July 4th weekend
06 July 2014
July 4 (Friday) was a washout, but Saturday was beautiful. Despite the fact that Hurricane Arthur was offshore, the day was sunny, warm with no humidity. But we did have wind. Small craft advisory for the day.
For the second year in a row, Paul and Lisa came up from Jersey to spend the day with us and go sailing. It was less windy at the docks than I thought it would be, but I still left the cover on the main, intending to only roll out a little of the jib, assuming it wasn't too rough to sail at all. We motored out into the harbor (I had filled the gas tank with two fresh gallons of mid-grade), and it seemed that the wind was abating. Seas were generally flat, but the wind was predicted to be 20 mph steady, with gusts over 30. We unrolled about half the genny and sailed in the harbor, out past the Mermaids. Once we got close to the edge of the harbor, the wind picked up considerably, so I turned around and suggested we just sail in the harbor. After going back and forth and getting hit by some gusts, I suggested we pick up a mooring. But Patti and Lisa were really enjoying the sail and wanted to continue. So we reversed course again, heading out towards the Sound.
This time, we sailed into the Sound as the wind had definitely abated a bit. We got out to about the Cow, when the wind picked up a lot and stayed steady at what I would guess to be about 20 knots. I didn't want anyone to get uncomfortable, so I decided we were heading back in. As we turned north, the wind picked up more. I asked Paul to ease the starboard sheet, and he burned his hand on the line. Not badly, but still uncomfortable. We furled the sail, started the engine, and headed in. In the fuss, my new straw hat went overboard. After furling the sail, I circled around and using a boat hook as a lance, picked it up, undamaged.
The mooring field was practically empty; despite the beautiful weather, the wind was keeping a lot of people at their docks. We picked up a mooring; actually, I picked up a mooring as Patti's knee was hurting her and she couldn't kneel on the foredeck. It took me a couple of tries as the wind kept pushing us away from the mooring ball. But we did tie up and float there, chatting and having a drink for an hour or so. It really was delightful. But no one wanted to jump in the water; Patti wanted to go to the pool, so, back to the dock and then to my parent's place to visit for a bit, then take a quick dip. A change of clothes, then to Lenny's for dinner with Paul and Lisa. Patti had her first lobster of the summer.
Nice.