She's Outta Here!

Bill and Ira left Friday afternoon, 10/23/09, and made it to Gloucester before deciding to wait out the frigid rain and gale winds. Today, Sunday (25) they are merrily flying along at 7.5 kts. to Provincetown, and they'll make the Cape Cod Canal transit tomorrow. Ira will de-board from New Bedford and bus home; Bill can continue through Long Island Sound with day hops (at least that's the current plan.) Bill promised me to not do any overnight passages alone. He's fully capable, but I can't afford the nail-biting with chorus and quartet contests coming up...I have to have long nails to paint brightly for the stage in 3 weeks.

So far the water pump pressure sensor has failed.

Back at the ranch, I'm organizing and finishing the leftover errands like banking and cell phone plans. It's still hard to imagine leaving. Scary and exciting!

Weather Delay

Act III was due to head south on 10/17, with Captain Bill and Crew-extraordinare Ira Colby, but a nasty Nor'easter with snow and gale winds keeps her at the mooring in Little Harbor for now. New date is likely next Thursday, 10/22, and the route is through the Cape Cod Canal into Long Island Sound, where Ira will step off and Chief Engineer Russell Prescott will come on to enjoy the trip toward NYC. After that...? I'll meet the boat and Captain in Oriental, NC on November 18, in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with Polly and Miles, and Miles' parents and grandmother, Tammy, Robin and Donna Jean coming aboard. It'll be grand!

Bill's nearly finished making deck boxes, there's plenty of food, tools and nylon net for scrubbies aboard, all the canvas is new or repaired and we're itchin' to leave. Keep your fingers crossed for some Indian summer weather to follow this weather front. (is it PC to say "Indian" summer? What does that mean, anyway?)

So, while you're waiting for news, feed the fish on the right!

Gloucester with Dane & Co.

Brother Dan and his mates, Steve and Rick, visited from California just after Labor Day and we enjoyed a picture-perfect sail to Gloucester on Tuesday. No sooner had we left Little Harbor than the USCG stopped us for a "courtesy inspection", which we learned we could not refuse. ("No thanks," tried our Captain) The good part was...well just look at how cute he was! Act III passed with flying colors, for those of you who worry about those sorts of things.

In sunshine and light breeze we made the sail around Cape Ann into Gloucester Harbor in a little over 5 hours. We picked up a public mooring for $25, launched (dinghy) Intermission, and roamed Main Street before an exquisite meal at Passports Restaurant. We tucked into our berths and slept soundly until the wind woke us in the morning. After a fine feast at Zeke's fisherman's breakfast place, we returned home through the Annisquam River for a change of scenery, where the houseboats made us smile. Bill slickly slipped us through the narrow RR bridge that didn't open 90 degrees, requiring us to stay close to the starboard side, then make a sharp left turn to stay in the shallow channel.

It had been blowing 25 kts out the the Northeast for 12 hours, creating 5-10' chop. Exiting the river with opposing tidal current and wind was a thrill. We crested one wave, then slammed the bottom just at the mouth of the river, but sturdy Act III is showed no sign of interior shifts upon later inspection. With a reef in the main, we made 7-7 1/2 kts. on a close reach home. The biggest surprise was even Bill got seasick, for the first time in 50 years. Steve was hit hardest, even wearing a scopolomine patch, but he reports that he'd do the trip again in a heartbeat, because the ride was such a thrill. Rick and Dane were only slightly uncomfortable, but the experience prompted Dane to kindly supply us with more potent seasickness meds for our boat medical kit.

After a day of recovery, the team enjoyed a lobsters, steamers and shrimp at Chauncey Creek. We took a little tour of Portsmouth, including the commercial fishing pier, where we learned not even the fishermen had gone out on the day we sailed home. Our crew deserves medals!

Unlabor Day (Title courtesy of Leif)

Sunday afternoon was sunny and breezy. We thought about sailing to Gloucester, MA; but, feeling lazy, the crew voted to overnight at Gosport Harbor (Isles of Shoals) instead. It was a good decision because we were able to enjoy a beautiful sunset and moonrise while eating Heidi's excellent pasta dinner, enjoying the wine that Leif and Brandy brought, and laughng a lot.

Labor Day morning was beautiful and warm. Leif and brandy took the dinghy to Star Island for some exploration and couple time, while Heidi, Bayley and I stayed aboard. Although Bayley is only eleven, she is excellent company and a great crewmember. She asks what she can do to help, and she is rapidly becoming an accomplished helmsperson.

When Leif and Brandy returned, we sailed around a little looking for whales, but no success; then we broad reached back to Little Harbor.

These excellent photos are courtesy of Leif. He prints and sells photos as well.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=leifperc&target=ALBUM&id=5379603726643659873&authkey=Gv1sRgCMLIsL3vwoPerAE&invite=CO3H3OwL&feat=email>

Leif, Paul and Mary Beth

A beautiful day, a great crew, and lots of laughs. Paul is one of my favorite tennis partners and Mary Beth is his S.O.
We purchased our previous boat, Dragonfly, from Leif. They all love sailing. Mary Beth and Paul may have some free time, so look for them in future posts as we cruise south.

How did we not get pictues of Mary Beth and Heidi, our hot deck babes? I guess it is because Mary Beth took the pictures.l

The Winning Bid

When we donated a day sail and lunch aboard ACT III to the "Breast Cancer Stories" silent auction, we had no idea who might win. Lucky for us it was Audrey and family. We could tell from her emails that they were a cool group, so we changed our maximum number of guests from four to seven. Audry, her partner, her parents (visiting from Isreal), and her three kids (high school to college age) were great shipmates.

Sunday, August 16 was a beautiful day: very hot ashore, but perfect on the water. The group agreed that anchoring in Gossport harbor and taking the fast dinhghy to Appledore Island for some hiking and swimming would make for a nice afternoon. After a gourmet Kosher lunch courtesy of amazing Heidi, that's what we did.

Maybe people who bid on sailboat rides at fund raisers are all fun people, or maybe we just got lucky. It was a great day.

Family and Friends (and Pirates)

We had a great time on August 20 with family and friends. Our daughter Shellen and Granddaughter Fionna are experienced hands, and they were a big help. Fionna not only demonstrated safe use of the companionway ladders, but she pitched in and helped Heidi and me get ACT III ready, and cleaned up at the end of the day. As you can see, Shellen was confident enough with Fionna at the helm to enjoy a brew.

Shellen's old friend Michan and her wonderful family joined us. Race and his dad, Alan, kept a sharp lookout for pirates and treasure. They took their hand at the helm too. Maz was assistant pirate and Mommy Cuddler.

We all had a ball.