Finally - a picture of KR under full sail. Light conditions - but full sail.
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Jennifer Gennaker flying. She's a big girl!
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We are almost back in Round Pond where this cruise started 3 months ago. I am anchored at Harbor Island next to Glenn and Cheryl (my Round Pond/Granby Colorado friends) on their Cape Dory 31 - Evergreen. The only other boat in the harbor is a Cape Dory 36 - also named Evergreen (interesting coincidence!) from Solomons Island in the Chesapeake. We had run into these folks in Northeast Harbor also. It got a bit confusing on the radio with the NE Harbor people as we tried to figure out moorings!
G & C's boat club was supposed to do a big sail-in yesterday but apparently the only clouds and rain in over a week and a half scared them off. Wimpy boaters! I would have thought that at least the sailors would have made it.
After connecting with G & C a week ago Thursday, we have cruised our way slowly south and west. The weather has been spectacular with clear skies and mostly gentle winds. We did have two rail-down sails but this week has been mostly a lesson in light air sailing - which Evergreen has delivered very convincingly to KR and I. With her poled out yankee, large battened main, very slippery bottom and excellent crew, Evergreen has been hard to beat in the light airs - particularly down wind. The picture above shows her trimmed out - and passing me once again!
On Friday, however, Jennifer the Gennaker (she's a bag lady that hangs out in my v-berth) came out to play and the tides, as they say, were turned. Unfortunately, G&C couldn't quite get close enough for a good picture - but that was a good thing for my much bruised (and very fragile) male ego.
Until this past week, I had never cruised in tandem with another boat. Certainly there were times when several boats were headed the same way but I have never made plans in concert with others. While very different in that regard, it certainly was not negative. G & C and I long ago proved that we could easily get along together. The biggest difference was that cocktail hour and dinner plans were a given. I didn't have to work the anchorage for my social life making me feel like I was married again and not just out working the night spots for a date.
We had great dinners and cocktail hours in one of the cockpits (usually with some uninvited flying pests- oh well), great sailing, blueberry and blackberry muffins, wonderful weather and, most importantly, great company. A perfect week.
We also had a never-ending source of humor from a book that G & C had on board called "Cruising Rules." Written by a professor/sailor with Round Pond connections it was filled with great sailing stories and the resulting bits of wisdom about getting along with people while cruising. The wisdom includes such things as finishing any comment on the food with the simple phrase "Good though", never interrupting a story being told once again since "Any story worth telling is worth telling often", and "The gods protect beginning sailors and fools - sometimes both at once."
I will be adding a copy to KR's permanent book collection.
The nights have been getting cooler - it was 50 degrees on board when I got up the other morning and the forecast for this coming week calls for lows in the low 40's.
It is time to start south.
There is good sailing weather shaping up this week for my passage to Provincetown - the first step in my journey to warmer climes. The big question is whether to leave Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. I'll take a good look at the weather later today when back in Moxie Cove.
Best to all.
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