Doug
home (603) 886 6769

This is more of a SS Minnow "three hour sail" than a real
cruise.  Still it was fun and in my opinion worth sharing.

The eveing started by trying to chase down an oil leak.  We
think we succeeded.  The other big accomplishment was tightening
the stuffing box.  The drips have now slowed up.  Naturally,
Dick Ashenden had improved on how the stuffing box worked.  I
had spent hours trying to get a good grip on the nut and turning
it in.  Dumb move.  Dick has rigged a flange that is bolted into
a bulkhead blocking access to the stuffing box.  The way to
tighten this box is unbolt the flange, turn the flange, rebolt
flange.  No fun at all.  Everything is accessable and over in
about as much time as it takes to describe.

The twilight was waning as we decided to go out.  So on go the
running lights as we leave harbor.  Breeze was about 10 knots
and filling.

We elected to sail with a reef in the jib, main and no mizzen.
In a few minutes we decided to let out the jib.  We were on a
glorious starboard tack, hard on the northwest wind.

The air, while not actually warm, was quite pleasant with a
sweat shirt.  The sky was clear, revealing a scattering of boats
headed home.

We slowly closed on a Friendship sloop making her way to Salem
Harbor.  She and a 40 foot sloop were our escourts to Beverly.

A huge oil leighter came up the Salem Channel with her pilot
boat following.  I was surprised at how fast she came in (10-15
knots?).  i guess weigh must be better at the higher speeds.

At Beverly we came about in the increasingly strong wind.
A broad reach on the port had us skipping back to Manchester at
over four knots.  Holiday II was wisper quiet.  Though there was
no seas to speak of, the surf was clearly audible on the north
shore.

Outside Manchester we fired up our nasty, noise Atomic IV,
dropped sails and motored in to our mooring.

Elapsed sailing time of only a couple of hours.  Elpased
enjoyment time, who knows?  It still feels good.

Doug

Holiday II is now down at Woods Hole for the next month or so.  
Maine is out for this year.  This trip was just simply work.  Details
are off since the log is on Holiday II and my brain is in its
typicall fog over details.

july 5 I traveled up from Cape Cod with my nephew (Leif) and cosin
(Norman) and Mark Eklof.  Actually Mark drove us up.  We picked up
Andy Stangel on the way to Manchester.

I sent Leif off with $60 to get food for the trip.  We planned on
primarily eating ashore.  While he was doing this, I put the new oil
pressure sensor in, checked lines, and elected to not attack the hose
clamp on the water line yet though parts are now aboard.

We clambered onboard, went over to gas up.  This was another 13
gallanons and about $20.00.  At least the rebuilt carb is causing the
engine to purr like a kitten.

We motor out  into a stiffeneing breeze.  Off of Misery Island we
change into a sailboat.  Reefed jib, reefed main and full mizzen. 
The plan called forleaving Baker to starboard and heading south once
we clear  the reefs which stretch SE from Bakers.  Instead, we found
that the west wind allowed us to scoot between Bakers and Misery and
head off for Scituate.  Scituate hoved into view planned.  By 8 pm we
were on a transient mooring from Situate Boat club.  We went into
town for dinner.  The Chinese resturant looked like the best
combination of time and quality of food.  Back to the boat for a turn
in around 10:30.  The sea gods were suckering us in.


One problem we had is that the boat is designed for four bunks.  We
had five people.  The nice night allowed for sleeping on deck, though
it got a little nippy.  Mark drew the short end of this stick.  He
falsely accused me of sawing logs (really big ones)

The next morning we got underway at 7:30, in order to meet the tide
at the Cape Cod Canal.  This was going to prove to be a long day. 
Small craft warnings were out and the winds dropped below 20 knots
for only about 15 minutes the whole day.  We sailed with a reefed jib
and full mizzen to a doubled reefed jib and reefed mizzen all day. 
The main sail never went up.

The wind freshened as the day went on.  By the time we were closing
on the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal, seas were running about 3
feet.  White caps were everywhere.  Wind had picked up to about 25
knots with gusts over 30.  We found that a teenagers idea of light
food is peanut brittle, etc.  We snarfed down the fruite and bread. 
But we were all alittle short of charbohydrates.

We entered the Canal with the start of a favorable tide.  While we
were transiting the canal, we tied down everything, fitted a reef to
the mizzen, got the rest of our foul weather gear on.  Norman and I
studied the charts.  Hog Island Channel was going to harbor, left
into the canal channel, straight out  into the current Hog Island
Channel.

We decided that a SW wind would have us turning left at the end of
Hog Island and following the old channel. Wings Neck would provide
something of a lee as we ventured out into Buzzard's Bay.  The more
westerly the wind, the more the current channel made sense.

Was we passed Mass Maritime, we opted for the current channel.  The
wind had veered to the West enough that Wings Neck did not provide a
lee.  May as well stand off and get under sail as quickly as possible.

Everything you have heard about Hog Island  Channel on an ebb tide
with a SW-W wind is true.  I was at the helm for over an hour as we
mde very slow headway against 8-10 seas.  We pitched like crazy.  The
bow spent every third wave, shipping green water.  Spray was flying. 
The waves were confused and it was large tiller action that first had
us going south and then quickly swinging almost 90 degrees to face a
set coming from the west.  To keep the interest level high, I had to
worry about these combinations hitting at the same time. The few
boats passiing us (primarily commercail fisherman), provided a
spectacular view as they raised out of the water.  A local sailor in
about a 35 footer was beating up the channel on a reefed main.  He
was good.  He also provided alot of information about what was coming
for Holiday II. After we cleared the break wall and got some searoom,
we cracked open a doulbe reefed jib, and soon afterwards a reefed
mizzen.  Back on our starboard tack.  Looked like we going to lay
Quisett Harbor.

We slammed along for hours.  The further we got down the bay, the
more the seas moderated.  About Cleveland light seas were running 4-6
feet.  Wind had picked up.  We were starting to get some foam streaks
on the waves.  I would guess about 1/3 of all wavves had white caps. 
The @@!$*!! windsurfers were out playing.  We were simply getting
soaked.

I went below for some rest.  Came up a while later just in time to
feed the fish.  Lee rail was down.  The rusing water was interesting
to look at from 6".  The first time felt like being punched in the
stomach.  a little later I visited the rail again.  Wen seasick, I
think you have to heave a certain amount of food.  The Salitines had
gone the first time.  Now I had to reach deeper.  Felt sort of like
acork screw into my stomach, and then some yanked up HARD.  It hurt,
but 15 minutes later it was over.  I felt weak but OK.

We neared Quisett Harbor about 7:45.  We were not going to make the
bridge at Eel Pond by its 9 pm  closure.  No way! We motoroed sailed
up wind to the entrance of Woods Hole.  The tide was just starting to
fun foul.  However, the wind was behind us and strong,  Through the
Hole under ower and sail.  No trouble at all.  Foul current was only
a couple of knots. With the wind available, we probably could have
sailed agains the full ebb current.  Incidently, Hadley's Harbor was
full.  There were a good 20 boats in the outer harbor at Hadley's.


We made the 8:30 bridge into Eel Pond.  Glassy, calm quiet Eel Pond.
Boy was I beat and glad to tie off on the mooring.

That should be the end, but is not.  Yesterday (Sunday), I got a call
that Holiday II and the mooring ball were making a tour of Eel Pond.
After a number of hours, we hooked up a temporary mooring onto the
mooring block.  I have made a new Pendant, and have made arangements
to have the chain and mooring ball reconnected.  The really bad part,
is that I had planned on a wonderful daysail with Amy and Jessica. 
This obviously did not happen.

In the John Kalnowski tradition.

Things we did wrong:

Let a teenager buy food.  This compounded problems by not having the
proper food on board for a 13 hour day in the teeth of things.  It
also contributed to my getting seasick.

Picking another bad wind god.  Need one that understands over 10
knots less than 20 knots.

I allowed my skpeticisim to be overridden at the mooring.  It did not
look quite right.  I should have insisted on being happy with it.

Need to respect Leif's opinion more.  At 15 he was reluctant to share
his expertise with adults as much as he should have.  It is my
responsibility as captain to use the talents of my crew better.

Things we did right:

Called the transit time pretty good.  Hit the Canal only about 345
minutes later than I would really have liked.

Sail handling and balance were done well throughout the trip.  No
real arguements over what the sail trim would be.  This is primarily
because I played conservative and made the actual decision as to when
and what sail trim would be set at.  Norman always wanted more than
I, but did not argue when I turned his suggestions down.

Got seasick.  Did a proper job of it.  No half way queasiness for
this guy.

Joined a boat club with reciproprocity with Situate Baot Club.

The trip back in August should have wind on the stern the whole way. 
With my luck, it will be a north wind instead.

Doug

    Last week my daughter and I towed my Com-Pac 19 to Maine with the
    intention sailing Eggemoggin Reach - at least a 3 day trip from
    my chosen launch point of Rockland.
    
    We pulled the boat out of Winnipesaukee Tuesday a.m. ~ 10:00 and
    launched it at the public ramp on Mechanic St in Rockland around 4:00
    p.m.  We then spent the next 3 days watching the fog, and some rain
    from the Landings Marina in downtown Rockland. Not a bad spot to
    be marooned. Only $1 / ft, so it cost me $19 for the boat and
    $4 for showers (for 2) or $23 a night. We had the truck available
    so we re-acquainted ourselves with the restaurants of the Rockland
    area.
    
    Friday, around 10:00, we set out for Buck's Harbor, at the western
    end of Eggemoggin reach. Some light to moderate fog at times but
    otherwise an uneventful trip under power (5 h.p. Merc).
    My 21 year-old daughter was pretty impressed with the seals and the 
    porpoise that we saw along the way.
    
    We arrived at Buck's Harbor Marina around 2:00, got a mooring
    ($20, including showers) and headed out to sail the reach till
    suppertime. Bucks Harbor is the most beautiful spot that I have
    seen on the Maine coast! 50-75 sailboats between the Marina, the
    Yacht Club and other moorings. The Marina has new showers (indoor
    as well as outdoor now), fuel ice, ice cream. South Brooksville
    consists of 1 marina, 1 yacht club, 1 store, 1 garage, 1 restaurant
    and 1 crossroad. The Landing restaurant is european (run by a Swiss
    couple) has a modest number of fancy entrees, all at a premuim
    price. But I'm getting ahead of myself - the restaurant is tomorrow.
    We had a 4 course meal on the boat from a 1 burner butane stove.
    Clam Chowder, Mexican beans and rice (dehydrated - just add boiling
    water), Tortelini (from a can) and homemade molasses raisin bread
    and jam.
    
    It was disappointing to spend 3 days in the Rockland fog, 
    but the last 3 days were super. We saw many seals and porpoise
    along the way.
    
    The trip trailering home was a bit tedious - Maine Turnpike was stop
    and go in several places, but we expected that and went with the flow.
    
    A tiring trip, but one we will both always remember.
    
    I plan to trailer back up there the last 2 weeks of August when my 
    wife and I stay at the Lobster Buoy Capmsites in S. Thomaston
    (which has moorings for it's campers), where she can landlubb and I 
    will daysail some.
    
    Saturday a.m. we headed down the reach. Whr wind started light,
    but by 10:00 we were putting a doubel reef in the main and
    when we exited the eastern end of the reach around 12:00, I had
    all sails down as it was blowing like stink with 4-5 foot seas.
    We ran across Jericho Bay into Buckle Harbor on the NW side
    of Swan's Island and anchored, waiting for the cold front to 
    come thru. By 4:00, there were blue skies to the north and
    we headed back across Jericho Bay and up Eggemoggin reach
    to Bucks Harbor as I needed to be home Sunday night at a reasonable
    hour. We made our mooring by 8:00 p.m. and hurried up to the restaurant
    for our last-night-out dinner. Food was good, and we could see the 
    fireworks from Stonington on the horizon maybe 10 miles away.
    
    Sunday we left for Rockland around 8:15, and arrived by 1:30.
    Got a bit wet on the beat from Northhaven to Rockland but had fun.

Well we took our "cruise".  I think the best thing that can be said about 
this cruise is how to adapt so that it still remains fun.  Yes- I did enjoy
the play, except of course for the adlib job done by Mr. Booth.

The original goal was to spend two weeks in Maine.  With the change in Amy's 
plans and tightened schedules, this switeched to 10 days south of Cape Cod.  
Since Holiday II was already at Woods Hole, we effectively had the same 
amount of time on the new cruising grounds.

First bad stroke, Amy felt it necessary to squeeze the trip between her 
sister's wedding and the 142nd Claflin Family Reunion.  This effectivly cut
the time on cruise in half.  The originaly plan was to start the trip after 
the reunion, but she did not want to disappoint her prefessor on her  thesis 
progress.  The cruise has now shrunk from 14 days on the boat to 6.  Tight,
but we should still make it to Narragansett.

Second bad stroke, We spent a day after my sister-in-law's wedding visiting
Amy's relatives.  Hey, how often do you get a bunch of people together? 5
days and shrinking.

Drive up from Philly to Woods Hole.  About two hours from Woods Hole, my body
says time out.  Let's get sick instead.  Pull into my cousins.  I crawl off 
to 2o hours of sleep chills and fevers.  what a way to start the trip. 4 days 
and shrinking.

We got off late on Tuesday.  We wantedt to take Jessica to Oaks Bluffs for the 
Merry Go Round.  About 7:30 we pull into vinyard Havan.  We don't plan on 
going ashore until Tuesday.  I plan on staying outside the break water.  
There are ever more moorings out there.  A bunch of them are clearly marked 
rental.  These I pass up.  I find a private one and hook on.  Like a vulture 
from the sky the VH Launch Service descends upon us.  While never actually 
demanding a payment, he is effective in intemidating me.  I am just too tired 
to argue, so off the mooring and drop the hook.  This finally gets rid of the 
guy.  I will let you know what the harbor Master's policy is.  I have a bad 
taste in my mouth on this one.  To make Amy feel better I lay a second anchor 
out.  Good idea since the wind is currently from the east and the prevailing 
winds are south westerlies.

I was bothered by the rough running and strange noise of the engine.

An expected fairly rolly night, but the wind does start coming around.  
Morning is wonderful.  Jessica has a ball in Oaks Bluff.

I poke at the engine while amy gets things ready.  Fluids are OK, but I find 
loowse head bolts.  Bummer, But it does explain the symptoms.  I tighten the 
bolts in hopes of sealing the head gasket.  I am not going to stop what 
little cruise I have, just because of this.  Still I want to go easy on the 
engine, and I know that I will have to pay for this later.

Wednesday afternoon we set sail for CuttyHunk.  Of course what wind there is, 
is on the nose.  This at least tends to flatten the seas of a foul tide up 
Vinyard sound.  Rather than arrive at Cutty Hunk in the dark, we opt for 
Tarpaulin Cove.  Under prevailing winds this is a wonderful anchorage.  
However, the wind has backed to the East again, making us a little exposed.
Still there was another boat there with kids that jessica played with the 
next morning.  Amy made the best meal I had had in a couple of days.  By the 
time we went to bed the wind had filled to the South.  we had a good night's 
rest.

Weds, Jessica played with her new best friends.  First on our boat, then 
rowing about in their dingy, then on their boat.  We finally left in a 
drizzle that afternoon.  Of course this made the tide foul.  The wind also 
started to die.  Even so, we had a pleasant sail up towards Robinson and 
Quick Holes.  With the motor trouble, I did not want to press fate and go 
through Robinson.  So we sailed to Quicks and then motored through.

Originally, I planned on New Bedford for Thursday night.  Friday we were 
meeting my mother at the whaling museum.  After coming through the hole, I 
decided that Cutty Hunk was a more reasonable destination.  It would soon be
dusk.  It was drizzly and the droppping wind promised a fog.  So off to a
surprizingly empty Cutty Hunk.  We anchored and rowed into shore for a good 
pizza.  Cutty Hunk is now down to 25 year round residents, but has more 
summer business than before.  I collapsed for the night.  Not much romance to 
share with my seldom seen wife.

Early on Friday we raised anchor and headed for New Bedford.  At 6:30 the
sails went up and we glided along at a repectable 3-3.5 knots.  this would 
just get us to New Bedford on time for meeting my Mom.  This proved to be our 
best day of sailing. I motored the last couple of miles into New Bedford 
Harbor.

New Bedford has these massive doors that can close the harboe when a 
hurricane threatens.  The inner harbaor is larger than I expected, about 1/4 
the size of Boston inner harbor.  Most of the pleasure craft are on the 
FairHaven side of the Harbor.  

I picked up a mooring off of Pope's Island for the afternoon.  We rowed into 
the Olde New Bedford Yacht Club dingy dock.  From there it was about a one 
mile walk to the Whaling Museum.  The museum is worth a land trip in the 
winter.  There is a 1/2 size model of a whaling bark inside witha a gallery 
around it.

Both my mother and Uncle were there for the trip back to Woods Hole.  We left 
early afternoon in a light and dieing breeze.  The motor ended up wheezing us 
back to Woods Hole and through we squirted on a favorable tide.  By dark, we
were on my cousin's mooring and headed home.  Of course first, steaks and 
antfouling paint had to be thrown out by accident.

Holiday II is now having her engine being worked on.  Initial guess is, 
besides the dead head gasket, that my valves have burned.  I need to check 
with my cousin tonight.


While far shorter than planned.  We got to places we had not been to.  Amy 
and I had quiet time together.  Even the blown engine did not drive us into a 
frenzy.  We simply adjusted expectations.  Weather did not cooperate, but
Jessica likes having stories read to her.  Next summer there are playmates 
for Jessica who would like to go down east.

At this point it is time to go home and reload with sudafed.

Holiday II cam north this past weekend.  Actual transit time was about 16 
hours.  Not bad for a 30 year old boat.    Elapsed trip was much longer.

Things started out pretty well.  There were three of us planning on taking 
Holiday II north, Mark Eklof, Leif Loftfield , and me.  First thing that I 
addressed was provisioning by Leif.  I bought food and made a bunch of 
sandwiches for the trip.  

Mark and I met at Manchester and parked his car behind the police station.  We 
verified with the police that this was OK.  And off we drove for Woods Hole.  
We stopped at my cousin's house.  Leif had a badly infected toe, so Mark and I
were on our own.  

We got dropped off at Eel Pond, and hustled our stuff onto Holiday II, just 
in time to make the 8:30 bridge.  As we engaged the engine the backup alarm 
went off indicating that something was unhappy.  When Curtis had replaced the 
head gasket, the secondary alarm was shorting to the block.  I suspected the 
same.  So through the bridge and out to a mooring.  By the time we got there
the engine was very hot.  Clearly an unhappy Atomic IV.

We spent the next four hours letting the engine cool off, try to fix it, cool 
it off etc.  It turned out to be the composite of two cooling system problems.
Both were probably caused by the repair on the head gasket.  The following 
check out had not bee

Problem #1:

	This is an old cooling system.  It does not have a thermostat. 
	Instead you adjust the temperature by opening a by-pass valve.
	This valve allows a certain percentage of the fresh water to 
	by-pass the heat exchange.  The more this valve is open, the 
	higher the engine temperature.  It was wide open, resulting in 
	little or no water going through the exchange.

Problem #2:

	Closing the by-pass valve is necessary but not sufficient for water 
	to flow through the heat exchanger.  We had a clogged line.  This 
	proved to be at the valve for the heat exchanger.  I opened up the
	valve.  A quick gush of water came out.  The gate valve now made
	a number of turns, instead of 1/4 turn.

The engine temperature now runs between 170 and 210.  I think I still need
to get an air bubble out of the fresh water system.  That is a problem for this
weekend.

Off to bed at 1:30 am.  Goals was to hit first light and head for the Canal.  
The canal current changes about noon.  We wanted to be there.

During the night, one of the people living on a lobster truck in Great Harbor 
stopped by to see if we were OK.  I think Friday night at the bar had treated 
him well.

The next morning came overcast and sullen.  The forecast was for improving 
conditions.  We got under way after about 4 hours of sleep.  I played it safe 
and chomped on a Dramamine (lesson #2 from the last trip).  The thing tasted 
like Tang flavored sawdust.  But I did not feed fish.

We motored through Woods Hole close to slack water.  Raised the sails in 
Buzzards Bay and had a wonderful broad reach.  At Megansett we pulled into 
Fiddler's Cove to get fuel.  Megansett is a wide open harbor, but deep enough 
to be well protected from most seas.  Fiddler's Cove is a private Marina 
notched into the side.  It has a very narrow entrance and is quite protected.
They also sell gas.

Called my cousin's to let them know that we would not be back until Sunday.
We motored on out of Fiddler's cove and motored and sailed towards Hog Island 
Channel.  It was far better behaved than last time.  Seas were running 1-2
feet, the sun was out and a fair wind.  Had to take down the sails to go 
through the Canal.  Bummer.

We had a fair tide of 1+ knots the whole way through.  Hit something like a 
tidal bore half way through.  There were three foot seas just sort of lumping 
there all the way across the canal.  This lumpy water went for a couple of 
hundred yards.  Strange but harmless.  Mark was below sleeping.  He was 
totally unaffected by the bouncing.

I woke Mark up when we entered Cape Cod Bay.  Up went the sails, and off we 
headed on our slog to the north.  Wind was southerly and kept us moving at 4 
on the knot meter, and about 5 on the GPS.  We may have had a one knot fair 
current as the bay flushed out.

We were about 3 miles off of Situate when we entered the "lonely" part of 
the passage.  The shore falls off to the west and Boston.  We break slightly 
to the north east.  Wind was behind us, so a run wing on wing sounded like 
fun.  Rigged up the main with a preventer and ran slightly by the lee.  The 
jib was poled out on the spinnaker pole.  Holding wing on wing to a lot of 
concentration for me.  The winds were shifty and hard to feel.  Mainly I 
watched the sails.  Our course probably averaged about 15 magnetic.  I kept 
this up for some two hours while Mark slept.

When he came up, the yawing of Holiday II on a run got to him.  It was his 
turn to make certain that the ocean was properly nutriated.  After heaving, 
he said that he was ready to call it quits now.  We could pull into shore.  
This we promptly did, 5 hours later.

We broke the wing on wing down, and hopped into a port broad reach.  This 
made for a better motion.  Even though the seas were only 1-2 feet, with about 
a 1 foot swell, I could not stay below very long at a time.  It took about 10 
minutes to plot our position south and slightly east of Glouster.  We were 
going to be on a port tack for the rest of the trip.

About 7:30 the sun was packing it in behind a spectacular set of clouds.  The 
resulting sunset, did much to cheer us.  I dropped the main.  Now all sail 
handling could be done from the cockpit.  This was a good safety feature as 
the dark came on.  Even so, with the freshening wind, jib and jigger kept us 
popping right along at over 5 knots.

When the sun's energy left us, the expected dieing wind came.  We motor 
sailed the rest of the way in.  We had been averaging over five knots all 
day, so, our ETA was revised to about 10:30, verses the original 1 am.  As 
night came on we could pick out the light at Glouster soon followed by the 
Salem power plant.  We followed Salem Channel into to Baker's island, then 
turned north to Great Misery.  We stuck pretty close to Misery to avoid Sauli 
and Whaleback rocks.  The motoring into MHBC docks was uneventful.

We tied off to unload.  Mark went to get his car.  Some other boat club 
members showed up.  Saturday night was good for them.  They wove an intricate 
pattern off the dock and onto shore.  I took Holiday II to her home on 
mooring C010.

Overall we learned a number of things.  Mark is thinking that a lot of coastal 
cruising is not terrifically fun.  I reminded him that what we did was more 
of a delivery.  Personally 6-7 hours is as much time as I want to spend 
underway.  After that, it gets old.

Draminine works for me.

Wing on wing is prettier, but not as fast or as comfortable  as a broad 
reach.

We solved a problem with the engine.  So our overall confidence is improved on 
handling trouble.  However, it should have been checked out better to begin 
with.

Fiddler's Cove and Megansett were a pleasant surprise.

The summer is far to short.

Doug